Human Resource Management Service & Consulting Co. Ltd

Human Resources ASP Improves Client Service, Reduces Costs with Virtualization

Founded in 2002, Human Resource Management Service & Consulting Co., Ltd. (HRMSC) is a full-service human resources, salary administration and systems outsourcing contractor based in Tokyo, Japan. HRMSC provides services to its clients under business process outsourcing (BPO) contracts using the application service provider (ASP) model.

Customer Challenges

Reduce the server administration load and replace aging servers
Maintain a high quality service for clients at a low cost
Decrease client on-boarding time

Solution

Sun, together with Sun partner NTT Data and its affiliate, NTT Data Kansai, worked with HRMSC to establish a virtualized environment using Sun M-Series with the Solaris 10 Operating System, x64 servers, and Sun Storage Solutions to achieve a more efficient method of server administration.

Business Results

Running costs significantly reduced after replacing 140 servers with six x64 Sun servers
On-boarding time for new clients reduced from three months to one week
Increased opportunities for business expansion into overseas markets

Products and Services

Story Details

Human Resource Management Service & Consulting Co., Ltd. (HRMSC) provides outsourced human resources, salary administration and systems. Based in Tokyo, Japan, HRMSC provides services under business process outsourcing (BPO) contracts using the application service provider (ASP) model. HRMSC currently has 86 client companies and more than 120,000 individual users.

Historically, whenever HRMSC gained a new client it would add more servers and backups, which had led to system sprawl. It was taking the company approximately three months to complete the new server configuration and launch the service for new clients. The growing number of servers resulted in increases in administrative costs and the existing servers had begun to show signs of aging.

" ASPs like HRMSC cannot provide a high-quality service at low cost unless we can get new clients on-stream quickly. We see Sun's virtualization technology as the way to meet this challenge. "

— Mr Izumi Ikeda, Leader, Next System Building Group, HRMSC

For HRMSC, the initial set-up period for new clients translated directly into costs; therefore shortening that period was linked to providing a high quality service at low cost. HRMSC realized that instead of physically increasing the number of servers, as the company had done previously, a single large-scale server could be run using virtualization technology.

HRMSC initiated a search for a more efficient server administration method that would allow it to continue to provide a low cost, high quality service. As an ASP supporting numerous users, the company concluded that a virtualized environment would offer the greatest benefits.

Despite a tight schedule, cutover took place as planned in April 2008 – six months after the start of the project – and the advantages of the new system quickly became apparent.

With the Sun Fire X4600 M2 servers in place at HRMSC, there is no down-time and the load has been considerably reduced. The administrative costs are lower than the previous system, as 140 non-Sun servers have been replaced with six Sun Fire X4600 M2s, and the use of virtualization means that HRMSC no longer needs to add new servers when it gains new clients. Removing the need for frequently adding new servers means the duration of the launch process has been reduced from three months to just one week.

Furthermore, HRMSC can observe spikes in the system load for particular clients on specific days and can pre-empt problems by carrying out manned monitoring on those days or assign more system resources in advance. This makes it easier to modulate the running of the system and has also helped to reduce running costs.

Looking forward, HRMSC believes the system has the potential to increase the company's range of business operation as the virtualized environment will facilitate collaboration with companies based overseas. HRMSC is is also considering migrating to the Solaris 10 Operating System in the future and building a disaster recovery environment.

By building a virtualized environment and securing a high level of stability and flexibility, HRMSC has gained a clear lead over other BPO/ASP companies.