Business White Paper RETAIL SOLUTION www..com

SUSE® Enterprise 10 for Retail Businesses

Bringing the Security, Agility, Reliability and Lower Costs of Linux* to the Retail Industry— from the Point of Service Device to the Data Center SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 for Retail Businesses

Table of Contents:

2 . . . . . Exploring the Advantages of 9 . . . . . SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 for for the Data Center Server Your Retail Business 9 . . . . . Why Virtualization Matters to 3 . . . . . Why Retailers Are Switching to Your Retail Business SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 . . . . . Case Study: Burlington Coat 5 . . . . . The Advantages of Open Source Factory—Success in the Data Center 5 . . . . . Powering Your POS with Novell Linux Point of Service 11 . . . . . SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 for In-store 6 . . . . . Retail Vendors Supporting Novell Back-office Desktops Linux Point of Service 12 . . . . . Case Study: Casas Bahia— 7 . . . . . Running In-store Server SUSE Linux Enterprise on the Applications on SUSE Linux Server, POS and Desktop Enterprise Server 10 13 . . . . . Novell Global Services and 7 . . . . . A Secure Platform for a Support for Retailers Dangerous World 13 . . . . . Conclusion 8 . . . . . Case Study: Overstock.com— Building a Totally Secure, Linux-based Online Business

p. 1 Exploring the Advantages

of SUSE® Linux Enterprise 10 for Your Retail Business

From brick-and-mortar Retailing is a tough business. Profit margins Boscov’s Department Stores—the largest stores to pure-play Web are thinning due to competition from mega- family-owned retailer in the U.S.—migrated outlets, retailers are retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Target. At the 70 Windows NT* servers to SUSE Linux using Linux to improve same time, competitors are using technolo- Enterprise Server. operations, extend gy to become more agile and provide faster, Casas Bahia’s 510 stores run completely customer services more reliable service. So how can you use on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, including and lower costs. technology to stay competitive? Can switch- 16,000 workstations and 4,000 POS ing to a new operating system actually help terminals. you deal with your biggest retail challenges, strengthen your competitive advantage and Novell provides four SUSE Linux Enterprise provide new opportunities for cutting costs? offerings designed specifically for retail busi-

With SUSE® Linux Enterprise 10—the Platform nesses. Each of these offerings provides a for the Open Enterprise™—the answer to all powerful and secure OS that enables you of these questions is a definitive yes. to choose best-of-breed systems for each area of your retail infrastructure. These four Industry-leading retailers are quickly recog- SUSE Linux Enterprise OS offerings include nizing that SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 can solutions for: help them enhance security, improve relia- bility and lower total cost of ownership (TCO). Point of Service (POS) Terminals: Built on

Consequently, they’re turning to Novell® SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, Novell Linux to address a wide range of specific retail Point of Service is a robust operating system challenges throughout their organizations— and management solution for retail store from Point of Service (POS) terminals and cash registers, kiosk systems, self-service in-store servers to complete data center devices and reverse-vending systems. It is solutions. From brick-and-mortar stores to the only designed specifi- pure-play Web outlets, retailers are using cally for retail point-of-service locations. It Linux* to improve operations, extend allows centralized management and provi- customer services and lower costs. sioning and lets you choose from multiple POS client images to fit your IT environment Here are just a few examples: and application requirements.

Circuit City is replacing Windows-based In-store Servers: SUSE Linux Enterprise POS terminals with POS terminals running Server 10 enables retailers to leverage Linux Novell Linux Point of Service. and open source by delivering a secure, Pep Boys automotive is deploying POS reliable and high-performance open source terminals and in-store servers at 600 platform for mission-critical in-store servers. locations—all powered by Novell Linux It supports a broad range of hardware plat- Point of Service. forms and leading retail applications, and it Burlington Coat Factory, which owns works flawlessly with Novell Linux Point of 340 stores in 42 states, runs 45 SUSE Service, since both run the same core Linux Enterprise Servers. operating system.

p. 2 SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 for Retail Businesses www.novell.com

