To deal with the fundamental changes in its industry and to help expand its capabilities as a global, end-to-end shipping and logistics service provider, Sany Group has made the switch from private Cloud with Citrix, to the public cloud of Microsoft Azure. The company chose ITCE as its IT partner for the project.
Sany Group provides logistics services worldwide to a growing number of international customers. These services include arranging transport by ship and air, as well as road haulage and rail. Sany Group also handles a wide range of other logistics services, such as customs facilities and warehouse management, including automated stock management and electronic reporting.
The cloud-based digital service of Microsoft Azure links all of these services seamlessly with each other, making Sany Group future-proof in a sector where digital change is able to make a difference more than ever before.
Ours is an industry that is really changing and so naturally success requires innovation. We need to be flexible in the way we grow – and having an IT partner like ITCE on board with us is essential.
Scalability, security and a straightforward migration
Back in the early days (1990), Sany Group ran on local IT architecture. But rapid organic growth meant that more and more external and internal application services were added to the system along the way. The company soon felt the need to make the switch to a private cloud solution and so it relocated the local servers to a datacentre running on Citrix. This migration was carried out by ITCE in 2016 and it meant that to gain access to data or applications, users no longer had to rely on their internal servers.
Then, as the result of the increasingly complex integration between the various packages from external providers, plus the limited scalability of the Citrix setup, Sany Group opted in 2020 to migrate all of its services to Microsoft Azure. The company uses Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD), making secure access available anywhere, any time and from any device.
In addition to significant cost-savings, this future-oriented setup offers the scalability to enable Sany Group to grow flexibly, without having to worry about whether its IT infrastructure can keep track with developments. In a world of cybercrime in which hackers target mainly companies, this system’s far-ranging security capabilities provide the necessary shield to keep unwanted intruders out. As a result, Sany Group can continue to provide extensive logistical support, as well as create new business opportunities.
The importance of the right IT Partner
ITCE has been providing SMEs with IT services for almost 20 years. The company is ideally placed to understand the current IT challenges that businesses have to deal with. As a Microsoft gold partner and with its own in-house development team, ITCE has all of the skills required to optimise the full range of processes any company is likely to need. In this recent project, ITCE guided Sany Group in its full migration to Microsoft Azure and the whole job was completed in just 3 months.
Sany Group, with its international structure and need for innovation to keep it
ahead of the competition, is the ideal profile for ITCE. Our broad knowledge of
infrastructure, applications and development means that we can act as the single
point of contact for our clients. As a consequence, all of the processes involved run
more efficiently, which ultimately results in a higher yield. Our goal is not only to
deliver, but also to improve.
The migration process itself consisted of various phases:
Analyse
The ITCE team analysed which applications at Sany Group needed to be migrated and what the current configurations were. This made it possible to determine how many resources had to be made available. All of the business processes were also looked at closely to see which ones could be optimised using the endless possibilities provided within the Microsoft product range.
Migration
The recommendations from the analysis phase were implemented during the migration phase.
Configuration of Azure subscriptions. Extra attention was focused here on security, connectivity, policy and overall management.
The ultimate migration was conducted in line with the prescribed method identified in the analysis phase.
Evaluation and testing were carried out to be certain that the migrated environment would meet the criteria outlined in the evaluation.
Migrations such as these place additional pressures on users. To counter this, personal guidance was provided for each individual to ensure that any interruption to work could be kept to a minimum.
Optimisation
Resource monitoring ensured that the available resources could be put to the best possible use. This helped optimise costs while providing every user with a strongly redundant platform that worked really quickly.
Training
The design of the whole migration operation meant that major and important changes could be made. The aim was always to keep these changes as small as possible for the end-user and, where necessary, ITCE provided appropriate training.
Network infrastructure
In addition to the Azure migration, ITCE also put on its network hat as a Telenet Business Partner to handle the switch to a Telenet Corporate Fibre Network. The switch to Telenet CFN enables Sany Group to use a stable, optimal network with set guarantees for its various locations in the Benelux, as well as offering access to professional support 24/7. This in turn ensures that Sany Group’s vital business data remains secure and guarantees that business-critical applications are given the bandwidth they need.
This setup also ensures that Sany Group has more control over and insight into its data traffic. And, last but not least, the company is able to save about half on its Internet charges.
Telephony
As part of the overall operation, Sany Group’s telephony was also taken care of and moved to Microsoft Azure. Microsoft Teams was introduced as a collaboration tool, thereby optimising both internal and external communication.
Finally, here are the benefits of the operation for Sany Group, at a glance:
Totally predictable ICT costs – today and into the future.
Very strongly protected system.
Always the right server capacity, making investments in server infrastructure a thing of the past.
Future-proof solution.
Highly innovative way of working.
Eco-friendly solution.
Stable platform, disaster recovery-proof.
Work with ITCE as your authorized Cloud partner for Microsoft Azure
We can help you analyze the current IT situation of your company. Free and without obligation! Contact us for an appointment.
