Forward! by Unisys Platform Shows Performance and Cost-Efficiency Advantages in Beta Test at Italy's Aspasiel

BLUE BELL, Pa., Jan. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) today announced that Aspasiel s.r.l., a provider of IT solutions and infrastructure services to the process industry based in Terni, Italy, has completed beta-testing the new Forward!™ by Unisys enterprise computing platform.

Aspasiel concluded that the Forward! platform can help the company further two key strategic IT goals: running mission-critical SAP workloads in a lower-cost Intel-Linux environment as powerful and secure as its existing Unix-RISC system and consolidating Linux and Windows production environments.

In just a few days, Unisys migrated Aspasiel's SAP ERP applications from an IBM Power 770 mainframe running the Unix-based AIX operating system to a lower-cost Forward! by Unisys platform based on industry-standard Intel^® Xeon^® family processors and the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server operating environment.

The Forward! platform, which features an advanced fabric architecture, uses Unisys secure partitioning (s‑Par^®) software technology to create a secure "container" that dedicates resources to each application workload. The Forward! partitions running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server at Aspasiel were especially valuable in the beta test, providing extraordinary stability in handling Aspasiel's SAP workloads.

"We have been very impressed with Forward! by Unisys as a powerful engine for our mission-critical applications," said Aspasiel CEO M. Battistoni. "The Forward! platform showed Aspasiel a cost-efficient way to benefit from the power of the Unisys secure partitioning technology on an industry-standard Intel platform while retaining the security and predictable performance we've come to expect from our RISC-Unix- system. In addition, the Forward! platform helps set the stage for a future transition to the SAP HANA environment so we can realize the benefits of big data for our business."

"We are pleased that we could use our new Forward! by Unisys platform to show Aspasiel a powerful, cost-efficient solution for simplifying Unix-to-Linux workload migration and enhancing ERP application performance," said Dominick Cavuoto, president, Unisys Technology, Consulting and Integration Solutions. "The Forward! platform is designed specifically to deliver the mission-critical security, availability, scalability and predictable computing performance that enterprises like Aspasiel require to meet the newest generation of enterprise computing challenges."

During the test, the Forward! platform also demonstrated the capability to consolidate mission-critical Linux and Windows environments on the same platform. Unisys helped Aspasiel migrate a Microsoft .NET application that interfaces programmable logic controllers to metal rolling mills at its parent, ThyssenKrupp AG. Because of the partitioning on the Forward! platform, the Windows application performed better than it does on the current production system, which is based on dedicated physical servers.

Combined with industry-standard Intel^® Xeon^® family processors, the containerized approach enabled by s-Par technology provides the flexibility and cost benefits of virtualization with the predictable performance of proprietary Unix systems.

"Everyone knows SUSE as a leader in mission-critical computing, and the combination of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, the Forward! by Unisys platform and SAP is a perfect example," said Michael Miller, SUSE vice president of global alliances and marketing. "SUSE's deep technical alliances with Unisys and SAP provide customers like Aspasiel with proven solutions for migration from Unix to Linux and better, more cost-effective performance for their SAP workloads, including SAP HANA."

For more information on Forward! by Unisys, visit www.unisys.com/Forward.

About Unisys

Unisys is a worldwide information technology company. We provide a portfolio of IT services, software, and technology that solves critical problems for clients. We specialize in helping clients secure their operations, increase the efficiency and utilization of their data centers, enhance support to their end users and constituents, and modernize their enterprise applications. To provide these services and solutions, we bring together offerings and capabilities in outsourcing services, systems integration and consulting services, infrastructure services, maintenance services, and high-end server technology. With approximately 22,500 employees, Unisys serves commercial organizations and government agencies throughout the world. For more information, visit www.unisys.com.

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SOURCE Unisys Corporation