Case Study: Columbia Sportswear Company achieves reduced operating costs and increased margins with BMC Software

Leading U.S. retailer Columbia Sportswear slashes operating costs and increases margins with strategic IT operations management

Columbia Sportswear, a leading U.S. apparel retailer, needed to support fast‑growing, revenue‑generating initiatives while cutting operating costs and boosting margins. To sustain record sales and streamline operations, IT had to improve process efficiency, strengthen security workflows, and better align service delivery with both store and headquarters needs.

By deploying BMC Remedy ITSM Suite, BladeLogic Network Automation, and BMC Atrium CMDB with Discovery and Dependency Mapping, Columbia automated routine tasks and gained accurate configuration data for reporting and decision‑making. Results included an 85% reduction in mass password‑change time (from 60 hours to under 10), audit responses cut from as much as 30 hours to about 2 hours, faster maintenance through automated network configuration, and improved IT/business alignment that freed staff to focus on revenue‑driving projects.

Columbia Sportswear Company

Marie Vermeer

Senior Project Manager