HQ and Data Center Server: SUSE Linux The following are some of the top reasons What Will I Save? Enterprise Server 10 also provides a main- retailers are turning to Novell Linux Point of Because every frame-grade Linux server for large retail Service, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 organization is different, data centers. Built for reliability and flexibility, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10: it’s difficult to predict SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 is unique in exact expense reductions its ability to run on every popular mainframe Lower Total Cost of Ownership or ROI returns that will platform. This compatibility makes it easy result from a Linux For retailers with hundreds of locations to migrate from costly proprietary main- implementation. However, and thousands of POS devices, the savings frames, such as UNIX*, to low-cost Intel- an August 2005 study in licenses alone is enormous. In based hardware running SUSE Linux from the Robert Frances addition to the benefit of lower capital outlay Enterprise Server 10. Group shows that costs, retailers who switch to SUSE Linux migrating a UNIX Enterprise can also expect to experience Store Back-office Desktops: SUSE Linux database solution to lower operational costs. Because of its ad- Enterprise Desktop 10 is a flexible, capable Linux on x86 machines vanced design, Linux requires less memory desktop solution that runs on all kinds of can reduce hardware on client machines and runs on lower-end in-store hardware—from new desktop PCs costs by up to 51 percent server hardware in the back office than and laptops to older single-use terminals. and reduce software comparable Windows solutions, which can It can provide your retail business with a costs by up to 62 percent. significantly lower investments in new hard- secure, low-cost desktop alternative that When comparing a Linux ware. SUSE Linux Enterprise is designed delivers a complete set of powerful produc- solution on x86 hardware to run on all types of hardware platforms, tivity applications and interoperates seam- to Microsoft Windows including older machines, so you can extend lessly with the other Windows*, Macintosh* on x86, the same study the life of your legacy systems. If you are and UNIX desktops you may be running showed that Linux offers running UNIX, switching to SUSE Linux in your organization. a 43 percent hardware Enterprise creates similarly impressive savings and a 45 percent savings. Finally, SUSE Linux Enterprise This paper describes why retailers are software savings also offers advanced reliability and security switching to SUSE Linux Enterprise in large over Windows. capabilities that can reduce network admin- numbers—and making SUSE Linux their istration costs and improve operational platform of choice through every layer of TCO for Application Servers: efficiencies. Comparing Linux with Windows their organizations. It also provides specific and Solaris examples of how actual retail organizations Robert Frances Group Freedom from Vendor Lock-in are using all four SUSE Linux Enterprise August 2005 offerings in their IT environments to decrease Many retailers feel uncomfortable placing costs and improve the security, scalability all their IT eggs in one vendor’s basket, ______and reliability of their retail systems. providing another powerful motivation for 1 Market Study: 2006 North the rapid growth of Linux in retail computing. American Retail Point-of-Sale Why Retailers Are Switching You need choices, so placing mission-critical Terminals, IHL Consulting to SUSE Linux Enterprise systems and data at the mercy of a single- Group, March 9, 2006 vendor’s product roadmap simply doesn’t Linux adoption is growing rapidly in retail make sense. Applications running on SUSE businesses around the world. According to Linux Enterprise provide a new upgrade path the retail analyst firm IHL Consulting Group, for businesses that don’t want to get locked the Linux share of the retail POS market is into a pattern of forced upgrades and expen- nearing 10 percent, with Linux deployments sive licensing programs. With SUSE Linux in retail nearly doubling from 2004 to 2005.1 Enterprise, you buy only the software and That trend will continue as retailers learn support you need—when you need it. about the many benefits Linux can offer their IT departments.

