SoftwareOne case study

Touching innovation

Moving SAP to Azure increased flexibility and helped to drive innovation

When Algra tec, one of the leading aluminium manufacturers for touch input systems in Switzerland, had to face the natural end of hardware lifecycle, the company took the chance to think about how to best increase the flexibility of its SAP environment. As a conclusion, the SAP estate was migrated to Microsoft Azure. This move helped Algra tec to strengthen its flexibility to deliver tailored solutions and created further room for business innovation.

Client: Algra tec
Industry: Manufacturing
Services: ‘Lift-and-shift’ migration of SAP ERP to Microsoft Azure including upgrading the operating system and database, supported by Managed Services for SAP on Azure and SoftwareOne’s shared Solution Manager, running on Azure
Country: Switzerland

The migration to Microsoft Azure was completed flawlessly without any disturbance nor disruption to the ongoing operations. Our SAP landscape was running smoothly one day after the completion of the migration and faster than before thanks to the new and modern hardware.

Dieter Matter
Chief Executive Officer, Algra tec

About the client

Algra tec is one of the leading aluminium manufacturers of printing plates, panels and keyboards, using state-of-the-art technologies to produce customer-tailored solutions for diverse industries. With more than 60 years of experience in the field, the Swiss-based organization is continuously researching and developing new technologies to shape its customers’ – and our – future.

Being a technology-driven organization, Algra tec knows the importance of innovation and being able to quickly react and adapt itself to ever-evolving market needs. So, with the organization’s end of hardware lifecycle approaching, Algra tec searched for a solution that would increase the flexibility of its SAP environment and create room for innovation in a cost-effective manner: requirements met by Microsoft’s public cloud, Azure.

The challenge

After making the strategic decision to migrate its SAP environment to Microsoft Azure, Algra tec was in need of a trusted and responsible expert partner who could take on this project. The Swiss manufacturer evaluated various SAP service providers, but it was SoftwareOne’s deep SAP competency and experience with Microsoft Azure which, paired with its competitive pricing, gave Algra tec the necessary confidence to conduct the project with them.

The solution

Before conducting the backup and restore migration of Algra tec’s SAP systems to Microsoft Azure, SoftwareOne upgraded the organization’s database and operating system. With this, Algra tec was now able to compress the data volumes on the initial environment and could significantly speed up the migration process which was conducted in only eight weeks.

SoftwareOne has highly competent professionals at our availability to provide all the necessary support during and after completion of the project.

– Dieter Matter, Chief Executive Officer, Algra tec

The result

Hosting its SAP landscape on Azure helped Algra tec to avoid the approaching infrastructure investments and to increase its IT cost transparency using Microsoft’s ‘pay-per-consumption’ model. As the cloud allows fast and flexible deployment of new systems and for resizing of existing systems, Algra tec creates room for innovation.

SoftwareOne not only planned and conducted the SAP on Azure migration project, but now also manages Algra tec’s SAP environment on the cloud, relieving Algra of both, SAP- and infrastructure-related tasks. Outsourcing this responsibility to an expert partner is a further perceived benefit of deploying the SAP infrastructure on the cloud, as it allows Algra tec to focus more on its core business – creating customized solutions for its customers.

Key benefits at a glance: