SAP Migration at HANSA-FLEX AG

SAP Migration to the Cloud Increases Performance and Lowers Costs

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The progress of digitization at HANSA-FLEX and the international service industry demand that the SAP systems of the company be available around the globe – a prerequisite for significantly increasing the operational efficiency.

With the support of Arvato Systems, HANSA- FLEX AG managed to migrate the SAP system environment to the cloud, safely and on time, and to replace the old AS/400 system. The production facility was therefore able to increase its performance and speed – all while reducing operating costs. Together with Arvato Systems, HANSA-FLEX has therefore successfully taken the first step in the realization of its digitization strategy and can now begin working on the additional steps in expanding the strategy.

Customer Benefits

Flexible SAP system environment scalable to its needs

Increase in performance and speed

Reduction in operating and other costs

No complicated hardware leases

High degree of availability of the systems for 24-7 production processes

Agile storage management and uniform administration across the entire SAP landscape

Project Overview

Background Situation

HANSA-FLEX initially analyzed the status quo. The analysis centered on the question of whether it is possible to ensure the 24-7 availability of the SAP systems by operating them in the virtual private and/or public cloud in the future as well. The extent to which operating SAP systems in the private and/or public cloud would pay dividends for the digitization strategy of HANSA-FLEX was also investigated, without any prejudice on the outcome.

Vision

HANSA-FLEX wanted to meet the regulatory requirements of the GDPR without expanding its own computing infrastructure and without extending the leases for the on-premises hardware used. At the same time, the company wanted to increase its variability and flexibility with regard to the SAP hardware infrastructure, managed SAP basis services, the contractual structure, operating costs, and cost allocation. In doing so, the previously used AS/400 system was to be replaced by a futureproof cloud-based system. The goal was to finish the migration by the end of 2019 to have enough time for the additional expansion phases of the digitization strategy.

Solution

Thanks to the support from Arvato Systems, the great dedication of the project team, and a perfect partnership, it was possible to carry out the migration from SAP R/3 ECC on schedule – including the required SAP pre-systems. An upgrade from SAP R/3 ECC EPH to EHP8 SPS 13 was carried out directly as part of the DMO process. Along the way, Arvato Systems completely replaced the AS/400 system and installed a modern cloud-based environment. Over the course of the project, Arvato Systems checked 1,260 test cases in only 15 days and assessed the compatibility of 4,700 items with HANA-DB. The migration of the SAP system environment to the cloud as well as the replacement of the old AS/400 system have been managed safely and on time by the end of 2019.

Flexible and safe hydraulic system solutions are our recipe for success. Constantly maintaining a professional and collaborative partnership, we were able to upgrade our entire in-house SAP operation on a very tight schedule at the end of 2019, convert it to new database technology, and – flexibly and securely in equal measure – migrate it to the Microsoft Azure Cloud. In time, scope, and budget with Arvato Systems who – thanks to the service provided – have also been granted the contract for the managed service of SAP basis administration.

Christian-Hans Bültemeier | Commercial Director

HANSA-FLEX AG

The Customer

HANSA-FLEX AG, headquartered in Bremen, is Europe’s leading system provider in the fields of fluid technology, hydraulics, and pneumatics.
Today, HANSA-FLEX – which was founded in 1962 – is a value-added partner to high-performing companies of all sizes.
With its more than 4,200 employees and over 150,000 purchasing customers from 42 countries, HANSA-FLEX generated annual revenue in 2019 of around 470 million euros.

Visit the HANSA-FLEX AG website