Accounts Payable Process Automation
Cloud-based, automated invoice processing software solutio ...
Client background & business context
- Client profile: international company for lighting products and networked light applications
- Project: migration of SAP System to Microsoft AZURE Cloud Computing Platform
Journey to the Cloud
Many SAP customers have been running SAP on premise for decades and have been reluctant to harness the benefits of the public cloud. But as the public cloud has transformed IT and businesses, on premise hosting has become harder to justify.
Challenges
Some of the main challenges identified before and during the project were:
- Complex existing ecosystem: the company had 6 different SAP Systems that needed to be migrated at the same time
- Preventing possible network issues that might’ve appeared during the migration: one of our main concerns and challenges was to avoid possible network errors related to moving data to AZURE. This required additional analysis and preparation before the actual migration
- Fixing compatibility issues: upgrading the Windows Server from 2008 R2 to Windows Server 2012 R2 might’ve result in a series of inconsistencies, with negative impact in the business flow. We had to make sure that all compatibility issues have been addressed before the actual migration
- Create a backup strategy: due to the complexity of the system, a backup strategy was required. To avoid any eventual system errors, we decided to design a backup using the CommVault tool on the Windows Server 2012 R2 and configure it
- Time to market: the migration had to be undergone before the sales season
Our approach
For this client, a collaboration was ongoing on other SAP-related projects. So, as the project grew and became more complex, a migration was required. After a series of discussions and a thorough analysis, we concluded that migrating to Microsoft AZURE Cloud represented the most suitable solution. Cost reduction and enhanced flexibility in adding or removing hardware to or from the existing landscape, were among the main reasons for undergoing this migration. Besides that, the migration should’ve ensured a more stable and scalable infrastructure.
To ensure timely delivery, together with the client, we identified and established a three-phase timeline for the whole migration project. So, we have separated the migration in three environments or waves: development, quality, and production.
For the first and the second wave (development and quality), we identified all the issues related to the migration project. Then, we created all the procedures to fix them. During the last wave, we migrated the SAP System in a healthy and stable way, thus ensuring a limited number of errors.
One of our main values, full transparency was ensured. Throughout the project, the client had full control and a clear overview of the system changes, as well as the workload. In a few months, our clients had a new safe and scalable SAP infrastructure.
Technologies
- SAP
- Azure Cloud
Results
Through this migration, we enabled a scalable, robust, and flexible SAP infrastructure system able to support the company in its business growth.
The cloud allows our clients to meter and automate resources usage and to maximise efficiency. So, resources that spin-up during periods of high-demand, can be turned off, thus reducing waste and enhancing the overall productivity.
With years of SAP-related experience, our teams of certified SAP developers managed to deliver a stable and performant SAP Systems in AZURE, all in a short period of time.
The migration diminished the number of Windows Servers from 4 servers to 1, maintaining high performance of the SAP Systems. The whole endeavour reduced the amount of RAM by 50%.
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