CIO's SHOPPING LIST: Tirubala Exports

Want to sell solutions to corporates? Learn what investments leading
companies are making in their IT infrastructure and what qualities their CIOs
are looking for in suppliers.

COMPANY

Tirubala Exports, Kanpur

COMPANY DETAILS

Tirubala Exports is a leather shoe manufacturer and a government recognized
leather export house.

CURRENT IT INFRASTRUCTURE

This SMB has a network of four servers and 32 client nodes. The servers are
for application, exchange, additional domain controller and file server as well
as ISA and anti-virus systems. They run on Windows Server 2003 and have Intel
server boards with Raptor mirrored HDDs. A set of close circuit cameras are
mounted to monitor these servers, 24x7. The client nodes have Windows XP
Professional with applications like Office 2003, Adobe Photoship 7 and Coreldraw
11.0. Their configuration machines mainly constitutes 256MB RAM, 40GB HDD and
AMD2400+ chips. The company is also developing an ERP system through New
Delhi-based Ishir Infotech, which is estimated to cost Rs 20 lakh. There are
also in-house developments for small applications with the three resident
software programmers. Accounting is done using multi-user Tally 6.3, while the
attendance management is based on biometrics, which is linked to the in-house
ERP system to record remuneration. The company also uses software for receipt of
bills and letters with user specific logins and a missed call enquiry system.
The company has deployed 8 printers with distributed rights, which are
accessible throughout the network through a print server. The ISA server
controls Net traffic with certain pre-defined rules allowing access to websites
and alerts owners if an attachment is leaving the office.

VALUE OF EXISTING IT INFRASTRUCTURE

Since Tirubala Exports does business on a global level, it has to ensure
that its infrastructure is at par with its international peers. It has already
invested over Rs 20 lakh in 2004-05 and plans to up this in forthcoming years.

PROPOSED IT INFRASTRUCTURE FOR 2005-06

The company is planning to deploy a 3D modeling software to be hosted on the
Net so that buyers can design their own choice of footwear with available raw
material. This system will also be linked with an online purchase and order
monitoring mechanism. Tirubala Exports will be extending its client PCs to 50
nodes to expedite its processes. 10 more people will be added to its existing IT
team as well.   

EXPECTED BUDGET FOR ABOVE

The company will invest around Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh in 2005-06 for
hardware and software. The ERP implementation will be considered
separately.              

CURRENT SYSTEMS SUPPLIER

Kanpur-based AB Systems.

QUALIFICATIONS OF SUPPLIER

Tirubala Exports selected AB Systems because it was a leading hardware supplier,
dealing with several large corporates. This solution provider is also the state
distributor for Microsoft and a prominent Intel partner. One of the most
important criteria while selecting its supplier was the precedent it had set
with other customers and its customer satisfaction ratio. AB Systems was also
sought because of its prompt after-sales service.