Tommy Hilfiger Chooses IBM and Linux for E-Business Infrastructure

On December 5,
IBM announced that
the Tommy Hilfiger
Corporation has chosen IBM,
eOneGroup and Linux
for its new e-business infrastructure, as the company works to
expand its presence among thousands of US specialty retailers, as
well as for its worldwide manufacturing facilities and
employees.Tommy Hilfiger selected technologies from IBM, including IBM
eServer products running Linux, DB2 Universal Database, Java and
eOneGroup's suite of software products to create a new B2B portal
(tommyb2b.com). The
portal allows Tommy Hilfiger's specialty retailers and sales force
to view selected core and seasonal apparel products, such as jeans
and other basic, available inventory, in real-time, as well as
place, track and ship orders. The infrastructure also includes a
business-to-plant web site that links Tommy Hilfiger's production
facilities around the world, which is expected to speed
design-to-product time and significantly decrease costs. A virtual
employee store that allows, for the first time, Tommy Hilfiger
personnel to shop on-line around the clock is also
available.The web infrastructure, designed and built by IBM business
partner eOneGroup, includes IBM eServer xSeries servers running
Linux to handle web-based transactions, integrated on-line with IBM
eServer iSeries servers running Java that are tied to existing
wholesale and warehouse management systems."We identified an increasing demand for our products among
mid-market specialty retailers, and IBM and eOneGroup delivered the
technologies and expertise we needed to reach this growing market
segment", said Brent Findon, vice president of system development
at Tommy Hilfiger. "In addition, by integrating these new web
portals with our existing back-end systems, we saved significantly
on the time and expense of deploying this total
infrastructure.""IBM's server interoperability and application flexibility
enabled us to reach Tommy Hilfiger's goals of lower costs and
increased revenue", said Dan Watson, president of eOneGroup. "The
manufacturing portal and employee store are expected to produce
substantial cost savings, and tommyb2b.com has already proved
productive and efficient for specialty store retailers with limited
travel budgets.""Tommy Hilfiger needed a solution that provided the
performance and reliability necessary to win in the tough retail
marketplace", said Buell Duncan, general manager of IBM's
mid-market servers. "With our IBM business partner eOneGroup, we
are committed to helping Tommy Hilfiger grow into new markets with
its powerful e-business infrastructure."