Cantono® SaaS Enablement Case Study

Cantono: www.cantono.com   

Unique ID – Barcode Products and Solutions; Software as a Service Solution helps Barcode Product Company Make its Mark

International Supplier of Barcode Solutions partners with Cantono to provide “On Demand” Proof of Delivery Service. “Having a ‘Software as a Service’ offering, enables us to provide our clients with an even better level of support, as well as being more financially attractive, both to them and to us.” - Jacob Boston - Director of Technical Services

Unique ID The Business Challenge

How to Service a Growing and Demanding Customer Base

Since the 1980s, the barcode has become an integral and ubiquitous feature of our lives, both for business and consumers. Whole areas of activity, from retail and stock control, to crime prevention, postal and courier services and baggage handling are completely dependent on it. The processes for using and accessing the codes, and transmitting information, has gradually become more sophisticated, and a whole industry has developed to provide devices to create and read codes and to store, analyse and transmit the information. Unique ID, which was founded 10 years ago, and which is based in High Wycombe in the South East of England, has been a leader in the development of services to support this growing market. Its products include:

• Portable data terminals
• Scanners
• Label Printers
• Consumables

Since Unique ID is required to support both hardware and software, both on customer sites and on the move, they developed a fairly complex support model. In a marketplace where quality of service and response times is a key delineator, Unique ID looked at ways in which they could enhance these further, while also improving their cost model. The Key elements of Unique ID’s Service While Unique ID provide a range of products and solutions, a typical implementation will include a number of key elements. 

• The items to be recorded and tracked are given a unique ID, including all relevant information 
• The physical location of the items is recorded at appropriate stages, typically using handheld devices, linked to a server, which maintains the record 
• Web terminals are used to view and to update the information

In order to maintain, and support the service, there is also a requirement for:

• Fast, reliable broadband communications
• Firewall protection
• Greater reliance against possible outages of computer systems
• Regular and reliable backups of the data All of this has to be maintained for multiple clients, 
    which frequently have an international or a global presence.

Moving Towards Software as a Service

Unique ID were looking for ways in which they could simplify the support process and make it more cost-effective. They therefore decided to take a serious look at an SaaS model. “We knew that SaaS was providing benefits for a growing number of suppliers. We needed to know whether it could be made to work for an operation as fluid and complex as ours.” – Jacob Boston

Unique ID, founded in 1997, develop barcode products and solutions. They provide their clients with a combination of advanced Auto ID technology and creative thinking solutions. Services provided range from portable data terminals to scanners, label printers, consumables and proof of delivery (POD). These enable clients to record and track movements of items both at remote locations and in transportation. Clients include Amtrak (delivery services), ANC (parcel deliveries), SITA (baggage handling) and Allport (freightforwarding). www.uniqueid.co.uk

The Solution

Selecting Cantono

Unique ID could see that the Software as a Service model was becoming ‘mature’ across a wide and growing range of applications. They also recognized that their processes, which involved keeping tabs on objects that were frequently on the move, potentially almost anywhere in the world, needed a partner who could provide more than just basic support. As Boston commented: “We knew that we needed much more than just a data-centre where we could stick a couple of servers. We had to find a partner who could cover other critical aspects such as backing up the data.”

“A single supplier who would also provide the communications network and firewall services would be an added bonus. Cantono not only had eight years experience in software hosting, but were also able to provide the other services that we needed”.

Hosted Service, with Resilience

For the first SaaS based solution centres on “Proof of Delivery” (POD), whereby the client can certify what has been delivered, where and when. For this, Cantono has installed a transactional server, running the SQL Base database that holds details of all the items being coded and tracked. A second server administers web access, for the entry and review of information. The implementation provides for the replication of both of these servers to a second Cantono data centre. This enables failover from one data-centre to the other, vastly reducing the risk of downtime for Unique ID’s clients. Given a further requirement, that the data must be backed up regularly, Cantono carries out this process on a regular basis. “Having a second redundant set of servers is something that is much easier to implement in a SaaS environment. The fact that Cantono provides linked servers at diverse data centre sites was a big advantage.” – Jacob Boston

Communications

When information is being transmitted from mobile devices which could be anywhere in the world, and when there is also a similar need to be able to log on remotely to follow transactions, it is essential to have a communications network that is:

• secure
• reliable
• cost-effective

As an established provider of communications networks and firewalls to a large number of companies, including some major multinational organisations, Cantono was able to provide this.

Solution Summary

• Provides ‘Proof of Delivery’ (POD) confirming what was delivered, where and when. 
• Unique ID continue to provide front line support to clients 
• Transactional servers running SQL Server and Web server are hosted in a Cantono data-centre 
• Duplicate servers are hosted in a second Cantono data-centre, providing fail-over 
• Backups are hosted and managed by Cantono 
• Communications network and firewall (employing SonicWALL) managed by Cantono

Summary of Benefits

• Ease and Speed of implementation
  With the key software elements of the service hosted by Cantono, Unique ID no longer has to install these services at multiple remote locations, so clients can be brought on-line much more rapidly.
• More Efficient and Cost Effective Maintenance
  Software support and upgrades are markedly more effective where all of the servers are concentrated in a single location. This in turn leads to improved customer satisfaction.
• Resilience and Disaster Recovery
  The combination regular centrally managed backups, and replication to a second disasterrecovery site greatly reduces the risk of an outage or loss of information.
• “Intelligent Hands”
  Cantono’s qualified IT staff can carry out a range of actions at the data centre from simply changing tapes to more far reaching checks.
• More Attractive Model for Clients
  With clients no longer needing to pay so much for dedicated services “up front”, the entry-price of the service is greatly reduced, making it much easier for companies to budget.
• Enhancement of Revenue Model for Unique ID
  The new Software as a Service model, enables Unique ID to create a new, predictable and dependable source of annuity-based revenue.

"Offering our services on a SaaS model is not just a tactical decision. It is part Unique ID’s strategic plan to expand our business further by offering an even more attractive model to our clients.” - Jacob Boston