"I paid $50,000 less than I expected and got a smooth migration to my new IBM Power i from a reliable, expert OS400 project leader."
"With Source Data you are going to get the right machine at the right price from the right people to get your project done."
Background
Victor Medical is based in Irvine, California and is a regional distributor of veterinary medical products serving California and Nevada. Victor Medical supplies anything a veterinary hospital needs.
Jon Pierce is Director of Information Technology at Victor Medical.
Victor Medical Sets Itself Apart From Its Competitors
Victor Medical has several customer-focused attributes that set it apart from its competitors. Victor is known in the industry for having a very high level of service – they are consistently ranked at the top by several market research firms.
“Our outside sales reps are highly qualified and very knowledgeable,” Jon explains. They have long term relationships with the clinic owners and principals, and have a reputation as problem solvers as opposed to order takers.
“Our inside sales reps are also highly qualified. Each is either a Registered Veterinary Technician, or has worked in a veterinary hospital. They know their product. They are ranked as some of the most knowledgeable and friendly in the industry, as well as having excellent follow-up.
“We are a regional, privately held distributor, and one of our driving philosophies is to focus on people. When you call us, a real person answers the phone instead of a voice-mail maze. We are very people-oriented.”
Fast Web Applications And Automation For Victor Customers
“In addition to excellent customer service, we have three web applications for our customers. One web application is online shopping. Next, we offer the veterinary hospital the ability to have their own online pharmacy. This allows each veterinary hospital to sell to their customers so they can compete with some of the other online pharmacies out there. We also offer an inventory control program for the hospitals to help with their inventory management. Each of these applications we built from scratch, and they all interface with the POWER i.
“And, our warehouse is highly automated. We installed our carousel and conveyor system in 2004. It allowed us to consolidate two locations to one and reduced our warehouse head count from 31 to 23. It allows us to process a very high volume of orders through our system on a daily basis. So, when we get orders late in the day we are still able to get them out that same day because of the automated system. We simply couldn’t do the late day volume that we do without the automation”
Jon continues, “I think we were the first in our industry to implement something like our automated system. I know that some of our vendors have since implemented a system like ours. But we were the first in our industry. Honestly, I don’t know if there are other veterinary supply distributors out there with anything like this.”
New POWER i Search Leads To SDP
Victor Medical had an IBM 9406-520 with Application Plus supporting 35 users to support its distribution. Jon had become concerned with the age of the 9406-520 and the end of its technical life. Consequently, he began a search for an IBM Business Partner to provide a new POWER i.
“I had been getting Source Data Product’s newsletters for decades”, says Jon. “My relationship with my last supplier had ended. Because Source Data was out there so much and I knew of Bob Losey, well, they were one of the first ones I called.
“I conducted a phone interview with Source Data and was impressed enough that I knew they could handle our business. So, I invited them in.”
High Availability Needed
“I knew I needed a newer machine that would last awhile and have more power.
“High availability was also a big piece of the equation. To be prepared for possible severe power outages and, obviously we are in an earthquake zone, I was looking for something to replicate our environment offsite.”
Over $50,000 Saved On New Server
“After analyzing our rack configuration and requirements, I recall Source Data came with a quotation of the type of POWER i I would need as well as the pricing of $33,472. The pricing was actually better than I had expected. I recall that we had paid close to $85,000 for our POWER5. I figure we saved over $50,000 on the new POWER i server.
“The system from Source Data was sized perfectly and the price was right.”
Reliable, Knowledgeable Technician Is Real Expert
“Working with OS400 technician Mark Breisacher is great. Mark is one of those guys where I really don’t have to worry about the details. I explain to Mark what I need to have done – and he takes it from there. As a project leader he instills confidence that everything will go smoothly and on schedule.
“I shipped a copy of my system to Mark to upgrade my environment to V7R1, preload my new POWER i and have it ready for testing. The whole process was very smooth. Overall, Mark did a great job and was always very accommodating to my busy schedule.”
Mark Breisacher Makes My Job So Much Easier
“Working with Mark makes my job so much easier. Again, I can just hand the project off to Mark and it’s done. As an on-going business, there is a lot going on at Victor. I found Source Data to be very accommodating to my schedule.”
Customers Notice Improved Performance
“My POWER i is faster. Reports run faster. Those processes with SQL statements run much faster. I get great responses back from my users, particularly in areas that in the past took a little bit longer. The responses come back that they are happy.
“Our customers have noticed the improved performance as well. Our IBM server is directly related to our web applications we have now. Those web applications talk directly to the POWER i. There are many areas within those web applications that run much faster. We have web services that interface with the POWER i. Our POWER i actually does a lot of the crunching of the data and then returns it to the web site.”
Source Data Helped Us Get The Best Price And Performance
“I would definitely recommend Source Data Products. I would tell anyone that with Source Data you are going to get the right machine at the right price from the right people in place to get your project done.”