Sollio Cooperative Group
About the client
Founded in 1922, Sollio Groupe Coopératif (previously La Coop fédérée) is one of the biggest agri-food companies in Quebec, the only pan-Canadian agricultural supply cooperative, and the 27th biggest agri-food cooperative in the world.
Challenges
When Agis Grigoriadis became head of Sollio Groupe Coopératif’s IT team, the member cooperatives’satisfaction was very low. Ten years earlier, the group had implemented an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, used by all 50 cooperatives. However, several performance issues had been flagged. For example,the points of sale noticed significant variations in the time it took for an invoice to be available in the system, varying between 7 and 11 minutes. The recurrent problems with the hundred or so databases on which the ERP relied were dealt with through hardware patches. These enabled a certain business continuity, but the group did not have the in-depth expertise in database administration needed to prevent the problems at their root. As Agis summarizes: “We were putting out flames, but not the source of the fire, and sometimes we didn’t even have a firefighter. ”Determined to provide an optimized system, Agis wanted to put together a task force comprising all internal and external stakeholders and needed a conductor to ensure a successful outcome.
Solutions and Benefits
Agis called on Itergy because of his previous experience with the company and had knowledge/was aware of their skill and thoroughness. “The people at Itergy have incredible knowledge, and therefore the expertise we needed. They’re also professional and fast to respond. It was the quality of the individuals that made me decide, ”he explains. Itergy took on the ERP optimization project, drawing on their in-depth technical knowledge of databases to identify the fundamental issues, and obtain the cooperation of the technology partners. According to Agis: “It takes a methodical approach, a developer’s approach, to find the source of the problem and correct it. Itergy is a band of fanatics. ”Happy with the result obtained, Agis wanted to make sure the group benefitted from the best possible expertise and decided to out source database administration. Itergy now occupies this role full time,i.e. 24/7. In fact, it’s a whole team of five people who support a database administrator dedicated to the customer. Everyone knows the specifics of each customer and can work together to locate the source of the metaphorical fire when necessary.