Harnessing the Power of the Portal
 Meyn
Foods wanted to give remote employees access to the same diverse
mix of applications and data that headquarters employees enjoy.
The Netherlands-based company also needed to spend minimal time
and money on custom programming and client software. A portal powered
by Sun® ONE Portal Server, Tarantella
Enterprise 3 software, and Tarantella Integration Pack for Sun ONE
Portal Server helped the company do just that. 
Large Network Access Needed
Meyn Foods, a leading manufacturer of equipment and systems for
the poultry and convenience food processing industry, has a network
of subsidiaries and local agents in more than 20 countries, including
the United States. But not everyone on its worldwide team could
access the key applications and data used by employees at its headquarters
in Oostzaan, the Netherlands.
At the U.S. subsidiary office in Flowery Branch, Georgia, employees
were using a different enterprise resource planning (ERP) system
than the Netherlands group. The company wanted its remote employees
to have the same BaaN ERP system, report-writing applications, and
email client as their European counterparts, as well as access to
key sales, service, and inventory data.
An extranet portal was the smart solution for this geographically
diverse company. But in deciding
which products to select for a timely, cost-effective deployment,
Meyn's IT organization had to
address some key considerations:
- A mix of existing Windows and UNIX applications
- Security and maturity of portal technology
- Scalability for future software rollouts, including customer
relationship management (CRM) products
- Ability to keep client software thin
Integrated Solution
Meyn is implementing an extranet by deploying a combination of
the Sun ONE Portal
Server and other elements of the Sun Open Net Environment (Sun ONE),
Tarantella Enterprise 3
software, and the Tarantella Integration Pack for Sun ONE Portal
Server (formerly called Tarantella
Integration Pack for iPlanet Portal Server). This approach allows
Meyn to web-enable its ERP
functions, email client, office applications, and back-end systems
for delivery through the Sun ONE Portal Server.
Using the Tarantella products and Sun ONE Portal Server, Meyn Foods
can provide secure remote access to all of its business-critical
applications, both UNIX and Windows, through the portal. U.S. employees
can access the BaaN ERP system and other key data using an ordinary
web browser. Most importantly, the company will not need to rewrite
existing software applications or write custom code — both
of which commonly increase costs and delay implementation of some
portal environments.
A technical overview of how the Tarantella software
and Sun™ ONE Portal server integration is accomplished.
The Sun ONE/Tarantella Advantage
Meyn Foods selected Tarantella and the Sun ONE platform for their
out-of-the-box functionality,
as well as for the products' security and scalability, single sign-on
capabilities, and their limited
client software requirements.
Saving Time and Money
The Sun and Tarantella products form a highly complementary solution
that will save time and
money for Meyn Foods as it improves access to critical information
for its employees and improves
service for its customers.
"I think Sun has the right vision on how to build an extranet
solution," says Steef Klein, ICT manager for Meyn Food Processing
Technology. "Its hardware is very stable and scalable, which
is of great importance in a 24x7 environment. The combination of
Sun ONE Portal Server, Tarantella software, and Sun servers is hard
to beat." Competitive products, Klein notes, would have required
significant and costly custom programming work.
The Sun ONE Portal Server and Tarantella products will further
save Meyn's IT organization time
and money because the familiar web browser interface will speed
user acceptance and minimize
support requirements. "It's a very thin-client approach and
very powerful," Klein says.
Built on Open Standards
Looking forward, Klein says his company needs technology that will
help it manage a worldwide
supply chain, pre-sales and sales activities, production, and planning.
In the near future, the
company plans to implement new CRM tools. The open standards of
the Sun ONE system and
Tarantella products give Meyn a foundation upon which it can add
CRM tools and other packages
as the need arises.
It's a very thin-client approach and very
powerful.
|
|
The Challenge
Give remote employees access to the same diverse
mix of applications and data that headquarters employees enjoy while
spending minimal time and money on programming and software.
The Solution
Web-enable Meyn's ERP
functions, email client, office applications, and back-end systems
for extranet delivery through an integrated portal solution.
The Benefits
A familiar web browser interface speeds user acceptance
and minimizes support requirements, all without increasing programming
costs or rewriting code.
Customer Testimonial
"The combination of Sun ONE Portal Server, Tarantella
software, and Sun servers is hard to beat."
— Steef Klein, ICT
manager for Meyn Food Processing Technology
|
