This organization has multiple stores throughout the UK, and is looking to further build upon its brand heritage and reputation for quality, range, and innovation, while lowering prices and delivering consistent value.
The Problem
Oracle would not provide support for the many customisations developed and used by the organization as part of its essential POS system, Retail-J.
This organization uses the renowned point-of-sale (POS) system, Retail-J, to record sales data, track inventory, process payment transactions, and report on sales performance. The system is crucial to the supermarket chain, and, over the years, the organization has developed thousands of customisations to accommodate its evolving needs and operations. Retail-J is considered one of the best till operating software systems on the market and
The Solution
Retail-J was acquired by Oracle in 2014. Despite its popularity throughout the retail sector, the vendor shelved the product, meaning Retail-J is no longer eligible to receive any investment or innovation.
It is a well-known fact that Oracle prefers customers to adopt an ‘out-of-the-box’ product, as the vendor is typically unwilling to provide support and patching for any customisations. This left them in a precarious situation and could have seen its carefully cultivated reputation tainted by unforeseen system downtime or disruptions, a security breach, or operational inefficiencies.
The organization geared its operations to involve Retail-J as a critical system. Oracle’s decision to acquire and shelve the product could be considered an attempt to force the retailer – and all those using the system – into a Cloud solution, or to take up the vendor’s Market Driven Support offering. The organization, however, was keen to ensure its system – and all its customisations – remained secure, supported, and compliant, which led the organization to move away from Oracle.
The Solution
Support Revolution now supports their Retail-J system, while providing significant cost-savings.
We onboarded them to our support model, taking responsibility for the product fixes, maintenance needs, and tailored solutions required by the organization.
Our dedicated team of technical experts will work to identify and understand any incidents that arise within their systems. We pride ourselves on delivering tailored solutions and developing tailor made patches to ensure we resolve an incident correctly the first time, getting the organization’s system back to business-as-usual status.
Plus, all customisations are supported by us, regardless of who initially created the customisations. Support Revolution makes no differentiation between supporting the companies customisations and any other piece of code in the organization’s system.
Our third-party support has enabled them to continue using its familiar and optimised system, despite the fact Oracle shelved the Retail-J product. We don’t push de-support dates, so they can continue to enjoy our high-quality services for as long as it aligns with the organization’s needs.
The organization now enjoys a unique support experience that encompasses all its support needs, and all while it makes considerable savings on its annual Oracle bill.
The Benefits
Savings to reinvest into the organization
Moving to Support Revolution has enabled the organization to significantly reduce its annual Oracle Support bill. The organization can look to reinvest these savings into future developments and operational improvements, helping them to continue upholding its exceptional reputation for value, consistency, and innovation.
Support for a complete myriad of customisations
Having spent years tailoring its Retail-J system to perform optimally, the organization had sought a partner that could support all its customisations. We recognize that every organization is unique and will have different needs, so a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach won’t work when it comes to their IT estate. At Support Revolution, our expert team can provide tailor made patches to ensure all of their customisations remain current, secure, and compliant.
Stability for a business-critical system
Unlike Oracle, we don’t enforce degraded support dates, and we don’t have a tiered support model. As such, the organization can continue to enjoy its Retail-J system, and a great standard of support, for as long as it suits the best interests of the organization. Plus, now free of Oracle’s Cloud agenda, they can take comfort in the knowledge that its core business system is fully supported, providing the stability the retailer needs to focus on what really matters.