In today’s digital landscape, businesses must constantly evolve and adapt to new technologies to stay ahead of the competition. For companies like Buckeye International, transitioning from legacy systems like Gentran Server to more advanced, secure, and scalable platforms is critical to maintaining operational efficiency, enhancing security, and improving overall business agility.

Asitek successfully facilitated Buckeye International’s migration from Gentran Server to IBM Sterling B2B, ensuring minimal downtime, enhanced security, and the scalability that businesses need in today’s cloud-first world. This blog will explore the benefits of this transition and how it has helped Buckeye optimize its B2B operations.

About Buckeye International

Buckeye International is a global leader in the production of high-quality cleaning and maintenance products for industrial, commercial, and institutional markets. With a focus on providing innovative and sustainable solutions, Buckeye International services a broad customer base across multiple industries, including healthcare, education, hospitality, and manufacturing.

With a long history of operational excellence, Buckeye recognized the need for a more modern, efficient, and secure way to manage their B2B communications and transactions. They decided to migrate from their legacy Gentran Server platform to IBM Sterling B2B, a decision that would streamline their operations, enhance partner communication, and ensure better scalability for future growth.

Challenges Faced with Gentran Server

Although Gentran Server had served Buckeye well for many years, the system had begun to show its age as newer, more innovative solutions emerged. Key challenges faced included:

• Limited Scalability: Gentran Server lacked the flexibility to scale with Buckeye’s growing needs, especially as they expanded their operations.
• Security Concerns: As data breaches and cyber threats grew more sophisticated, the security features of Gentran Server were not able to meet the evolving demands for robust data protection.
• Increased Complexity and Costs: The Gentran Server required significant manual intervention and maintenance, leading to higher operational costs and the risk of human error.
• Limited Cloud Integration: As businesses moved towards cloud platforms, Gentran Server did not have the cloud-native capabilities needed to integrate effectively with modern systems.

The Benefits of Migrating to IBM Sterling B2B

As Buckeye sought to modernize its B2B integration, IBM Sterling B2B emerged as the perfect solution. Here’s how Asitek facilitated the transition:

1. Minimal Downtime During Migration

The migration process was carefully planned and executed by Asitek to ensure that Buckeye experienced minimal downtime. This was critical to avoid disruptions in day-to-day business operations and to ensure continuous partner communication. Through detailed planning, including parallel runs and step-by-step migration phases, Buckeye was able to switch to IBM Sterling B2B with almost no impact on their ongoing operations.

2. Enhanced Security

IBM Sterling B2B offers robust security features that significantly reduce the risks associated with B2B transactions. Unlike Gentran Server, which lacked modern security protocols, IBM Sterling B2B uses advanced encryption methods, secure data transfers, and strong user authentication measures to ensure that all data exchanged with trading partners is safe and compliant with global security standards.

3. Cloud Scalability

IBM Sterling B2B is cloud-native, offering Buckeye the scalability they needed to grow without worrying about hardware limitations. Whether it’s handling a surge in transaction volume or expanding into new markets, the cloud scalability of IBM Sterling B2B enables Buckeye to adjust their operations as their needs evolve, without the traditional constraints of on-premise solutions.

4. Seamless Partner Communication

One of the primary concerns for Buckeye was ensuring that their trading partners continued to experience seamless communication during the migration. IBM Sterling B2B provided a unified platform that enabled real-time visibility and secure document exchanges with all their partners. The migration to Sterling B2B eliminated delays and errors, helping Buckeye maintain strong relationships with its partners by ensuring smooth, automated exchanges.

5. Real-Time Visibility and Analytics

IBM Sterling B2B gives businesses real-time visibility into their B2B transactions, allowing Buckeye to track the status of each transaction from start to finish. This visibility ensures that they can make data-driven decisions quickly, identify and resolve issues proactively, and optimize their supply chain management. Furthermore, advanced analytics offer insights into operational efficiency, enabling Buckeye to continuously improve their processes.

6. Cost-Efficient B2B Operations

By transitioning to IBM Sterling B2B, Buckeye was able to significantly reduce operational costs. The automation features of Sterling B2B eliminate manual interventions and reduce the need for costly manual processing. With fewer errors and more efficient workflows, Buckeye was able to increase the speed and accuracy of their B2B transactions, ultimately leading to cost savings in their supply chain and operations.

How Asitek Ensured a Smooth Migration

Asitek’s approach to migration was methodical and tailored to meet the specific needs of Buckeye. Key strategies included:

• In-depth Discovery and Assessment: Asitek conducted a thorough assessment of Buckeye’s existing Gentran Server environment to understand their current processes, challenges, and goals.
• Customized Migration Plan: Based on this assessment, Asitek developed a customized migration strategy that ensured all critical business functions were migrated efficiently with minimal disruption.
• Partner Integration Testing: Asitek worked closely with Buckeye’s trading partners to ensure smooth and secure integration with IBM Sterling B2B, testing the entire process end-to-end before the final cutover.
• Post-Migration Support: After the migration was complete, Asitek provided ongoing support to ensure that Buckeye’s team was fully comfortable with the new system and that any issues were quickly addressed.

Conclusion

The migration from Gentran Server to IBM Sterling B2B has enabled Buckeye International to achieve a new level of operational efficiency, security, and scalability. By eliminating manual interventions, enhancing partner communication, and leveraging real-time visibility, Buckeye is now better equipped to handle the demands of a growing global market.

With IBM Sterling B2B and Asitek’s expertise, Buckeye can now focus on their core business while leaving behind the limitations of legacy systems. As businesses look to modernize their B2B operations, IBM Sterling B2B offers a future-ready solution that enhances security, improves efficiency, and supports growth.

If your business is considering migrating from legacy systems like Gentran Server to more advanced solutions, contact Asitek today. Let us guide you through a seamless, secure, and scalable migration that will set your business up for success.