Triton Container International Limited

A Success Story in Business Assessment and Process Optimization

When Triton Container needed to implement a new IT infrastructure to strengthen its competitive edge and achieve economies of scale, Perot Systems delivered by implementing new IT systems and consolidating operations to improve efficiencies.

The Challenge

Triton identified some significant limitations in its IT infrastructure, especially within legacy systems that were built on now obsolete hardware. The legacy systems presented a substantial business risk, not only because they were outdated, but also because only a limited number of employees understood how to operate the technology.

Triton realized that it needed to significantly reduce this risk, while achieving several other key business objectives such as reducing the time to invoice customers. The company was also looking to create greater efficiencies, economies of scale and the ability to assess the profitability of individual transactions.

The Background

Outsourcing solution increases efficiency and reduces costs.

Recent technology investments had not delivered the desired benefit-to-cost ratio, and it was becoming extremely difficult to attract and retain the IT talent needed to operate Triton’s proprietary systems. Because its infrastructure was spread across several separate applications, the company realized it needed to consolidate its IT systems. An up-to-date industry-standard system would also be easier for employees to maintain.

Edward Thomas, head of Triton operations, commented, “We knew there were several parts of our IT frastructure that weren’t unified to deliver the best support to our business. Part of our planning for the future entailed a move to industry-standard systems, which would be interoperable across all disciplines within the business and would be easy for new team members to implement.”

Overall, Triton wanted a scalable IT platform that would support the rapid organic growth of its fleet of containers, enable it to increase productivity, and allow it to continue to build stronger relationships with its customers.

The Solution

Perot Systems assessed Triton’s IT operations and provided recommendations to improve cost control, increase agility, reduce administrative tasks, enhance the information provided to management and staff, and improve customer service.

Triton outsourced its entire IT operation to Perot Systems in early 2000. With this change, a new billing and invoicing system called TriFleet was implemented in 2002 to replace the 18-year-old legacy system. The new Java 2 Enterprise Edition-based application also serves as the foundation for the consolidation of Triton’s other legacy systems into a single transaction engine for the business.

Perot Systems is bringing additional discipline and efficiency to the production  environment by embarking on a plan called  Enterprise Architecture Consolidation. This  includes systems integration and Web and EDI enhancements to the current and the  remaining legacy systems. Perot Systems also implemented an improved accounting system in 2001. The system deployed on time and 20 percent under budget.

In addition, Perot Systems maintains core  services for Triton, including PCs, servers, data warehousing, applications support and global infrastructure services such as local area networks, telephone systems and licenses. Perot Systems built, and currently runs, the company’s disaster recovery site, as well as a 24/7 help desk that addresses all technology issues reported by Triton employees. As a result of Perot Systems’ assuming these responsibilities, costs decreased 10 percent and 12 percent in the first two years of operation respectively, while increasing system availability and reducing response time to resolve system problems.

“We now have in place far improved processes for updating and maintaining our existing systems that have significantly benefited our head office employees here in San Francisco, our network of regional offices around the world, as well as our customers,” Thomas said.

“Like any partnership, both sides have to work together and there will be differences that need to be resolved. When we were choosing an outsource partner back in 1999-2000, we were focused on finding a company that had a culture that most closely reflected our own — a culture of business integrity, treating people in a professional and respectful manner, and always focusing on the needs of our customers. We believe we made the right choice.”