Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Helps Guitar Center Tune its Business for Increased Customer Demand

Rhea-AI Summary

Guitar Center, the largest musical instrument retailer, has transitioned its core systems to Oracle Exadata Database Service on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), targeting over 30% performance improvements and 40% savings in data platform expenses over three years. This move addresses fluctuating customer demand, enhancing response times and enabling new services. The retailer's upgrade aims to provide necessary scalability and resiliency in its operations, reflecting a strategic shift to cloud technology to maintain efficiency during market volatility.

Positive

• Over 30% performance improvement in core systems after cloud transition.
• Expected cost savings of over 40% in data platform expenses within three years.

Negative

• None.

The world's largest musical instrument retailer to improve performance by more than 30 percent and over 40 percent in data platform savings by moving its core systems to Exadata Database Service on OCI

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Guitar Center, the world's largest musical instrument retailer, has moved to Oracle Exadata Database Service on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) to meet customer demand for new online and in-store services. By moving its core systems to OCI, including order management, warehouse management, demand forecasting, enterprise resource planning, and its ecommerce platform, Guitar Center has seen performance improvements of more than 30 percent and aims to save more than 40 percent in data platform expenses over the next three years. Additionally, with its inventory and catalog systems, ecommerce platform, and contact center technologies now running on OCI, Guitar Center is able to provide improved response times to customers while offering new services in the channel of their choice.

Guitar Center and its brands employ over 13,000 Associates across more than 550 retail locations in the United States and online, offering new and used musical instruments, rentals, repairs, and lessons to musicians of all ages and musical ability. The pandemic created two contrasting challenges for the retailer, as the global lockdowns led to product supply and customer demand challenges, and the subsequent reopening sparked a huge resurgence. Guitar Center realized that its on-premises infrastructure needed to be upgraded in order to provide the scale, adaptability, and resiliency necessary to ensure uptime and successfully navigate these huge swings in customer demand. As a result, the retailer decided to move its infrastructure, customer-facing applications, and mission-critical workloads to the cloud, and selected Oracle Exadata Database Service on OCI for its scalability, security, and ability to adjust capacity based on demand.

"The past two years have been punctuated by massive fluctuations in customer demand, creating a 'bullwhip effect.' As we navigated the challenges, we realized that we needed to gain elasticity across our infrastructure so that it could be adjusted quickly based on business conditions," said Ravi Balwada, CTO, Guitar Center. "With OCI and its Exadata Database Service, we're able to operate a highly connected, distributed cloud environment without needing to re-platform our core systems. We've improved the efficiency of our systems and expect to be able to realize cost savings of more than 40 percent – while delivering new services and experiences to our customers."

"Few industries have faced more upheaval over the past two years than the retail sector, and retailers have had to become extremely resourceful in finding new revenue streams to grow their businesses," said Greg Pavlik, senior vice president and CTO, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. "Guitar Center's move to the cloud highlights the flexibility and economic benefits that cloud technologies can deliver."

Additional Resources

• Learn more about Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
• Learn more about Oracle Exadata Database Service

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SOURCE Oracle

FAQ

What performance improvements is Guitar Center expecting after moving to Oracle Cloud?

Guitar Center expects over 30% performance improvements after transitioning to Oracle Exadata Database Service on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

How much does Guitar Center plan to save in data platform expenses?

Guitar Center aims to save over 40% in data platform expenses over the next three years.

When did Guitar Center announce its move to Oracle Cloud?

Guitar Center announced its move to Oracle Cloud on January 19, 2023.

What is the significance of Guitar Center's move to Oracle Cloud for its operations?

The move is significant as it enhances Guitar Center's scalability, adaptability, and resiliency to better handle fluctuations in customer demand.