Success Story Server Overview Verspieren is a leading family-owned in- surance broker, providing clients with the most appropriate cover for their in- dividual businesses for more than 130 years. Headquartered in the French town of Wasquehal and with operations in Italy and Spain, the company achieves annual revenues of over €300 million, and em- ploys more than 2,000 people. Challenge Verspieren wanted to replace green-screen environments running on virtual IBM 3270 terminals with user-friendly front-ends for its key business applications. These are ac- cessed by the company’s internal staff, as well as by corporate clients and business partners via extranets. Since Verspieren’s core databases were already running on IBM DB2 for z/OS, the logical choice was to deploy the portals on IBM WebSphere Portal software run- ning on the mainframe to benefit from the platform’s outstanding reliability. Dominique Bourgain, Manager of Systems and Production at Verspieren, explains: “We selected SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for System z as the operating system, because we were confident that it would provide 24/7 availability and an excellent price- performance ratio for our mission-critical applications.” Solution SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for System z currently runs a total of 15 portals, includ- ing environments for production, testing and development. The portals provides a user-friendly web presentation layer for Verspieren’s business-critical applications, and hook securely back into the company’s IBM DB2 databases on z/OS. Verspieren also runs IBM Content Navigator software, designed to help staff quickly find the content they are looking for in the com- pany’s electronic document management system, on two instances of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server on the same mainframe. Verspieren Insurance broker Verspieren wanted to provide user-friendly front-ends to its key mainframe-based business applications. Verspieren selected IBM WebSphere Portal software running on SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server for System z on the mainframe. The Linux environment provides high uptime and excellent performance combined with low administration costs, ideally suited to the company’s mission-critical applications. “Our SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for System z environment is very easy to manage, allowing our IT staff to focus on more productive tasks. Linux on IBM System z also offers high performance and low operational costs for these applications.” DOMINIQUE BOURGAIN Manager of Systems and Production Verspieren Verspieren at a Glance: Leading family-owned insurance broker in the French market, with a history of more than 130 years of success. Industry and Location Insurance, France Product and Services SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for System z Results + Provides a reliable platform for Verspieren’s business-critical applications + Offers low operational costs and high performance + Helps IT staff focus on more productive activities