p. 3 For many retailers, Microsoft’s security Ease of Migration from UNIX to Linux issues are a serious concern. Fortunately, Linux provides a lower-cost alternative to UNIX-based systems. A collection of Intel Linux can offer you a better and more servers running Linux can deliver more CPU secure alternative. horsepower per dollar than larger UNIX systems. In some cases, the savings retailers realize by turning off their UNIX systems Supported Hardware for Higher System Reliability and discontinuing their expensive annual Servers and Desktops: maintenance contracts is enough to fund Continuous uptime is critical in a retail envi- HP their Linux deployments. While SUSE Linux ronment—customers have little patience IBM Enterprise frees you from the costly shackles for waiting in checkout lines while a cash Dell of proprietary UNIX hardware and software, register reboots. SUSE Linux Enterprise was EMC the similarity between UNIX and Linux designed from the ground up to run complex AMD operating environments makes migrating processes quickly, efficiently and without SGI applications and training IT personnel much crashing. Its advanced development tech- SUN easier. With SUSE Linux Enterprise, central- niques use computer processors more Fujitsu Siemens ized management also becomes more of a intelligently than older operating systems Computers reality. Consolidating IT staff and skills on use them. Linux also runs critical functions Network Appliance SUSE Linux Enterprise means your IT per- in a way that prevents “buggy” programs sonnel can support and service every part from causing computers to become unstable Supported Chip of your infrastructure—from in-store systems and crash. As a result, all of your legacy Architectures: to data center mainframes. hardware and new computers will enjoy AMD 64 longer uptimes, improving service for your Intel EMT64 Established, Growing Linux customers and decreasing your adminis- Intel Itanium “Ecosystem” of Retail Hardware, tration costs. IBM POWER Software and Support Vendors IBM zSeries Stronger System and Data Security The ecosystem of hardware, application, IBM S/390 consulting, training and support vendors that x86 32-bit For many retailers, Microsoft’s security supports SUSE Linux Enterprise includes Dual and multicore issues are a serious concern. Fortunately, such retail leaders as IBM, NCR, Wincor- processors Linux can offer you a better, more secure Nixdorf, Triversity and Oracle/360 Commerce alternative. Linux’s strong security, like its to name a few (see the SUSE Linux Enterprise reliability, comes from its advanced design. retail partners chart for more examples). Unlike Windows, which is designed to give In addition, since most retail applications applications and users deep access to the run in the Java* environment, chances are OS kernel, SUSE Linux creates a strong your current applications will run on SUSE wall of separation between the kernel and Linux Enterprise right now. end users. Each layer of Linux has limited access to the others, which reduces the Because of this complete hardware, risk of unauthorized access to your systems software and support ecosystem, you can and data. deploy SUSE Linux Enterprise throughout your IT environment with complete confi- dence, knowing that you’ll enjoy the backing of the world’s biggest and most respected IT vendors.

p. 4 SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 for Retail Businesses www.novell.com

The Advantages of Open Source Novell Linux Client: Based on SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop from Novell, this flexible SUSE Linux Enterprise is an inherently POS platform supports JavaPOS and “All in all, an enormous open platform that supports all of the open multiple POS terminal personalities that stability and availability standards that are common in today’s retail can be changed (from the Admin Server) is clearly evident. The environments, including JavaPOS and ARTS. based on customer service needs. implementation of SUSE Linux also offers you the freedom to access Linux Enterprise Server the underlying source code, making it easier Novell Linux Point of Service also includes has resulted in uptimes to tune your POS system to meet the unique a powerful POS image management tool. of more than 400 days— needs and requirements of your business. This allows administrators to “push out” interrupted only due to POS images from a central location to all extensions on the hard- All of these benefits and advantages make POS machines, regardless of their locations. ware side. The superior SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 a smart, compel- This means administrators can re-image their scripting capability ling option for all sizes and types of retail entire POS systems in a matter of minutes, enables maximum organizations. SUSE Linux Enterprise offers without ever leaving their desks. Novell Linux flexibility for reacting your business the performance, reliability, Point of Service comes with a set of five pre- to new challenges, flexibility, security and freedom to meet built images varying in size and functionality, enabling shorter imple- mentation times.” today’s toughest retail challenges—from the which can be customized to load exactly the data center to the desktop. The next section operating system components and applica- tions retailers need for specific POS machines. Thomas Trepl of this paper examines the various SUSE Project Manager These five pre-defined images include: Linux Enterprise 10 retail offerings and “New Technologies” solutions from Novell in greater detail. McDonald’s Minimal Operating System: Designed for Powering Your POS with very basic transactional POS chores, this Novell Linux Point of Service image contains only the runtime environment for native code applications (C, C++) and Novell Linux Point of Service, built on SUSE the ncurses library to support user inter- Linux Enterprise Server, is a robust operating faces. This image has the advantage of system and management solution for your being extremely lightweight—it only requires retail store cash registers, kiosk systems, 30 MB of memory to run. self-service devices and reverse-vending systems. Novell Linux Point of Service is the Java-capable Operating System: This image only Linux offering specifically tailored to builds on the Minimal Operating System by adding Java2 Runtime Environment (JRE) meet the unique needs of the retail sector. support for running Java programs, an The Novell Linux Point of Service solution X-Windows GUI for application presentation, consists of three main components: and the popular JavaPOS technology that provides a vendor-neutral interface for POS Novell Linux Admin Server: A central terminal devices such as card readers, scan- point for defining, administering and ners, cash drawers, PIN pads and more. provisioning in-store servers and POS terminals. Java and Browser Capable System: This Novell Linux Branch Server: A general- image adds the Mozilla Web browser, which purpose in-store server that manages POS is a necessary component for running Web- terminal provisioning. It is also fully capable enabled applications. It is best suited for of operating when it is disconnected from retailers who need to serve Web-based the Admin Server. applications from central locations.

