BRABUS Draws on IBM to Deliver Stylish upgrades for Automobiles, Planes and Yachts through the Cloud

EHNINGEN, Germany, July 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced that BRABUS GmbH will move their external communications and IT cloud computing infrastructure to the Black Point Arts' City Cloud powered by IBM PureSystems. An SMB with a worldwide reputation for vehicle customization, BRABUS will gain flexible access to critical IT resources. As a result, BRABUS will be positioned to better handle increases in data volumes, improve response times related to images and videos on their website, and increase access to content for their BRABUS Car Configurator.

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Rapid and seamless external communication through the website is critical for BRABUS as many customers make their first contact with the company via the Internet. Visitors to the website can find information about BRABUS and its Supercars and also gain access to the BRABUS Car Configurator. With just a few clicks, this unique web application can draw up the design of choice for the model selected.

Facing a steady rise in data volume from the website, BRABUS decided to outsource this IT infrastructure to Black Point Arts' City Cloud. A partner in the IBM City Cloud program, Black Point Arts maintains a City Cloud high-availability data center that complies with German security standards and also supplies cloud services to local SMBs in the Rhine-Main region. At present, Black Point Arts hosts around 50 small and midrange businesses with its City Cloud. BRABUS with nearly 300 employees in Germany is one of its larger customers.

"We are experts in the design and upgrading of automobiles, and Black Point Arts are experts in IT which is why we are turning to them," says Hans-Jorg Asche, Head of IT at BRABUS GmbH. "Since the beginning of 2013, we have been using IT from the City Cloud to make our external communication scalable, flexible, and secure. We are very satisfied with the IT, which has run without fail around the clock so that customers in more than 100 countries can access our website at all times."

Bottrop-based BRABUS GmbH has a global reputation and a leading market position in vehicle tuning, primarily Mercedes-Benz, AMG and smart models, but it also upgrades aircraft or yachts. Finest leather and high-grade wood or carbon, for example, are used in interior design, and engine performance enhances BRABUS by extension of cylinder capacity, engine power kits or special control systems like PowerXtra. Changes to chassis, wheels or aerodynamic parts give different types of vehicle that unmistakable BRABUS style.

"In the City Cloud we offer a flexible and powerful IT infrastructure that can be adapted at any time to changes in our customers' business requirements and framework conditions," says Dirk Estenfeld, CEO of Frankfurt-based IT service provider Black Point Arts. "The special benefit here is the flexible payment model based on the pay-as-you-use principle and the fact that we guarantee data protection in accordance with German law."

This flexibility is important for BRABUS because requirements for external communication are rising constantly. The interactive BRABUS Car Configurator is very data hungry and the system requirements are increasing rapidly as they add new car models, additional design functions, and integrated videos. The flexible City Cloud is based on IBM technology including System x servers and Storwize V7000 storage systems. With the inclusion of the next generation blade server found in the IBM Flex System, the City Cloud boasts an extensive system that can be expanded dynamically.

"Our partners and customers derive special benefit from our IBM Flex System because components such as computers, the network or storage units can be selected in modules within the Flex System" says Martina Fiddrich, Head of SMB Business and Partnership Solution Centers at IBM Germany. "SMB customers like BRABUS use flexible IT services from the Cloud so that IT is a catalyst for business development and the company can focus on its core competences."

Besides BRABUS, since the systems were launched in April of 2012, more than 4,000 clients from 90 countries have decided that the IBM PureSystems family offers an alternative to current enterprise computing models, where multiple and disparate systems require significant resources to set up and maintain.

The IBM PureSystems family offers clients an alternative to current enterprise computing models, where multiple and disparate systems require significant resources to set up and maintain. The PureFlex System enables organizations to more efficiently create and manage an infrastructure. PureApplication Systems help organizations reduce the cost and complexity of rapidly deploying and managing applications. PureData Systems are tuned for cloud computing and can consolidate more than 100 databases on a single system. In addition to the common web application patterns supported by PureApplication System, the combination of both PureData and PureApplication Systems can be used for end to end transaction workloads.

For more about BRABUS, visit http://www.brabus.de

For more about IBM, visit http://www.ibm.com/de

For more information on IBM PureSystems visit: www.ibm.com/press/pure

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Media Contacts:

Chris Rubsamen
IBM External Relations
IBM Systems and Technology Group
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Christine Paulus
Press and Public Relations IBM Germany
SMBs, Business Partners, Corporate Social Responsibility
Information Management, Global Financing, Cloud Computing
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+49 151 14270446
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Nina Pannewick
Press and Public Relations IBM Germany
Corporate, SMBs, Business Partners, Global Financing
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+49 157 85 06 61 00
[email protected]

SOURCE IBM