IBM Sets New Standard in Retail Supply Chain Performance

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it has exceeded performance benchmark results in recent retail supply chain application testing on its powerful IBM System p5 595 server. IBM set a new standard while running JDA Software Group's Demand and Fulfillment solutions, considered to be some of the industry's leading retail applications, out-performing Sun Microsystems's Sun Fire E20K Server by 148 percent (1).

IBM demonstrated price/performance leadership with the IBM System p5 595 server by surpassing Sun's UltraSPARC® IV-based Sun Fire E20K server on the benchmark. The new benchmark standard, based on comparisons provided by JDA Software Group running the JDA Software applications, models the most intense conditions in the retail business, such as surges in holiday shopping periods.

Using the POWER5+ processor-based, 64-way IBM System p5 595 server, IBM ran the JDA Demand and Fulfillment V7.3 on a 10M Retail model and on a 50M Retail model. The performance test calculated a replenishment plan at a rate of 116.5 million Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) per hour for the 10M Model and 120.7 million SKUs per hour for the 50M Model, breaking a critical barrier for the first time. The results clearly exceed Sun's latest benchmark results of 47 million SKUs per hour running on the Sun Fire E20K Server (1).

"The IBM System p5 595 server technology has provided JDA Software with the means to successfully run critical retail applications in a variety of demanding business situations," said Karl Freund, vice president, System p, IBM. "Additionally, our collaboration with JDA Software further proves IBM's commitment to developing and implementing innovative real-world solutions within the retail industry."


The benchmark tests offer retail clients a look into the performance potential of IBM's p5 595 system running JDA Software retail applications under highly demanding circumstances. JDA's Demand and Fulfillment solutions help retail industry clients orchestrate the storage and flow of supply to match fluctuating demand. High performance levels of JDA Demand and Fulfillment on the IBM System p5 595 server empower customers to adapt to these fluctuations on demand.

"The benchmark results on the IBM p5 595 are exceptional," said JDA's Rob Thomas, group vice president, Product Development. "The robust scalability of JDA's Demand and Fulfillment software together with IBM's POWER5 processor technology continues to deliver the response time needed by our retail customers to support even their heaviest shopping seasons."

The most powerful IBM System p server, the p5 595, delivers exceptional performance, reliability, scalability and flexibility -- enabling businesses to take control of their IT infrastructure by confidently consolidating application workloads onto a single system. Equipped with advanced 64-bit IBM POWER5+ processor cores in up to 64-core symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) configurations, this server provides the processing power for a full range of complex, mission-critical applications with demanding processing requirements, including business intelligence (BI), enterprise resource planning (ERP), transaction processing and ultra high performance computing (HPC).

The JDA Demand and Fulfillment benchmark is designed to measure a system's ability to perform as a demand and supply chain management solution server. The benchmark represents configurations and test conditions commonly encountered by clients that use JDA Software applications. The benchmark using the Fulfillment Algorithm measures a representative throughput for a hypothetical complex retail supply chain system. The Fulfillment Algorithm using a Retail data model builds a 42-day replenishment plan for 10 million SKUs and provides customers with the opportunity to see the performance characteristics of JDA Software's critical retail supply chain replenishment application on a vendor's system under real-world conditions.

JDA's Demand and Fulfillment solutions not only enable users to predict demand in an environment that has more SKUs, channels, and product choices than ever before, but help minimize stock outs while maximizing inventory turns across the supply and demand chain. Supply and demand are aligned throughout the entire network allowing users to plan and control the entire supply and demand chain pictures -- from predicting and shaping demand to determining optimal material and product quantities from suppliers, to planning and scheduling manufacturing, to replenishing and optimizing inventory throughout the entire network.


About JDA Software

JDA® Software Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: JDAS) is the global leader in helping more than 5,500 retail, manufacturing and wholesale-distribution customers in 60 countries realize real demand chain results. By capitalizing on its industry position and financial strength, JDA commits significant resources to advancing the JDA Portfolio® suite of vertically focused supply and demand chain solutions. JDA Portfolio software enables high-performance business process optimization and execution to achieve a connected view of the customer from raw materials flowing into production to end-consumer products at the shelf. With offices in major cities around the world, JDA employs the industry's most experienced supply and demand chain experts to develop, deliver and support its solutions. For more information, visit www.jda.com, email info@jda.com or call 1-800-479-7382.

1. JDA Demand and Fulfillment v7.1 Sun Fire E20K 47,349,823 SKUs/hr, 36 1.35 GHz USIV, StorEdge 3510/6120, Solaris 10, Oracle9i Database Release 2