p. 5 Databases Certified on Desktop Operating System: Store managers a POS client and a server. This capability SUSE Linux Enterprise: and other personnel often need a desktop allows smaller shops with just a few POS IBM DB2 computer to perform administrative work. machines to set up one of their POS MySQL This image adds either the KDE or GNOME* machines as both the client and server, Oracle 8 desktop interface. These intuitive desktops which saves them from having to purchase Oracle 9i support a wide array of office automation additional hardware for a dedicated server. Oracle 10g tools, most notably the popular Microsoft* Oracle RAC Office-compatible OpenOffice suite. Retail Vendors Supporting PostgreSQL Novell Linux Point of Service Combo client/server: This image works At the POS level, an impressive array of Cluster File Systems as both a store server and a POS client. Linux retail solutions has become available Certified on SUSE The combo image is used for small store from established vendors, including 360 Linux Enterprise: environments where a dedicated server is Commerce, ACR, ADS and Triversity. PolyServe an unnecessary expense, and using a high- The synergies of Linux, Java and JavaPOS Veritas end POS client as both a server and POS have essentially eliminated platform varia- OCFS2 terminal works well. bility, freeing ISV developers to add more features and functionality to their offerings. Another cost-saving feature is the ability of This means more choices for retailers Novell Linux Point of Service to act as both and less in-house software development

A Partial List of Retail Partner Solutions that Run on Novell Linux Point of Service Hardware

IBM SurePOS POS terminals and servers HP rs5000 POS terminals and servers Wincor Nixdorf BEETLE POS terminals Unisys Servers and POS peripherals NCR RealPOS POS terminals Ultimate Technology 2800, 2200 and 1800 Series POS terminals Dell Servers and POS peripherals Software

IBM IRES Oracle / 360 Commerce POS, Back Office, Workforce Management, Inventory Management, Returns Management ACR POS (operator security, loss-prevention control, transaction-control options, layaway, charges and special ordering)

ADS POS Cornell-Mayo POS (layaway and layaway search, electronic journaling, background checking, credit authoriza- tion and international currency support)

JDA POS (sales, returns, exchanges, layaways and special orders) PCMS Java Bean retail components. Retail Business Solution POS Retalix Head-office and back-office applications Retek POS, cash management, inventory management, customer management and labor management SIVA POS, time and attendance, labor scheduling and inventory Sweda POS SAP / Triversity POS Volanté POS, hospitality

p. 6 SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 for Retail Businesses www.novell.com

overhead (see the SUSE Linux Enterprise Highly scalable and extremely secure, Linux retail partners chart on the previous page). delivers UNIX-like performance, scalability, In fact, IBM, which has a 30-year history security and reliability without the need to of creating flexible, retail-hardened store environments, actually uses Novell Linux purchase and maintain expensive and Point of Service as the foundation for its IBM* specialized hardware. Retail Environment for SUSE Linux, or IRES. This solution provides system management functionality that simplifies installation and Server 10. Several Novell partners, including upgrade processes for IBM eServer* xSeries* Oracle/360 Commerce and Retek, offer integrated suites that tie POS data functions store servers, many IBM point-of-sale “Our Linux on the into back-office systems. With SUSE Linux systems, and device drivers for most mainframe solution Enterprise Server 10, you can install and POS peripheral devices. has enabled Boscov’s run proven, industry-leading solutions for: to drastically reduce SAP/Triversity also understands the value software and systems Supply chain management SUSE Linux Enterprise can offer. Colin Haig, administration costs, Demand forecasting and promotions Vice President Of Business Development for saving nearly $1 million Inventory management SAP/Triversity, had this to say about Novell over a three-year period.” Linux Point of Service, “As retailers grow, their Labor management and scheduling Customer relationship and loyalty costs multiply as they open and equip more Harry Roberts stores. Novell Linux Point of Service provides management Chief Information Officer the framework customers need to deploy Layaways, returns and gift registries Boscov’s Department Stores and support Linux. These factors, and the Invoice matching proven cost advantages of Linux, make it Merchandising very compelling.” Pricing Auditing Running In-store Server Warehouse management Applications on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Of course, if your existing retail application is written in Java, it will run on SUSE Linux Linux has quickly become the operating Enterprise Server right now, allowing you system of choice for deploying mission- to consolidate applications on SUSE Linux critical applications in the enterprise, and Enterprise Server. This can save you money it’s now making similar strides in the retail and bring you one step closer to centralized industry. Highly scalable and extremely IT management where your staff can cost- secure, Linux delivers UNIX-like performance, effectively support all three tiers of your scalability, security and reliability without the IT environment. need to purchase and maintain expensive and specialized hardware. A Secure Platform for a Dangerous World A Wealth of Fully Supported SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 offers Retail Solutions an impressive number of unique, inherent Retail and general business solutions are security advantages you simply won’t find readily available on SUSE Linux Enterprise in any other retail operating platform.

