HP experts transform WESCO e-commerceportal to the way customers buy

Business need: WESCO International distributes electrical, industrial, anddata communications products to large organizations andpublic utility markets. The company ran its customer portalusing an outsourced application-hosting model, butbecame dissatisfied with lagging performance and risingcosts. In 2003 WESCO decided to bring its e-commerceportal platform in-house, and sought an experiencedtechnology partner.

Solution overview: WESCO chose HP as its solution partner to design anddeploy a new e-commerce portal based on HP ProLiantServers and Microsoft® Solutions for Internet Business(MSIB) technology. HP Microsoft .NET experts providedthe customer portal architecture and design; consultingand integration; implementation, training, and mentoringfor WESCO employees; and project-managementservices.

HP-Microsoft e-commerce portal solution easily adapts tocustomer needsA company focused on the effective distribution of morethan 1 million products from 24,000 suppliers to 100,000customers worldwide needs a responsive infrastructuresolution just to stay in business. As a procurementspecialist, WESCO International helps customers lowersupply-chain costs and raise the efficiency of their entireoperations through a combination of advanced,innovative distribution capabilities and premier customerservice. However, WESCO found itself coming up short infulfilling customer requests for custom interfaces to itsonline buying site. "Our customers demanded morefunctionality, more customization, better integration, morespeed, and fewer clicks," explains WESCO's ChiefInformation Officer John Conte.

WESCO relied on an outsourced portal solution well into2003, but the growing number of customer requestsprompted the company to create their own e-commerceportal site. "We needed to build an integratedenvironment to improve our customer-facing capabilitiesand services," continues Conte. "Our hosting serviceprovider couldn't make changes quickly enough, andoffered only minimal customization. We had to find bettersupport for these customers." WESCO decided to try anew concept by bringing in a local integrator with abackground in Microsoft .NET tools to build a bare-bonesonline purchasing site for one large customer with veryspecific needs. "In a few weeks we had a customized,user-friendly web site, which enabled us to win business,"says Conte. "We began to think about building a robust,large-scale customer site."

"With expert Microsoft .NET skills and projectmanagement savvy provided by HP Servicesand Microsoft, WESCO has more than metcustomer requirements. We are responsivelypositioned for growth."– Chief Information Officer John Conte, WESCO International, Inc.

After stringent research and testing, WESCO decided inJuly 2003 to implement a new customer portal based onMSIB technology by summer 2004. As Conte explains,"The Microsoft Solution for Internet Business technology onan HP ProLiant server platform was less complex, easier touse, and more economical. In addition, our developerscould learn the solution three times faster than otheroptions."

HP Services delivers on aggressive timelineBased on research results, WESCO believed it couldimplement on an aggressive schedule to meet demands –ever mindful that failure would mean a loss of businessfrom its major enterprise customers. After a series ofinternal design specification meetings, the WESCO teamrealized that project costs were accelerating and thetimeline was in jeopardy.

To enlist a more comprehensive understanding ofMicrosoft .NET and expertise, and to stay on schedule,WESCO turned to HP Services consultants. HP conducteda thorough business and technical analysis to enhancethe value and effectiveness of the architecture and designimplementation.

"HP brought extensive experience to the design plan,which we fleshed out and finished in three weeks,"explains Conte. "Our HP project manager helped us puta realistic project schedule in place and forecast all the

steps for the next six to seven months." By October, theteam switched from design to development, and beganwriting code, which continued into March 2004. "Webrought in two HP developers, and they became ourprimary software architects on the project, aided by fivein-house staff," continues Conte. "We quickly finished,and, amazingly, hit almost all the dates on schedule. Alsohelpful was the Microsoft Windows® Server Systemtraining that HP provided for Visual C#, MicrosoftCommerce Server, and Microsoft BizTalk Server, whichenabled our WESCO developers to become proficient inweeks – not months."

One of Conte's early concerns was that XML integrationutilizing Microsoft BizTalk Server in WESCO's diversecustomer environments, including SAP, PeopleSoft, Ariba,and CommerceOne, would pose a major challenge. "Thelargest portion of our revenue stream comes through thosedirect customer channels, and the integration appeared tobe complex and difficult," says Conte. "However, theBizTalk XML integration tools worked very well and it wassurprising how fast we completed the integrations."

