Case Study: Mothercare reduces integration costs with Prolifics and IBM WebSphere Message Broker

Mothercare moves to a service-oriented architecture with IBM WebSphere Message Broker

Mothercare, the UK-based multi-channel retailer of products for parents and young children, was struggling with a highly complex IT landscape built from best-of-breed systems rather than a standard ERP package. With more than 100 point-to-point interfaces to manage, integration work was consuming up to 30 percent of development effort, making it hard to support business change efficiently. Prolifics and IBM helped Mothercare address this challenge using IBM WebSphere Message Broker as a central integration hub.

Prolifics implemented and supported the service-oriented architecture, helping Mothercare replace point-to-point connections with reusable services and easier system integration. The first major project replaced JDA finance modules with CODA financial management software, and the company reported that future integration will take less time and costs should drop significantly over five years. Prolifics also supported an on-shore/off-shore delivery model and agile practices, helping Mothercare speed up development and prepare for faster rollout of future IT services.

Mothercare

James Blackburn

Enterprise Architect