p. 7 With Novell AppArmor, you can protect Overstock.com evaluated several Linux distributions including Red Hat*, Mandrake mission-critical data, reduce system and Debian, but insisted on a platform with administration costs and ensure centralized system management and the most recent advances in open source com- compliance with government regulations. ponents. The company selected SUSE Linux Enterprise to run its enterprise operations, including the Web portal through which it SUSE Linux Enterprise Server has achieved receives all its revenue. the highest level of security and operations certification ever achieved in the Linux mar- “One of the benefits of Overstock.com has more than 70 SUSE ket—Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Linux is that we don’t Linux Enterprise servers in production, Level (EAL) 4+, which means it provides have to buy these large, processing millions of Web requests a day. essential security capabilities such as monolithic machines. All internal users and external customers hit encryption, security certificate creation and We were able to buy very a SUSE Linux Enterprise server when they management, user authentication and access low-cost, Intel machines, interact with the company. Overstock.com is control, and firewall and proxy management. such as Dell, IBM, and also developing new in-house applications HP machines, that have on SUSE Linux Enterprise. Novell AppArmor™, included with SUSE 2 to 4 CPUs. By running Linux Enterprise Server 10, provides a Linux on them, we get SUSE Linux Enterprise has also helped unique extra layer of security by protecting much greater server Overstock.com consolidate its IT skill set. the operating system and all your applica- power at a very low cost.” Most of its engineers use some form of Linux tions from the harmful effects of internal or from their desktops to the servers. Getting to external attacks, malicious applications and Sam Peterson know the intricacies of Linux, which is not viruses. With AppArmor, you can protect Director of Network Engineering possible in other environments, creates a Overstock.com mission-critical data, reduce system admin- more effective staff. istration costs and ensure compliance with government regulations. ______“The performance, stability, and ease of 2 Jon Fullmer, Lead Network management has made me and Overstock Case Study: Overstock.com— 2 Engineer, Overstock.com. Building a Totally Secure, more successful,” said Fullmer. “Stability is Citation: Novell customer a critical factor for us. We go months without case study: www.novell.com/ Linux-based Online Business success/overstock.html rebooting SUSE servers, and reboots seldom Overstock.com Inc. is an online “closeout” have to do with the OS. The stability of SUSE retailer, offering discount, name-brand mer- versus Windows and Solaris* is amazing.” chandise for sale over the Internet. The com- pany offers its customers an opportunity to Overstock.com relies on 70 SUSE Linux shop for bargains conveniently, while offering Enterprise servers to serve approximately its suppliers a global distribution channel. seven million visitors per month with maxi- mum uptime. A solid infrastructure stream- Overstock.com depends on a rock-solid lines administration and contributes to the infrastructure to process millions of Web company’s success as a leading Internet requests every day. The company originally retailer. SUSE Linux Enterprise also provides used HP-UX*, but found that the platform a flexible platform to adapt to a rapidly was not flexible enough to keep pace with changing Internet market without the need its rapidly growing business. The company for additional tools. also wanted a system that did not require a daunting amount of specialized knowledge.

p. 8 SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 for Retail Businesses www.novell.com

