Dignified Square's Move To Windows From Linux Simplifies I.T. Management, Cuts Support Costs And Provides Choice Of Applications

“It may have been cheaper initially but after six years, we realized that the Linux platform was definitely more costly to maintain than Windows in the long run.”
Tan Shu Kiat, Executive Director, Dignified Square (M) Sdn Bhd.

Sanitary ware retailer Dignified Square (M) Sdn Bhd wanted to upgrade its IT systems to be more efficient and reduce its reliance on manpower. This entailed replacing its accounting application which utilized a Linux server for data storage. The system could not provide timely and comprehensive business information and was also not integrated with its warehouses. The complexity of the Linux-based system meant that the staff could not manage the Linux server internally.

Dignified Square replaced the system with Windows-based accounting package running on Windows Server 2003. The new system incorporates bar coding and point-of-sales capabilities and integrates with its warehouses. By moving to Windows, Dignified Square is now enjoying the benefits of a stable, robust, user-friendly and cost effective platform.

Situation
Dignified Square (M) Sdn Bhd is a Kuala Lumpur-based sanitary ware retailer. Established in 1997, the medium-sized company also supplies sanitary wares to residential, commercial and government projects. It has established a niche by being a supplier to various government hospital projects. The company currently has three branches and 20-plus employees.

As Dignified Square’s business grew, its management saw the need to utilize information technology to give it a strategic edge over its competitors. “In our industry, many small-and-medium sized companies do not see the need to invest in IT systems. Dignified Square is an exception in that we believe IT differentiates us from our competitors,” says Tan Shu Kiat, Dignified Square’s Executive Director.

In early 2005, Dignified Square decided it was time to upgrade its IT systems in order to be more efficient and reduce its reliance on manpower. It began looking for a more powerful system to replace its accounting application which utilized a Linux server for data storage.

“The previous system could not provide us with timely and comprehensive business information. It was not integrated with our warehouses and we did not have real-time information on stock levels. As a result, a lot of our processes were manual,” Tan adds.

Dignified Square had installed the accounting system during the early years of its operations when it had only several employees. According to Tan, the company opted for the Linux solution because it wanted to keep acquisition costs as low as possible.

“We had been using the Linux solution for about 6 years, and we have discovered weaknesses in certain areas,” he points out.

As Dignified Square was also running its other systems on the Windows platform, it had to pay annual IT support fees for the two platforms. “From our experience, the support cost for Linux was considerably higher compared to the Windows platform,” Tan explains.

He acknowledges that the complexity and lack of user-friendliness of the Linux system meant that his staff had to depend heavily on the IT services provider to maintain the system and resolve problems. “Because of its complexity, we don’t have the skills to manage the Linux server internally.”

Solution
As Dignified Square evaluated upgrade options, it realized that a majority of the integrated accounting packages suitable for its requirements were developed on the Windows platform.

It finally selected a locally developed Windows-based accounting package, suited for fast growing medium-sized companies. The solution runs on Windows Server 2003, and in effect allows Dignified Square to standardize its IT systems on a single platform.

“The new system provides bar coding and Point-of-Sales (POS) capabilities, links up and integrates with our warehouses,” adds Tan.

“Previously, we had to call up the warehouses to get information on stock levels. Many of our work processes were manual. With the new system, we can check stock-levels on a real-time basis.”

This enables Dignified Square to process orders faster and speeds up deliveries to customers.

With the new system powering the POS counters and integrating inventory management, it is crucial that the system runs on more stable and robust platform. “The Windows platform gives us that assurance.”

Tan also believes that standardizing on a single platform will reduce the company’s IT operating budget, simplify IT administration and improve staff productivity. He adds that the new accounting system running on the Windows platform provides Dignified Square with a strategic advantage over its competitors.

Benefits

Lowers TCO
Tan acknowledged that like many small companies, Dignified Square had been looking merely at the short term cost savings when it chose Linux. Although the non-supported versions of Linux were free, the cost of services needed for integration, support and maintenance were much higher than expected.

“It may have been cheaper initially but after six years, we realized that the Linux platform was definitely more costly to maintain than Windows in the long run,” Tan explains.

“If we had known this in the beginning, we would have chosen a Windows-based accounting solution in the first place.”

The company also discovered that if they now wanted to upgrade to supported versions of Linux with security alerts, patches, bug-fixes or enhancements, it would have to pay annual subscriptions.

This would add further to the already high total cost of ownership, he adds.

Leveraging on Existing IT Investments
Tan points out that by moving back to the Windows platform, it has been able to leverage on its existing IT investments such as Microsoft Office. “We can easily drag and drop data between Windows applications. We can’t do that between Linux and Windows systems, and that hinders the productivity of our staff,” he adds.

The user-friendly interface inherent in the Windows platform means that the staff has been able to easily learn to use the new system, keeping training costs to a minimum.

Dignified Square’s decision to upgrade to a Windows-based accounting solution also means that it now no longer needs to support two IT platforms within the company. “It not only simplifies IT management but also reduces our IT budget as we no longer need to maintain the Linux platform.”

Easy Access to Developer Resources
Dignified Square acknowledges one of the strengths of the Windows platform is that there is considerably more software companies developing on the platform compared to Linux.

“When we were looking for a new accounting system, most of the companies we evaluated specified their systems to run on Windows,” says Tan, adding that similar options on the Linux platform was limited.

The plethora of Microsoft-based solutions available in Malaysia is a boon to companies like Dignified Square, providing them with high quality applications at reasonable prices.

“We have plans to deploy applications to take advantage of new business opportunities. And being on the Windows platform is an advantage because when we need to develop these applications we have an array of developers to choose from.” The cost of developing such solutions will also be lower on the Windows platform, says Tan.

Eliminates Downtime Woes
One of the problems the company encountered with the Linux system was downtime arising from frequent power outages. In Linux, the kernel keeps track of disk I/O in memory buffers which needs to be written to disk before shutting down the system. Turning off the power or rebooting the system abruptly causes the filesystem or even the Linux kernel to be corrupted as it would not have written its memory buffer to disk and shutdown other services properly. Recovering a corrupted Linux filesystem is a difficult process that demands skilled Linux expertise.

“The abrupt power-off due to power outages usually corrupts the Linux server filesystem and we could not restart the Linux system by ourselves. We would have to call in the Linux specialist,” Tan says.

The long downtime resulting from the inability to restart the Linux server after a power outage costs them a significant amount in lost business opportunities each year, he adds.

“When the system is down, our business virtually grinds to a halt. For example, we could not print out invoices and deliver orders. This delays deliveries, upsets our customers and hurts our reputation,” says Tan.

Tan confirms that Windows easily restarts after power outages. “As such, we don’t suffer long downtimes because of power outages. This will save us a lot of money in the coming years,” he adds.

“What we want is a robust and reliable system that runs smoothly all the time. Our new Windows-based solution certainly fits that bill.

Overview
Country: Malaysia
Industry: Retail

Customer Profile
Dignified Square is a Kuala Lumpur-based sanitary ware retailer. The medium-sized company also supplies sanitary wares to residential, commercial and government projects.

Business Situation
Dignified Square wanted to replace its Linux-based accounting application. The system was not integrated and could not provide timely and comprehensive business information to the management. Staff could not manage the Linux server internally because of its complexity.

Solution
The company chose a Windows-based accounting package running on Windows Server 2003. The new system incorporates bar coding and point-of-sales capabilities and integrates with its warehouses.

Benefits

• Lowers TCO
• Leverages on existing IT investments
• Easy access to developer resources
• Eliminates downtime woes