Downtime, errors and slow data processing are costly. All the more so when data is at the core of your business, as it is for HR service provider Liantis. In 2016, Liantis decided to set up a powerful, reliable database hardware environment, which Cegeka implemented. The results exceed all expectations.
Always-on economy
Payroll administration, child benefit and social security funds, and recruitment, selection, prevention and protection solutions: Liantis’ offering contains a broad range of professional services. One thing they all have in common is the large amounts of computing power required. “If you calculate the wages of about 300,000 people per month, you can’t afford to make mistakes, lose data or suffer downtime,” says Nicolas Van Kerschaver, Innovation, Product Development and ICT Manager at Liantis. “Moreover, our large customers have been enjoying always-on services for a couple of years now. To successfully meet the needs of today’s digital economy, we had to trade our existing data platform for a powerful, reliable and future-proof system.”
As Liantis has been running Oracle hardware for over 15 years, Oracle Exadata was a logical choice. However, Liantis thoroughly examined the solution. “Sure, selecting an Oracle solution would make it easy to consolidate the old and the new systems. Despite that fact, we critically evaluated the solution and then chose it because of its proven stability, reliability and performance.”
Swapping out the engine of a moving Car
Liantis selected Cegeka to help the in-house IT team migrate and implement the two Exadata systems. “The new database had to be available 24/7 and we wanted the same commitment from our migration and implementation partner,” Nicolas explains. “Cegeka are Exadata users themselves – which was, of course, a clear plus. Yet more than that, the consultants instilled trust and their company culture is a perfect fit to Liantis’: open, down-to-earth and utterly pragmatic. We were confident they’d be available to help us whenever needed.”
Nicolas and his colleagues were proven right. Both teams got along very well, stuck to the agreements and tight deadlines and went live right on time – with no surprises. “The migration was like replacing a car engine while the car is still moving. It’s incredibly how we pulled it off. In fact, there was one single issue,” Nicolas admits. “But everyone stayed really late, until long after midnight, to get it sorted out. Difficult times bring out the best in a good business partner.”
20x faster
The new Exadata systems have been live since October 2016, performing flawlessly and enhancing staff productivity. “We had measured a series of business flows, like payroll calculations, before the migration – up to the millisecond – and compared it to the new situation. The difference in batch processing speed is massive: from 8 hours in the past to 20 minutes in the new environment – over 20 times faster! Customers will not be able to notice this, but for us, it is a huge difference.”
In addition, Liantis feels confident that Exadata is a stable system that will always be available to support their business. And if the business grows, then it’s really easy to grow the system, too. Cegeka, for its part, will remain a trusted business partner, ready to help and make modifications or extensions whenever needed.
“Cegeka instilled trust and their company culture is a perfect fit to Liantis': open, down-to-earth and utterly pragmatic. We were confident they’d be available to help us whenever needed.”
Challenges
There was no room for downtime, errors and slow data processing.
A powerful and reliable database hardware environment had to be set up.
The new database had to be available 24/7.
Results
Two Exadata systems were migrated and implemented.
The new Exadata systems perform flawlessly and enhance staff productivity.
There’s a massive difference in batch processing speed: from 8 hours in the past to 20 minutes in the new environment.