“Novell’s relationship with the open source costs, saving nearly $1 million over a three- community is a big plus in my book,” said year period.” Boscov’s was also able to cut Schwegman. “We know we’ll have the best administration costs by centralizing their IT “Skill portability is of the open source industry.”3 management and consolidating support to becoming much more focus on SUSE Linux Enterprise. important. We used SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 to have two separate for the Data Center Server Why Virtualization Matters to operational units—one for Your Retail Business servers and another The performance, scalability, security and for mainframes. SUSE reliability of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 With SUSE Linux Enterprise 10, Novell allowed us to smash the make it an excellent choice for in-store servers becomes the first enterprise-class Linux groups together and and applications. Many of these same charac- platform to offer and fully support Xen* 3.0 begin to cross-pollinate teristics, combined with powerful virtualization, virtualization. With Xen, you can run multiple their expertise.” clustering and high-availability capabilities, applications on the same piece of hardware also make SUSE Linux Enterprise an ideal with minimal performance impact—or spread Harry Roberts platform for running the mission-critical a single workload across multiple servers. Chief Information Officer data center servers at the heart of your As a result, you can more than double Boscov’s Department Stores retail business. server utilization, reducing server sprawl and decreasing your data center costs. ______SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 is supported by almost all of the major commercial data- Henry Ford became a business icon because 3 Shawn Schwegman, CIO, Overstock.com. base vendors, including Oracle and IBM DB2. he understood better than anyone how to Citation: Novell Case Study: When a commercial database is not required, maximize the utilization of resources (human www.novell.com/success/ robust open source alternatives, like MySQL and otherwise) in his factories. Can you overstock.html and PostgreSQL, are also available on the imagine if Henry Ford ran his production SUSE Linux Enterprise platform. For many line at 40-percent capacity on a good day? vendors, Linux has become the reference He would have gone broke within a week. platform for database development, so new Yet according to recent research, the average releases are developed first for Linux archi- workload of servers in enterprise environments tectures and then ported to other platforms. is between five and 40 percent, leaving more than 60 percent of the available Boscov’s, a US$1 billion department store capacity unused. chain based in Pennsylvania, has migrated its 70-server data center to IBM zSeries* sys- Deploying server-based applications in tems running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. today’s data centers is often another monu- One instance of Linux is using Samba for ment to inefficiency. Administrators have to the main headquarters location and all of find the hardware, install an operating system, the stores. Another instance is being used change control, tune parameters, figure out for advertising materials, timecards and how much memory is required, find some other administrative tasks. A third instance is disk space and then, finally, perform the serving UDB for Boscov’s invoice-matching install. After all that effort, the application is, application and a DB2 gateway. for all intents and purposes, welded to the server. The majority of today’s data centers Chief Information Officer for Boscov’s, Harry still run one application stack on one server, Roberts, states, “Our Linux on the mainframe which drives ever-growing server sprawl and solution has enabled Boscov’s to drastically translates directly into more money spent reduce software and systems administration on hardware and management.

p. 9 Virtualization is the key to solving these also needed to host a large number of data- data center problems because it allows you bases, support an upgrade to Oracle* 10 and “SUSE Linux has to reduce the number of servers by running accommodate more than 350 storage devices. performed beyond our multiple applications on a single server. By expectations. We were putting applications and operating systems Burlington looked at Microsoft Windows, as really excited when in virtual machines, data center managers well as other UNIX alternatives, but wanted Novell bought SUSE can harness more of their unused computing an operating system that wasn’t tied to a and now view Novell power and bring CPU, memory and periph- single software or hardware vendor. The as strong technology eral (LAN or disk) channel capacity utilization company took the recommendation of partner. They have an up to 80 percent. They can extract up to another software provider to move to extraordinary attitude eight times more real work from the same SUSE Linux Enterprise Server from Novell. toward support and resources. And they can provision applica- are committed to the tions and systems dynamically—moving In less than two weeks, Burlington imple- Linux enterprise.” virtual machines from one server to another mented SUSE Linux Enterprise on IBM xSeries (and one customer to another) as needed. servers to run two major applications. The Michael Prince Physical hardware resources consumed company took advantage of a PolyServe* CIO clustered environment to provide high Burlington Coat Factory during the day for one workload can be Warehouse Corporation automatically re-purposed during the night availability for the system supporting its for another. shopping and gift cards. SUSE Linux Enterprise provided better performance Case Study: Burlington Coat for peak transaction times, ensuring that Factory—Success in the Burlington customers can use their shopping Data Center and gift cards in any store, at any time.

