PLUS Supermarket builds stable, scalable future in the cloud
A customized hybrid cloud solution provides PLUS with performance, scalability, and operational reliability during peak periods. The supermarket group relies on AXI as a trusted partner in its digital transformation.
PLUS is the third largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands and was created from a merger with the Coop cooperative. With more than 500 stores, PLUS is an important player in the Dutch retail landscape. The organization profiles itself as customer-friendly and environmentally responsible, and is strongly committed to digitization, from cash register systems to online orders.
IT is the beating heart of the organization. From placing orders with suppliers to the self-scanners in stores, everything runs on technology. “In fact, IT supports almost everything that happens in a supermarket,” says Marco De Haan, program manager at PLUS. “And that makes stability and performance all the more important.”
The challenge: inadequate on-premises infrastructure
Until the end of 2023, PLUS used an on-premises infrastructure in two data centers. AXI supported PLUS with lifecycle management, monitoring, and technical expertise. For years, this setup offered an excellent balance between availability, performance, and manageability.
At the end of 2023, the hardware was due for renewal. At that point, various options were considered: on-premises, public cloud, and private cloud. However, the increasing complexity of applications such as IBM Power and Oracle databases made a switch to the public cloud not an obvious choice.
The solution: flexible AXI Private Cloud
PLUS opted for a hybrid multi-cloud environment. PLUS's data centers would be phased out and replaced by a combination of on-premises infrastructure (for the head office, stores, and distribution centers), public cloud (Microsoft Azure), and private cloud (AXI Cloud).
“The choice for this setup was based on a consideration of cost, performance, manageability, and scalability, with a best-of-breed solution being chosen for each component,” says Marco De Haan. "AXI's private cloud solution proved to be the best alternative for our IBM Power environment. We compared several providers, but ultimately our confidence in AXI's expertise and our long-standing collaboration were the deciding factors."
The hybrid cloud solution includes:
- IBM Power10 compute environment
- VMware on HPE Intel compute
- HPE Storage
- Commvault backup via AXI's Backup-as-a-Service
All this infrastructure is now available to PLUS via a pay-as-you-go construction. Thanks to flexible migration techniques, AXI was able to carry out the transition with minimal downtime. “We divided the migration into change windows on Sunday mornings. Everything went according to plan and without any disruption to the business,” says De Haan.
The results: room for growth
The switch to the AXI Cloud delivered clear benefits for PLUS:
- Stability and performance: The systems proved their strength, especially during busy periods such as Christmas. “In the past, some applications reached their maximum capacity during peak times. Now we have breathing space again,” says De Haan.
- Scalability: Growth following the merger with Coop doubled the volume that the systems have to process. The new infrastructure is fully equipped to handle this.
- Cost control: Thanks to the pay-as-you-go model, PLUS only pays for what it actually uses.
Marco De Haan: “We have really made progress. Performance is much better, the systems are stable, and we have room to grow again. We literally saved Christmas.”
“We have really made progress. Performance is much better, the systems are stable, and we have room to grow again. We literally saved Christmas.”
— Marco De Haan, Program manager ICT, PLUS Retail
A partnership of trust
The collaboration between PLUS and AXI goes back more than twenty years. What started with hardware support grew into a close and multifaceted partnership.
“AXI not only has the technology, but also the people. A number of them became real confidants during that migration period,” says De Haan. “The partnership with AXI is built on trust, flexibility, and quality.”
Looking to the future
PLUS is ambitious. The organization wants to continue to grow and is already looking at the next steps in its digital evolution. “The systems we are currently running will eventually process even more volume. AXI's infrastructure is prepared for this. And if it were up to me, we would continue to work together,” concludes De Haan.
