1. INFRASTRUCTURE
Grainger Reduces Network Expenses
While Boosting Availability
From Left to Right:
Harold Cabahug, Network Engineer, Grainger
Tom Lessing, Director of Technology Services, Grainger
Glenn Allison, Manager of Network Services, Grainger
Volume 1-1, Sponsored by Infoblox
2. 1
Grainger IT Ahead of the Curve
How does Grainger, a distributor of facilities maintenance supplies with an average invoice
price of just more than $200 per transaction, reach nearly $7 billion per year in revenue? One
way is through technology solutions that can handle 120,000 complex business-to-business
transactions daily and a flexible technology infrastructure which integrates different parts of
the business, and supports the company’s multi-channel strategy.
Along the way, it hasn’t hurt that Grainger has long been an early technology adopter in a
number of areas, including the Internet, electronic data interchange and the electronic
availability of its vast catalog of products. Broad access to an extensive catalog of industrial
products is essential to their service offering to customers. Technology plays an essential
role in helping customers efficiently source maintenance, repair and operating products.
Grainger was ahead of the curve in recognizing the link between core network services
and the impact they have on the availability, flexibility, and cost of operating the network.
In 2002, the company selected Infoblox to replace a less powerful core network service
automation solution resulting in 50 percent reductions in both capital and operating expenses.
In addition, the lower maintenance costs of both hardware and software enabled Grainger to
reduce the operational support for its network services by 50 percent.
Keeping the Network Strategic to the Business
The Grainger team built an advanced, distributed VoIP contact center in 2004 at over
450 locations, and launched one of the world’s largest “big bang” SAP deployments
two years later. Grainger expanded their network investments in 2006 with advanced
real-time clustering across redundant data centers, as
well as expanding capacity for eCommerce in 2008.
The eCommerce deployment (Grainger.com) was the
first transaction-capable website in the industry and
facilitated over $1 billion in annual eCommerce
sales in 2008.
In 2008, Grainger established wireless and rapid
deploy networking kits in vehicles to not only enable
faster customer response in emergencies, but to
re-affirm its commitment to the communities in which
it operates.
By embracing innovative technologies that align with
business goals and improve the company’s operating
performance, Grainger's IT organization has become
a strategic asset to the company that had a record year
in 2008.
The Infoblox Payoff for
Core Network Services
50% reduction in capital and
operating expenses
IP management costs 60% below
industry average
Greatly improved flexibility
and responsiveness
Availability increased to 99.99%
For more information about how Infoblox can help
your team to drive costs out of your network while
boosting productivity you can call us at 1-866-463-
6256 or email us at info@infoblox.com. You can
also visit our website at www.infoblox.com.
3. Technology at Grainger
Established in 1927, Grainger, which has operations in Asia as well as North America,
is a leading broad-line supplier of facilities maintenance products throughout North
America. Grainger provides almost two million businesses and institutions with the
tools and supplies they need to maintain, repair and operate facilities.
The company’s investments in technology have generally fallen into two categories:
infrastructure and customer facing/go-to-market solutions.
Infrastructure investments have enabled the company to deliver on customers needs
effectively and efficiently. Infoblox, for instance, has helped Grainger increase availabil-
ity and reduce network cost while dynamically addressing the unique and on-going needs
of customers, suppliers and employees.
Prior to Infoblox, Grainger experienced several network outages causing increased effort
for employees to service customers. With Infoblox, availability has improved to more
than 99.99%, including scheduled mainte-
nance periods, and has helped improve
system reliability.
Technology also drives more intimacy with
customers’ purchasing processes. Through
customer facing solutions such as
Grainger.com, EDI, eProcurement and
inventory solutions, Grainger has been able
to lower its cost-to-serve ratio, while
generating larger orders.
While open to new technologies, Grainger
is not prone to dabbling in the “next new
thing.” Rather, the company uses a highly
disciplined, data-driven process that uses
detailed statistics, sophisticated risk
modeling and rigorous business needs analysis to
justify the introduction of new IT systems.
The net result is probably one of today’s most strategic,
available, flexible and economical enterprise network
infrastructures. Its ability to keep operational costs
low has also enabled Grainger to pass along savings
to its customers.
And when it comes to automating once labor-intensive core network services (including
Domain Name System (DNS), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and IP
Address Management (IPAM) processes), Grainger has taken advantage of Infoblox
appliances to provide flexibility and real-time visibility into the enterprise-wide status
of the network.
2
“Infoblox helps our network keep up with
business demands by making it more
dynamic and more available.”
Glenn Allison
Manager of Network Services
Grainger Network Team
(From left to right)
Harold Cabahug, Harold Heather,
Glenn Allison, Keyur Desai
and Don Walsh