Burlington Coat Factory is a national retail “SUSE Linux has performed beyond our chain offering high-quality, designer merchan- expectations,” said Michael Prince, CIO. dise at up to 60 percent less than department “We were really excited when Novell bought store prices. The company has 341 stores in SUSE and now view Novell as strong tech- 42 states nationwide. nology partner. They have an extraordinary attitude toward support and are committed Burlington Coat Factory has been running its to the Linux enterprise.” enterprise on Linux for several years, replac- ing the “green screens” in its retail stores with “The systems in our retail stores are so Web-based applications. But the company stable they can run for six months or more needed to replace its large-scale servers without being rebooted, and we have yet that were obsolete, complex and difficult to see a virus attack,” said Prince. “Stability to manage. Implementing clustered Intel is crucial for these systems in order for servers throughout its enterprise would our associates to provide top-notch provide better performance while reducing customer service.” administration time. Burlington Coat Factory will also realize Burlington was also dissatisfied with support huge cost savings by moving to an Intel* from its existing Linux distribution provider and infrastructure for nearly 2,000 Linux servers began searching for a company committed and 5,000 Wincor Nixdorf point-of-sale to its success. The new Linux distribution devices in its 341 stores.

p. 10 SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 for Retail Businesses www.novell.com

By running its enterprise on SUSE Linux SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 Enterprise, Burlington has reduced its hard- ware costs tenfold from its previous UNIX is an easy-to-use, full-featured Linux environment, while creating a more reliable desktop operating system and office- infrastructure. SUSE Linux Enterprise pro- vides greatly improved uptime, particularly productivity environment. during peak transaction times around holi- days, as well as the scalability to support desktop can comfortably interoperate with SUSE Linux Enterprise multiple Oracle databases and a variety Windows-based users, within or between Desktop users who of storage devices. stores. Best of all, you get it all for around want to avoid single- one-fifth of what you’re probably paying vendor lock-in on the “Without SUSE Linux we wouldn’t be as far right now. desktop can comfortably along in deploying a heavy-duty data center,” interoperate with said Prince. “We also would have been more In addition to its role as a general-purpose Windows-based users, constrained by costs and would have ended desktop platform for your back-office workers, within or between stores. up spending more money on a system not SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop can be tai- Best of all, you get it all nearly as robust. SUSE Linux gives us a lored for use in information kiosks, call-center for around one-fifth of level of reliability that retailers never could terminals, or stations for infrequent PC users. what you’re probably have afforded before.” SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop also provides paying right now. SUSE Linux Enterprise an ideal alternative to high-cost UNIX-based Desktop 10 for In-store engineering workstations. Back-office Desktops Some of the features of SUSE Linux Enterprise Most retailers use PCs in the corporate Desktop 10 include those listed below: headquarters and in individual stores to per- form a variety of administrative and business Intuitive User Interface tasks. In the past, this has translated into SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop comes with expensive Windows licensing fees, because a powerful graphical user interface that was there simply weren’t any viable desktop designed based on hundreds of usability alternatives. With SUSE Linux Enterprise tests, including almost 1500 hours of usability Desktop 10, those days are finally over. video. The results are reflected in its intuitive graphical menu design, integrated search SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 is an capabilities and a new accelerated 3D easy-to-use, full-featured Linux desktop graphical engine. This means your store operating system and office-productivity employees will be able to quickly acclimate environment. It gives your store employees themselves to their new Linux desktop what they need to run your business, and environment without delays for training. you don’t have to pay for software you don’t need. Linux Support for VBA Spreadsheet Macros SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop includes an office suite that can open and save Microsoft For your power users, the Novell Edition Office file formats. It also includes applications of OpenOffice.org 2.0 provides support for for e-mail, instant messaging, Web browsing, spreadsheets that include Visual Basic for multimedia, online updates and much more. Application (VBA) macros, removing one of SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop users who the largest barriers to enterprise adoption want to avoid single-vendor lock-in on the of Linux desktops.

