SuperMarkets Online

"When we migrated to Windows 2000, we saw a substantial performance increase in terms of the speed of SQL Server 7.0 databases. The throughput is perceptually faster—it’s very noticeable. That lets us handle more traffic with the same amount of equipment, reducing our equipment costs."

--David Banker, executive director of IT for SuperMarkets Online, Inc.

Company Profile

SuperMarkets Online is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Catalina Marketing Corporation. Founded in 1996, the Greenwich, Connecticut company provides electronic marketing services to manufacturers of food products, delivering buying incentives to consumers online. The firm currently has 40 employees.

The company has 33 Web and database servers, which have all migrated to Windows® 2000, and uses primarily Compaq hardware.

Business Solution

New business models have become possible as more and more mainstream consumers turn to the Web. Through its Web site, SuperMarkets Online offers consumers dynamically created lists of participating grocery stores and food products. Consumers can print out these lists and take them to the store for dollars off of purchases. Currently, more than 11,000 stores nationwide are participating.

Reliability, Faster Throughput, and Scalability Mean More Business

With a business so reliant upon Web and back-end database servers, reliability is critical. "Because of reliability concerns we tend to not use early release software for production," says David Banker, executive director of IT for SuperMarkets Online. But the company did use an early release of Windows 2000 Server on some internal servers. "We had virtually no problems for many weeks straight. No glitches whatsoever." As a result, Banker says, the company felt very comfortable putting Windows 2000 Server into production on their remote databases and is now rolling it out to their Web servers.

In addition, the performance of the database servers improved noticeably following their migration to Windows 2000. "We saw a substantial performance increase in terms of the speed of SQL Server™ 7.0 database response time to queries from the Web servers, and how quickly they can dish out the Web pages," Banker said. "The throughput is perceptually faster."

According to Banker, Windows 2000 Server also enables the company’s systems to handle many more concurrent sessions. This scalability is crucial. "At some of our peaks, we may be handling over 30,000 sessions an hour and doing a tremendous number of things simultaneously," says Banker. "If you have a bottleneck, many people are going to be queued up. The faster you can dispatch one task, the faster you can start up another one."

Remote Management Makes IT Simpler

With the company servers located in a different building than its offices, Banker is particularly pleased with the remote management features of Windows 2000 Server. "We can actually look remotely at a machine’s physical configuration—memory installed, disc configuration—things you normally have to go to the computer and look at," says Banker. With this in mind, the company is considering placing remote equipment on the East Coast as well.

Lower Total Costs of Ownership Help a Startup Survive

Banker sees cost savings from many angles. "Better throughput with SQL Server 7.0 gives us a reduction in capital expenditures because we can handle more traffic with the same amount of equipment, and also keep staffing costs down," he says. "I’ll spend less on travel and outsourcing with the remote management features. And the cost of migration was minimal." Cost savings are very important for the company. "We have to keep the costs down so we can spend that money growing," he says. "Windows 2000 helps us keep the cost of ownership down."

Reliability + Performance + Scalability = Lower TCO. Windows 2000 helps startups soar.

Software and Services

Microsoft Office 98
Microsoft SQL Server™ 7.0
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server with Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 5

For More Information