CedCamera: Big Savings with Open Systems Environment

The Milan Chamber of Commerce (CCIAA) found that the cost of operating its mainframe-based IT environment through CedCamera, the information services arm of the Chamber, was growing too expensive. IT investments were a large part of the CCIAA's operations costs and the goal was to significantly reduce administrative costs in order to focus more resources on member services. To support these endeavors, CedCamera had been operating the network of 1000 PCs connected by a LAN/WAN for CCIAA, as well as local applications such as accounting, payroll, and specific databases on a mainframe system. The original CCIAA data processing system was opened in 1955, so the organization had a long history of relying on IT for member services. The IT group was charged with developing and selling PC applications for small- and medium-sized member companies to assist them with government regulations. All of these initiatives had been running on an IBM ES9000 mainframe, with OS/390, DL1, VSAM and CICS/Cobol. CedCamera turned to Sun Microsystems and I-Ter Srl., an IT service provider in Milan offering specialized IT solutions. A key element in the selection of the Sun system was the Sun Mainframe Transaction Processing software that has been used to successfully migrate mission-critical enterprise applications from mainframe systems to open, affordable UNIX systems at more than 600 customer sites worldwide. Using the Sun Mainframe Transaction Processing software, CedCamera was able to move the CCIAA applications to a Sun Enterprise 3500, with four CPUs. Together with Sun and I-Ter, CedCamera found the ideal open systems environment for the CCIAA, one that ultimately resulted in annual savings of 70 percent over the cost of running the obsolete mainframe.

Small and medium-size businesses in Milan, Italy rely on the extensive information resources, business improvement services, and consultative assistance provided by The Milan Chamber of Commerce (CCIAA). With 20 locations in the Milan area and more than 350,000 members, the Chamber has an ongoing quest to develop new services and improve access to information for all members.

The cost of operating its mainframe-based IT environment through CedCamera, the information services arm of the Chamber, was growing too expensive. CCIAA and CedCamera sought an alternative IT structure to deliver information more cost-effectively and efficiently. CedCamera turned to Sun Microsystems and I-Ter Srl., an IT service provider in Milan offering specialized IT solutions. Together with Sun and I-Ter, CedCamera found the ideal open systems environment for the CCIAA, one that ultimately resulted in annual savings of 70 percent over the cost of running the obsolete mainframe.

Unique Services Require Innovative IT Approach

The Chamber of Commerce provides a wide range of services to members: it is an information resource for companies planning new investments, seeking trademark and patent registration, and for small businesses that require special business assistance. One of the key resources is its Web site managed by CedCamera. The Chamber also offers facilities for meetings and conferences at the historic Palazzo Affari, organizes business courses and workshops, including specialty programs for entrepreneurs, offers arbitration services, and certifies precious stone quality.

To support these endeavors, CedCamera had been operating the network of 1000 PCs connected by a LAN/WAN for CCIAA, as well as local applications such as accounting, payroll, and specific databases on a mainframe system. The original CCIAA data processing system was opened in 1955, so the organization had a long history of relying on IT for member services. The IT group was charged with developing and selling PC applications for small- and medium-sized member companies to assist them with government regulations. All of these initiatives had been running on an IBM ES9000 mainframe, with OS/390, DL1, VSAM and CICS/Cobol.

The Sun solution offers high availability, flexibility, and a growth path for the future.

With the annual cost of the mainframe system approaching 1 million Euro, CedCamera knew it was time for a change. IT investments were a large part of the CCIAA's operations costs and the goal was to significantly reduce administrative costs in order to focus more resources on member services.

"Our business challenge was to improve the efficiency of the IT system, and at the same time, significantly lower the cost of IT operations," explained Attilio Sprela, manager of ICT Operations at CedCamera. "The mainframe had become too expensive."

Sun Offers Open Systems Solution

The rehosting initiative began originally when CedCamera wanted to improve Euro compliance and avoid the Millennium bug. The IT staff rewrote these applications to run on a UNIX platform. With the success of this project, CedCamera decided to evaluate the feasibility of porting and running all of the remaining applications on open systems.

Tests were done to evaluate the potential success of migrating the applications to a UNIX environment. CedCamera considered several options, including outsourcing IT operations.

With the assistance of I-Ter, a certified Sun mainframe rehosting partner, CedCamera decided to devise a solution that would enable them to close down the mainframe and continue operating their own IT system. They had seen the success that another I-Ter customer — Sony Italy — had with rehosting applications from a mainframe. The Sony Italy experience and results were impressive, so CedCamera chose the Sun Enteprise3500 server, Solaris 8 Operating Environment, and Sun Mainframe Transaction Processing software to move its primary applications off the mainframe.

" We require reliability and high quality," noted Sprela. "Sun offered the combination of hardware and software that offers high availability, flexibility, and a growth path for the future."

CedCamera Migrates Applications to Sun

There were nearly 1400 CedCamera objects to migrate: 1031 online programs and 307 batch programs. The migration project also involved 78 VSAM files, 787 screens, 150 batch jobs, 150 JCL scripts, and 907 transactions to support the 300+ users at CedCamera and the CCIAA.

A key element in the selection of the Sun system was the Sun Mainframe Transaction Processing software that has been used to successfully migrate mission-critical enterprise applications from mainframe systems to open, affordable UNIX systems at more than 600 customer sites worldwide. Using the Sun Mainframe Transaction Processing software, CedCamera was able to move the CCIAA applications to a Sun Enterprise 3500, with four CPUs.

I-Ter provided CedCamera with a turnkey solution: assessment, migration, Sun hardware, system testing, and full production. CedCamera and I-Ter managed the migration project carefully, so that no IT services for CCIAA members would be disrupted and staff operations could continue seamlessly. Because of their attention to detail and considerable testing, the mainframe was quickly closed down and the CCIAA operations were running on the new Sun platform.

Having a highly reliable open systems platform offers improved performance and flexibility for the future.

CedCamera Saves 70 Percent with Sun

"We made the right decision to select Sun. We can operate all of our applications very efficiently, and we expect to be saving 665,000 Euros every year, explained Sprela. "With these savings, we can invest more in developing new services for CCIAA members. In addition to the cost savings, CedCamera now has a highly reliable open systems platform that offers improved performance and flexibility for the future, another valued benefit of the IT migration program for CCIAA, which continues to grow and add new members and services.