NorthgateArinso consolidated their sustems to an architecture based on IBM Power and IBM BladeCenter technologies. Data storage is provided by IBM System Storage DS8100 and DS4800, configured as a SAN and managed by IBMSAN Volume Controller. The entire infrastructure is controlled, monitored and managed using IBMTivoli software.As a result, the single shared infrastructure is easier to manage and more flexible in handling fluctuating workload, enabling NGA to adapt its IT response to fit the business need. The company can also follow a single set of governance policies.For more information on Storage System, visit http://ibm.co/LIg7gk. Visit http://bit.ly/KWh5Dx to 'Follow' the official Twitter handle of IBM India Smarter Computing.

1. IBM Systems & Technology Group Computer Services
Smarter Computing
NorthgateArinso builds a
compact, energy-efficient
and scalable solution
With smarter computing from IBM
NorthgateArinsoTM (NGA) provides payroll and human resource
Overview services to global corporations. From hosted systems through to fully
outsourced solutions, NGA offers a complete range of services to match
The need each customer’s needs.
NorthgateArinso needs to deliver the
same impeccable level of service
to clients regardless of underlying Business challenge
fluctuations in business volumes. Much of the transaction workload is highly time-specific. Customers,
Supporting multiple systems to meet
varying customer needs with separate
not to mention their employees, expect wage calculations and bank
physical servers proved expensive to transfers to be completed on time, every time. Peak workload varies
procure and support. both predictably, such as at the end of the tax year, and unpredictably,
The solution such as during periods of high seasonal demand or temporary staffing.
Consolidated to an architecture based The NGA customers expect the same impeccable level of service
on IBM Power and IBM BladeCenter delivery regardless of underlying fluctuations in business volumes.
technologies. Data storage is provided
by IBM System Storage DS8100 and
DS4800, configured as a SAN and Customers have widely varying needs: some want very fast processing
managed by IBM SAN Volume Controller. of tens of thousands of employee records, some want more
The entire infrastructure is controlled, comprehensive analysis and human resource management services. The
monitored and managed using IBM Tivoli
software.
result is a broad range of payroll and human resources applications and
databases, running in the IBM AIX, IBM i and Microsoft Windows
The benefit operating environments.
The single shared infrastructure is easier
to manage and more flexible in handling
fluctuating workload, enabling NGA to In the past, supporting the multiple applications, databases and
adapt its IT response to fit the business operating systems would have resulted in separate physical servers
need. The company can also follow a and unconnected storage devices. This architecture was expensive
single set of governance policies, offering
provable regulatory compliance. to procure and support, and complex dependencies made it difficult
to ensure that disaster recovery, backup and archive solutions would
perform as expected, raising data governance issues.
Description of solution
To manage these demands, NGA has consolidated to highly integrated
primary data centers in London and Brussels, each one twinned with
a failover data center. Built with integrated IBM Power and IBM
BladeCenter technologies, with extensive server virtualization to permit
simultaneous operation of all three operating systems. Data storage
is provided by IBM System Storage DS8100 and DS4800 disk arrays,
configured as a SAN and managed by IBM SAN Volume Controller
(SVC). The entire infrastructure is controlled, monitored and managed
using IBM Tivoli Systems Manager and related Tivoli software.

