Infonet's Consulting Services Unit Ensures Globalization of ERP Systems for Schering AG
Company Completes Consulting Project
Optimizes Network and Applications Worldwide
biz.yahoo.com
EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 30, 2002-- Infonet Services Corporation (NYSE:IN; FSE:IN), a leading provider of global communications services for multinational corporations, today announced it is providing comprehensive, global network services for Schering AG (FSE:SCH) (NYSE:SHR), in addition to completing an Infonet Network Analysis Program (NAP) engagement for Schering's Centro Estrategico Canada, Latin America (CECLA) Division.
Due to its growth and expansion, CECLA engaged Infonet consultants to benchmark its enterprise applications and bandwidth requirements to ensure an optimized global network. After profiling CECLA's two enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, e-mail and Internet applications, Infonet's consultants provided CECLA with detailed reporting of its applications' behaviors over the Wide Area Network (WAN). Infonet's analysis and subsequent recommendations further ensure high performance for Schering's network and applications that effectively manage the manufacturing and distribution of its products globally to 50+ offices, 100+ subsidiaries and tens of thousands of customers.
Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, Schering AG is a research-based pharmaceutical company. The company's activities are focused on four business areas: Fertility Control & Hormone Therapy, Diagnostics & Radio Pharmaceuticals, Dermatology and Therapeutics for disabling diseases. As a global player with innovative products, Schering AG aims for leading positions in specialized markets worldwide. The company conducts its research and development activities in-house and employs 23,700 staff worldwide. Schering reported revenue for 2001 of 4,842 billion euros.
As a result of growth and expansion, Schering AG needed to globalize its mission-critical applications, facilitate communication between employees and subsidiaries with corporate headquarters, and ensure timely product availability worldwide. With production sites in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Brazil, among others, and systems and infrastructure in Mexico, Canada and nine+ countries in Latin America, Schering needed to effectively produce and distribute products.
After an extensive proposal, bid and evaluation process, Schering AG selected Infonet due to its worldwide presence, technical knowledge and comprehensive service portfolio. Once Infonet provided Schering's global communications network, CECLA turned to Infonet's Consulting services to tune its enterprise application to network performance.
CECLA currently relies on SAP's ERP system for production and on another ERP system, SCALA, for its distribution. In gearing up to subsequently implement customer relationship management (CRM), sales force automation (SFA) and supply chain management (SCM), the company sought an external assessment to understand how much bandwidth was being consumed by each application.
"We wanted and needed to know how our applications were performing, which applications were running at what speed, and how to design our network for the future," stated Peter Krischker, Regional IT manager for Latin America and Canada.
Optimizing Network Access
When looking at how to optimize a client's network and applications, Infonet offers reliable, stable and proven technologies that also guarantee high levels of service. Through its Application Defined Networking (ADN) approach, Infonet has been able to prioritize Schering's network traffic and guarantee that its mission-critical ERP applications take precedence over other mission-supporting applications including Lotus Notes.
To ensure that all network requirements of these key enterprise applications were achieved, Infonet employed its state-of-the-art toolkit, the Network Analysis Program. Utilizing Infonet's patent-pending methodology, Infonet's consultants collected, profiled and analyzed the data traffic of Schering's network applications. Baselining the company's existing network performance, Infonet modeled the behavior and applications, then calculated the business benefits of alternative network designs utilizing Infonet's proprietary ROI Solution Builder(TM) software. The final analysis eliminated either the over- or under-provisioning Schering's network and led to the proper configuration of performance requirements of its enterprise applications to maximize ROI.
Over the past two years, Infonet has increased CECLA's services to include Bolivia, Ecuador and Uruguay, in addition to existing services in Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Canada and Mexico.
"Our global presence has enabled the many Schering operations to communicate effectively with one another and with corporate headquarters. Now, as a result of the services our NAP consultants performed, we can help Schering better address how their applications perform and run on their global network," concluded Richard Couturier, Infonet's Vice President and General Manager for the region. |
