A continuously increasing volume of data in the SAP system was the deciding factor for a comprehensive, three-stage archiving project at Bischof + Klein, a leading European supplier of flexible packaging made of plastic and paper, as well as technical foils. The company was already using several PBS archive add ons that enabled fast and smooth access to archived SAP data. Previously, the SAP archives were stored on disks or in the file system.
However, because the volume of data had already risen to 80 gigabytes and was still increasing, the decision was made to look for a more efficient way of storing data. The company's goal was to control the flood of data without restricting access to the data to improve system performance.
A Convincing Combination
As Bischof + Klein were already using both PBS and IBM products, they also decided to rely upon a proven solution for their data storage strategy and opted for the combined use of IBM DR550 and PBS ContentLink, a slim middleware for connecting SAP and storage system.
IBM DR550 was an obvious choice as a secure and inexpensive archiving solution for structured and unstructured data. PBS ContentLink on the other hand has numerous CMS functions and enables a transparent view of the document status.
In addition, the solution does not need its own database and has proven itself to be highly scalable due to its web-based architecture. The installation effort is low and even with simple means it enables a highly reliable configuration. Administration of the virtually maintenance-free middleware is performed directly in the SAP system. Another advantage was that it is also possible to search directly for records with linked documents via the Web browser without SAP GUI, using the integrated PBS ContentReader.