Conte also relishes enhanced e-commerce portalperformance, adding, "Thanks to industry-leading HPProLiant servers, the performance of our web site –including page transition and search engine speed – ishead and shoulders above what we had before."

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Changing the site to match customer purchase patternsThe ability to customize WESCO's customer portal wascritical. "Our customers seek efficient purchasing, andthey tell us, 'We need you to change your site to matchthe way we purchase,' says Conte. "We can now easilymake changes with our HP-Microsoft MSIB solution, usingthe many built-in customizable components through the.NET environment. If there's a process change orrequirements for additional information tagged to atransaction, we can adapt quickly."

Previously, WESCO maintained different tools and groupsof developers for mixed customer environments, but nowwith a seamless solution, the company is a one-stop shop."It's a huge benefit not to have different camps of skills,"explains Conte. "Instead, we leverage a small group ofdevelopers for multiple areas. In addition, the .NET toolsare quite powerful and so economical that we've reducedour maintenance costs in one year by 60 to 70 percent.We'll also gain ongoing savings from those reductions."

Expanded opportunities in a growing e-commerce spaceTeaming with Microsoft, HP Services led theimplementation of the e-commerce portal solution, whichreduces costs, increases customer responsiveness, andpositions WESCO for expanding opportunities in achanging market. "Because of our increased flexibilityand speed, we can now support large Netscape orMicrosoft Internet Explorer-based organizations in thegovernment or education areas, which we couldn't

before," says Conte. "We can also accommodatecustomers requiring specific solutions, because theMicrosoft BizTalk tools let us handle any type ofintegration and works equally well in any browserenvironment."

Over the past year, WESCO has seen additional largeorganizations automate their processes. Conte believesthat the link to WESCO will continue to grow through agreater number of integrated interactions. "With theexpert Microsoft .NET skills and project managementsavvy that HP Services and Microsoft provide, WESCOhas more than met customer requirements. We arepositioned responsively for growth," Conte concludes.

About WESCO InternationalPittsburgh-based WESCO International(www.wescodist.com) distributes more than 1 millionelectrical, industrial, and data communications productsfrom 24,000 suppliers to large organizations and majorpublic utility markets. A procurement specialist, thecompany has more than 6,000 employees and 130,000customers worldwide, and is number 285 on the Fortune500 list. It serves customers through 340 branchlocations, five distribution centers, its e-commerce portalweb site, and inventories housed at customer facilities.

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"Our customers seek efficient purchasing,and they tell us, 'We need you to changeyour site to match the way we purchase.'We can now easily make changes with ourHP-Microsoft e-commerce solution, using themany built-in customizable componentsthrough the .NET environment. If there's aprocess change or requirements foradditional information tagged to atransaction, we can adapt quickly."– Chief Information Officer John Conte, WESCO International, Inc.

For more information on how working with HP can benefit you,contact your local HP representative, or visit us at www.hp.com.

© Copyright 2004 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject tochange without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warrantystatements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting anadditional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

5982-7673EN, 8/2004

• Provide and host a reliable, secure,highly available web site, to servethousands of concurrent users.

• Customize interfaces to accommodatediverse purchasing systems, provideorder history and accountcustomization.

• Respond quickly and effectively tocustomer requests for business-processchanges

Hardware• HP ProLiant DL360 and DL380

servers

Software• Microsoft Solutions for Internet

Business components: MicrosoftBizTalk Server 2004, MicrosoftCommerce Server 2002, MicrosoftContent Management Server 2002,Microsoft SQL Server 2000,Microsoft ISA Server 2000

• Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003

HP Services• Consulting and integration

• Architecture and design

• Enterprise application integration

• Project management services

• Training for WESCO staff

• Responsive, new e-commerce portalsolution designed and implemented ina very aggressive timeframe

• Greater ability to respond to customer-specific purchasing requirementsreduced customer need to changetheir processes

• Online business site maintenance costsreduced 60 to 70 percent

• Significantly enhanced customerservice levels retain long termcustomers and attract new businessopportunities

• Powerful new capabilities to adaptrapidly to changing customer andbusiness requirements

• Increased revenues throughpersonalized customer portal

• Enhanced web-site performance –including faster page transition andsearch engine speeds – provided byHP ProLiant servers

HP experts transform WESCO e-commerceportal to the way customers buy

Challenge Solution Results