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At Coca-Cola, satiating thirsty drinkers is a data-driven business. As a global total beverage company with over 500 brands and operating in over 200 countries, a relentless focus on data keeps the company efficient. 

In Macau, where Coca-Cola offers a diversified portfolio of sparkling beverages, sweetened and unsweetened tea, juices, sports drinks, drinking water, enhanced hydration beverages, etc., data storage efficiency impacts operations. Without the right data available at the right time, the core applications, which impact both top line growth and streamlines the company’s bottom line, will fizzle out.

Success was creating new concerns. As the company grew its footprint and market success, Macau Coca-Cola was swamped with more data at a faster rate. The exponential growth strained its old database, which the ERP depended on. This resulted in more bottlenecks that slowed operational response in a market that was evolving at breakneck speeds.

Macau Coca-Cola knew it needed a refreshing approach. So, it decided on a digitalization strategy that modernized its infrastructure and better managed its data growth today and in the future, while supporting its core applications. They looked for a solution that scaled to its data growth needs, unplugged data bottlenecks and made the ERP systems responsive and fast.

While cost, product reliability and local support were crucial to the company, they needed to future-proof themselves. Macau Coca-Cola was not interested in a stop-gap solution that solved today’s challenges; they wanted a long-term partnership that allowed them to work together on addressing upcoming ones as well.

These were the reasons that drove Macau Coca-Cola to select IBM FlashSystem 9110.

Formulated for data speed

Out of the box, it was clear that IBM FlashSystem 9110 was designed for extreme data speed. By combining flash storage performance with the non-volatile memory express (NVMe) protocol and using two Intel Skylake CPUs per array controller, it allayed Macau Coca-Cola’s data performance and availability worries.

The compact, 2U storage system with all-flash arrays featuring dual array controllers, dual power supplies, redundant cooling and full hot swap abilities was designed for reliability. With so much of Macau Coca-Cola’s business relying on the performance of its data storage system, the redundancy offered a much-needed assurance.    

Disk I/O bottlenecks became history with IBM FlashSystem 9110. It streamlined the operations, significantly boosted overall data performance and allowed Macau Coca-Cola to scale quickly as needed.

The software-defined IBM Spectrum Virtualize put a broad set of enterprise-class data services — from dynamic AI-based EasyTier and replication to FlashCopy management, transparent cloud tiering and high-performance data-at-rest encryption — at the company’s fingertips. The new Data Reduction Pools (DRP), which combined deduplication and hardware-accelerated compression technology, maximized storage space.

IBM FlashSystem 9110 made also financial sense. It offers three levels of data reduction technologies, allowing Macau Coca-Cola to stretch its investment and data capacity without sacrificing total cost of ownership.

Doing data with confidence

Thanks to the close collaboration between Macau Coca-Cola and IBM project teams, implementation went smoothly. We provided hardware installation and performed the necessary configuration to ensure project success. Meanwhile, our tools, such as IBM Spectrum Virtualize, simplified data migration.

The impact was immediate. Macau Coca-Cola saw a positive difference in data access and storage speeds. They could now focus on using their ERP and not be weighed down by IT infrastructure or slow core applications. The recent peak in remote working traffic did not change response times, allowing the company to maintain its operational efficiency during challenging times.

In addition, IBM offered them the confidence to ramp up and manage their operations as they wanted. With the professional advice and in-depth understanding of their business needs, they could now grow their business without data worries holding them back. More importantly, it ensured that Macau Coca-Cola’s wide range of beverages reaching the hands of its avid customers.

Additional Information:

IBM Storage Insights: Optimize your storage infrastructure using this cloud-based storage management and support platform with predictive analytics