Case Studies > Services

The Data Transporter

Mears Transportation Group finds a road-worthy high-availability solution

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CUSTOMER: Mears Transportation Group HEADQUARTERS: Orlando, Fla. BUSINESS: Transportation service provider CHALLENGE: Ensuring high availability SOLUTION: Replacing a poorly functioning high-availability solution with one that more closely aligns with the company’s high-availability strategy HARDWARE: Two IBM Power Systems 520s SOFTWARE: Maximum Availability’s *noMAX garrison, a packaged ERP solution and several homegrown applications

Whether mom-and-pop stores on small-town corners or Fortune 500 conglomerates headquartered in big-city buildings, companies of all types typically have at least one need in common: business continuity. The inability to access applications and data, for whatever reason—a natural disaster or a power-system failure—might bring their operations to a screeching halt.

Mears Transportation Group is no different. If its core production system had failed, the consequences would have been dire, with potentially thousands of customers left stranded every day. That is, until 2008, when the company began using Maximum Availability’s *noMAX garrison high-availability application.

Now that it’s adopted that solution—and upgraded to two new IBM Power Systems* 520s running IBM i—it’s assured that its cabs, luxury sedans and motor coaches are always available. Not only does this give the company peace of mind, its customers have the promise that Mears’ fleet of vehicles is always on call.

“Using *noMAX garrison, we probably saved 16 hours.” —Tod Heckerman, assistant vice president of IT, Mears Transportation

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