p. 11 SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop is an all-in- platform that would provide greater flexibility and scalability. one solution. It includes a complete office suite, a Web browser, instant messaging, Casas Bahia has more than 22 million active customers, and 80 percent of its monthly photo- and music-management software sales are from returning customers. Sales and dozens of powerful business tools. employees need real-time access to data to quickly check a new customer’s credit history or to manage an existing customer’s Powerful Applications account. A flexible solution with workstations and point of sale (POS) systems in each Unlike other desktops that require additional store is essential to maintain the company’s purchases and installations to build the “The move to SUSE Linux superior customer service record. application set your users need, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server was Enterprise Desktop is an all-in-one solution. completely transparent— After deciding against a proprietary solution, It includes a complete office suite, a Web we had no interruption Casas Bahia experimented with Red Hat browser, instant messaging, photo- and whatsoever. We didn’t before moving its entire architecture to music-management software and dozens have to do any training SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. of powerful business tools. for our 55,000 employees, which could have been “We moved to Novell because of its strong Together, these impressive desktop capa- very costly.” reputation for support as well as its relation- bilities can provide your back-office PC users ship with IBM,” said Frederico Wanderley, with all of the tools and applications they Frederico Wanderley CIO of Casas Bahia. “Unlike our experience need to be productive. Even better, they CIO with Red Hat, we have local support for Casas Bahia provide you with a viable desktop alternative SUSE Linux which is extremely important for your retail business—one that finally for our dynamic retail business. Novell Brasil offers the desktop capabilities you need is a great partner for us.” Casas Bahia runs without excessive licensing fees or steep SUSE Linux Enterprise Server on two IBM hardware requirements. 2084 zSeries mainframes with a 60-terabyte Case Study: Casas Bahia— storage solution on an IBM 8300. The com- SUSE Linux Enterprise on the pany has avoided a significant investment Server, POS and Desktop in new hardware with the ability to run Linux on its existing Intel-based machines. Casas Bahia is the largest retail chain in Brazil, selling US$6 billion worth of elec- “The move to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server tronics, furniture and appliances each year. was completely transparent—we had no With 55,000 employees and more than interruption whatsoever,” said Wanderley. 500 stores, the company needed a secure “We didn’t have to do any training for our platform for their POS, back-office desktops 55,000 employees, which could have been and servers. very costly.”

When IBM discontinued support for OS/2, Each of Casas Bahia’s 510 stores runs Casas Bahia needed to standardize on a completely on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, new platform for its enterprise architecture. including 16,000 workstations and 4,000 The company estimated that moving to a POS terminals. All stores are linked, and proprietary solution would cost more than executives can monitor performance in real US$8 million. Instead, Casas Bahia turned time and track results from the 14 million to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for an open clients who enter the stores each month.

p. 12 SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 for Retail Businesses www.novell.com

The company also runs its network, e-mail implement, deploy and maintain a lower Novell offers the and Web applications on SUSE Linux cost infrastructure with higher reliability. technical support, Enterprise Server. This includes: training, consulting expertise and partner “Having a secure and reliable platform is Technical support available 24x7x365 from network you need to essential for our US$6 billion business,” said more than 700 support technicians implement, deploy and Wanderley. “Everything we do is real-time Training options that can bring your IT staff maintain a lower cost so our managers can make better business up to speed on the latest technologies infrastructure with decisions. In four years of running Linux, A mature consulting organization to support higher reliability. we have never had a problem with security you from design through implementation or downtime in any of our stores.” With fast Thousands of partners who deliver the and reliable systems, 16,000 Casas Bahia hardware and software solutions that fit salespeople can quickly service each client seamlessly into your existing environment in a matter of minutes, even including a 800 technology partners, 900 training credit check for new clients. partners and 3,200 solution provider

partners in Novell PartnerNet® For the 900 users who need desktop soft- ware, Casas Bahia uses the OpenOffice.org Conclusion productivity suite in SUSE Linux Enterprise Every retail business is dealing with tough Desktop for a significant reduction in licens- new competitive challenges, and you need ing costs. The ability to use open source new IT solutions to address them. Linux, software also gives the company flexibility with its inherent security, reliability, flexibility to find and customize solutions for its and low cost, has the potential to solve unique business. “The main objective of our a wide range of important technical and IT department is to assist our users in a fast, business problems for retail businesses. online and efficient way,” said Wanderley. And Novell is working to capitalize on that “We can do it all with a Linux platform.” potential with a complete, fully supported Novell Global Services and and enterprise-ready Linux platform— Support for Retailers and the only Linux solutions designed specifically for retail environments. With Novell Linux Point of Service, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 and SUSE Linux Learn more about how Novell can help Enterprise Desktop 10, you get much more your retail business harness the power and than great software. You also get the backing flexibility of Linux to lower costs, become and assurance of the extensive Novell serv- more flexible and efficient, and grow more ice and support ecosystem. Novell offers competitive. Call 800-529-3400 or visit: the technical support, training, consulting www.novell.com/retail expertise and partner network you need to

p. 13 “SUSE came in like a knight on a white horse. They were extremely responsive and addressed our 10 biggest issues right off the bat. SUSE Linux was the only solution that allowed us to move forward with our chosen architecture—Oracle, Linux, IBM and PolyServe.”

Michael Prince CIO Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation www.novell.com

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