Associated Food Stores to Boost Data Center Effectiveness

Associated Food Stores plans to lease two new mainframe-class server systems and associated maintenance services to boost efficiency of its mission-critical applications such as those that support its inventory and financial operations.

The wholesaler inked a 30-month lease for two ClearPath Libra Model 400 mainframe-class server systems from Blue Bell, Pa.-based Unisys Corp. Replacing an earlier generation of ClearPath servers, the new ClearPath systems, which run in duplicate data centers and provide mirrored capabilities, enable environmental savings including a smaller footprint and less power usage. This helps Associated Food Stores reduce operational and power consumption costs while eliminating the need to outsource backup and disaster recovery functions.

"At a time when food costs are escalating, distributors must seize every advantage to improve margins while continuing to grow their business," said Wade Judd, executive director of information technology at Associated. "The new Unisys ClearPath Libra Model 400 systems give Associated Food Stores that kind of edge in a challenging marketplace. Combining greater computing capacity for critical business applications with decreased power requirements, they support our strategy for reducing costs. At the same time, they help us continue to deliver exceptional service to our customers."

The new systems employ an open-systems architecture, with support for the Microsoft Windows operating environment that complements the Unisys MCP operating environment. This enables Associated, a 30-year Unisys client, to take advantage of a broad choice of applications, according to Unisys.

Salt Lake City-based Associated Food Stores is a cooperatively owned wholesale distributor to almost 500 independently owned supermarkets in an eight-state region.
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