Shoden sets sights on retail sector

Integrator aims to repeat supermarket giant success with more mainframe deals

Storage integrator Shoden Data Systems wants to double the size of its customer base by targeting mainframe users in the retail sector.

The firm was recently enlisted by supermarket giant Sainsbury's, which boasts 890 stores in the UK, to overhaul its data backup strategy.

The deal involved deploying Sho­den's QuickRecover system, which enables mainframe users to migrate from tape-based backup to disk.

Phil Jones, chief technology officer at Shoden (pictured), explained: "Replacing tape libraries with smaller disk-based solutions helps businesses save money because the backup window is shorter and you need less space."

He said the firm hopes the Sains­bury's contract will lead to further interest in its products. "The hope is that another retail outlet will see what Sainsbury's has done and then follow suit," added Jones.

"There are several mainframe users in the UK retail industry that we would love to speak to."

John Taffinder, chief executive pf Shoden, said the company aims to double the sizeof its customer base.

"Anyone who has a mainframe will have an awful lot of other IT, which will lead to other opportunities for us," he claimed.

The company partners with VARs such as 2e2 and Computacenter in the UK, added Jones, and would not rule out working with others.

"We have no staff outside of the UK, and we partner with overseas firms to get into markets we might not be able to otherwise," he said.

Keith Humphreys, managing consultant at analyst EuroLan, said: "There is no growth potential in mainframe comp­ut­ing. But focus­ing on retail means that it is possible to roll out sys­t­ems acr­oss mul­tiple bran­ches, which could prove lucrative."