Sherwin-Williams is revamping the IT infrastructure of its retail stores, choosing Linux to paint over the Unix operating system its current architecture is based on.
The company has tapped IBM's Global Services unit to coordinate the migration, which will involve over 2,500 stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, the companies announced Thursday.
Sherwin-Williams, the largest U.S. paint company with 2001 revenue of $5 billion, expects the new Linux-based architecture to lower its IT costs, provide more flexibility for future IT upgrades and improve the stores' customer service, IBM said.
"We're providing a complete refresh in their entire store chain," said Ralph F. Martino, vice president of strategy at IBM Global Services.
The companies didn't provide the deal's financial details, although Martino acknowledged that the price tag is in the multimillion-dollar range.
The switch isn't a huge technical stretch for Sherwin-Williams, since the paint manufacturer, distributor and retailer was already using Caldera International's SCO Unix in its stores, a pair of analysts said.
"In a sense, this is a straight-line product replacement for them," said Jonathan Eunice, an analyst at Illuminata in Nashua, N.H.
"It's not a huge tech leap," IDC analyst Al Gillen said.
But they said Linux offers two advantages over SCO Unix: lower cost and more momentum.
Linux's lower cost of deployment and maintenance is important for companies in the retail industry, where margins are thin and being profitable requires operational exactitude and discipline, Eunice said.
And unlike SCO Unix, Linux enjoys an industry momentum that is fueling investment and development around it, an important factor when looking at future improvements and at the availability of supporting products, the analysts said.
About 9,700 IBM NetVista M41 desktop PCs running Turbolinux's operating system will be installed, an average of almost four per store, along with an assortment of Linux-compatible peripherals, including printers, handheld scanners, signature pads and modems, from about a dozen other vendors, Martino said.
IBM and the Cleveland, Ohio Sherwin-Williams say this will be one of the world's largest deployments of Linux in a chain of stores. The rollout already began and is expected to end by the second quarter of next year, Martino said.
Retail companies, such as Sherwin-Williams, are traditionally risk-averse and conservative when it comes to IT, so this deal signals the continued and growing acceptance of Linux by the mainstream, Eunice said.
"Retail organizations tend, by and large, not to be tech innovators. They often do some interesting things in terms of data warehousing and data analysis, but they don't put anything into their point-of-sale systems that they don't trust, because if (the point-of-sales systems) malfunction, (clients) can get easily frustrated and leave (the store)," Eunice said.
A variety of software, including POS, inventory, paint tinting and color matching applications, will run on stores' networks. On a typical store configuration, one NetVista PC will function as a server, another as the managers' workstation and the rest will be used in conjunction with cash drawers as cash registers, Martino said. The stores' networks will in turn be linked to the company's main corporate systems. The new platform will also provide new services for Sherwin-Williams users, such as e-mail and the ability to browse the company's intranet, as well as access to office productivity software.
Working closely with Sherwin-Williams' internal IT staff, IBM Global Services is acting as a "general contractor" for the project, providing consulting, planning, implementation, management and coordinating with the other vendors, Martino said.
The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.
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