Principal Financial Group moves it web server to S/390

With two million registered users and the potential of eight million additional users, scalability was a key factor in selecting the IBM S/390 platform. The Principal also wanted to ensure that its Web site could handle the expected rush of users that occurs at the beginning and the end of the year, traditional times to add money to plans. The existing Sun Microsystems server could not respond to the expected growth.

Reliability was also a concern. As the number of users continues to increase, so does the number and complexity of transactions. The separate server added unnecessary steps, increasing the chances of a breakdown. Allowing the Web site to run directly off of the S/390 server, where the data resides, reduced the number of steps and created a more reliable environment.

"Performance has improved dramatically -- our typical response time is around two seconds now," said Dale Ward, Assistant Director, Information Services, for the Principal Financial Group. "With our core data already residing on the IBM S/390 and the backend transactions already taking place there, making the same S/390 our Web server allows us to cut out several middle steps, eliminating potential points of failure along the way."