2. IBM Systems & Technology Group Computer Services
Smarter Computing
For example, an NGA application runs on the IBM i platform,
Designed for Data providing very high speed payroll processing. Previously this would
• The data generated by the IBM Tivoli have typically required a standalone server running the IBM i operating
software is written to the Tivoli Data system with dedicated storage. Now, NGA runs the IBM i operating
Warehouse, and histories are analyzed by
Tivoli Common Reporting for trends and system as a virtual server on a machine that also runs, simultaneously,
service management forecasting. The IBM AIX. The NGA software makes use of existing processor, memory,
information generated by Tivoli allows network and storage infrastructure, which is itself included in the data
NorthgateArinso to report on service
center’s comprehensive data backup, archive and disaster recovery
delivery to customers, and to help plan
likely growth in capacity needs. solution.
Tuned to the Task
Using virtualization, NGA assigns each customer the most appropriate
• Extensive server virtualization permits
simultaneous operation of three operating platform and processor capacity for the agreed service levels and
systems, meaning NGA no longer needs transaction workload. At seasonal peaks such as Christmas, NGA has
dedicated systems to run high speed Capacity on Demand agreements with IBM that allow processing
applications. The company can assign
each customer the most appropriate
capacity to be added temporarily, by activating additional processors for
platform and processor capacity for the defined periods. For example, in the UK the primary IBM Power 595
agreed service levels and transaction server has 17 POWER6 processors active out of a total of 24 installed,
workload
representing an instant 40 percent extra headroom if demand surges
Managed in the Cloud unexpectedly.
• The solution enables NGA to add
instances as required and treat Similarly, NGA uses SAN Volume Controller as the gateway to
processors, memory, network and
storage as a single resource pool; the DS8100 and DS4800 devices, making the total storage capacity
masking the complexity of the underlying available to all systems regardless of application or operating system.
components. SVC allows NGA to direct data to the best storage device for the task
Driving Innovation at hand, without having to make costly or time-consuming changes at
• Leveraging Capacity on Demand the application level.
agreements with IBM allows NGA the
headroom to expand resources by 40
For example, benchmarking new user services only makes sense if
percent in the event of an unexpected
surge in demand. during the test period they are configured for real-world running.
Virtualization allows the processing capacity to be adjusted and high-
performance disk to be allocated for test duration, and then released to
the pool on completion.
Tivoli Monitoring provides a single view of performance, covering
file systems, disk capacity limits, processor response and more. The
data generated by Tivoli is written to the Tivoli Data Warehouse, and
histories are analyzed by Tivoli Common Reporting for trends and
service management forecasting. The information generated by Tivoli
allows NGA to report on service delivery to customers, and to help
plan likely growth in capacity needs.
Benefits
With shared processing and storage capacity, NGA has created an
integrated platform that allows it to adapt its IT response to fit the
business need. Multiple separate standalone servers, applications and
databases have been replaced with a single shared infrastructure that
is easier to manage and more flexible in managing very large swings in
transaction workload.

3. IBM Systems & Technology Group Computer Services
Smarter Computing
Data governance policies and procedures, critical for a company
handling payroll and personnel details for international corporations,
Solution Components
can be imposed globally on a single architecture. NGA complies
Software with Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70: Service Organizations
• IBM® Tivoli® (commonly abbreviated as SAS 70) and ISO/IEC 27001 Information
• IBM AIX®
• IBM i
Security Management System (ISMS) standards, much of which would
• IBM PowerVM® be difficult in a fragmented environment.
• IBM System Storage® SAN Volume
Controller David Gibson, Enterprise Systems Manager at NGA comments, “IBM
Servers Capacity on Demand gives us the ability to respond to customer needs
• IBM BladeCenter® and IBM Power® from a single platform in a variety of ways. Trial Capacity on Demand
servers allows us to add processors over a defined period to test our need for a
• IBM System Storage® DS8100 and
DS4800 disk arrays larger base load configuration. On/Off Capacity on Demand allows us
to add processors at short notice for smaller time periods, to weather
the storms if required. Exception Capacity on Demand allows us to
activate every processor in a disaster recovery scenario to ensure we are
“IBM Capacity on not held back by capacity issues at critical times. Capacity on Demand
Demand gives us the gives us a flexible way to adjust capacity at any level we choose,
assigning the additional power to a specific application or to a range of
ability to respond to virtual servers, ensuring we meet our service delivery commitments.
customer needs from
a single platform in a “The ability to run IBM i as a guest operating system has led to the
resurgence of high-speed applications such as the one we use for
variety of ways.” payroll processing. We no longer need dedicated systems to run this
application, and for some customers it offers the ideal solution. We
— David Gibson, Enterprise Systems Manager, can add instances in a very cost-effective manner, sharing processors,
NorthgateArinso (NGA)
memory, network and storage, which makes it a very attractive
proposition commercially.”
“Data governance is very high on our agenda, because sensitive
Personal data requires that we follow the correct operational
procedures. The shared services model in our data centers allows us
to follow a single set of data governance and security policies across
the infrastructure, offering greater ease of management and provable
regulatory compliance.”
For more information
To learn more about IBM software, contact your IBM sales
representative or visit: www.ibm.com/systems/smartercomputing

4. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2011
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Produced in the United Kingdom
June 2011
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