Challenge.
From and lockers and cabinets, you’ll find high-quality and innovative steel solutions from C + P Möbelsysteme GmbH Co. KG. in leisure facilities, schools and changing rooms all over. The specialist and market leader in steel furniture solutions offers everything from individual pieces to complete solutions for large-scale projects, processing some 1,000 tons of steel every month at its locations in Breidenbach (Hesse), Gotha (Thuringia) and Legnica (Poland). The company receives over 65,000 orders annually from customers around the world who benefit from C + P’s numerous product innovations. To optimally support the work across the three locations, C + P wanted to make its IT infrastructure more flexible and scalable and, to this end, not only planned to standardise the IT landscape throughout the company with cloud technologies, but to leverage them to better react to changing business requirements. The plan for the future was to follow a cloud-first strategy, but not to simply migrate all systems. Rather, C + P wanted to use the cloud journey to rethink and redesign their applications so they could be optimally integrated into the cloud. The company planned to move the production system to the cloud at all three locations, and as C + P were already using multiple Microsoft applications and were keen to avoid other third parties, it was clear very early on that the Microsoft Azure cloud environment would be the solution of choice. To accompany it on its cloud journey, C + P was on the look out for a specialist to support its in-house IT, advise and collaborate closely with it right up until the applications had been migrated and the cloud was up and running.
We are extremely satisfied with how Bechtle implemented our cloud-first project. This was an extensive project and Bechtle was behind us every step of the way. Thanks to the fantastic support we received, we were able to define what we need and how we can migrate our consolidated workloads. The core project has now been completed and we are fully immersed in the world of Azure. The close collaboration with and support from Bechtle throughout the course of the project really helped us overcome all the challenges we faced on our cloud journey and take our IT infrastructure to a whole new level.
Felix Wiederhold, Head of IT, C + P Möbelsysteme GmbH Co. KG
Solution.
Bechtle is an expert in all things Microsoft Azure and understood how to implement an tailored cloud environment on the platform. Working closely with C + P’s IT department, Bechtle initially analysed and evaluated all existing applications and systems in detail to identify dependencies and develop a structured migration strategy. In some instance, C + P consolidated its applications itself including the various ERP systems and the various locations. Another important aspect to consider was the production system that needed to be migrated to the cloud using cloud-native applications. To ensure everything required for IT service management was to hand, Bechtle created an Azure landing zone, which included basic network and security concepts as well as VPN connections to the C + P sites to ensure that all data were securely and efficiently migrated between the cloud and the physical locations. Once the foundations for a centrally-run productive system had been laid, Bechtle and C + P set up several workshops to define existing and future requirements of administration, the network, security and general standardisation. Following an Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) approach, C + P gained an overview into the application landscape and how it can be optimally integrated into a future cloud environment. Bechtle made a list of all the applications installed at the company and identified the ones that were most frequently used and then in Azure landing zone workshops, clarified questions related to the structure of identities, cost management, policies and subscriptions to allow C + P to determine which Azure regions would be best to meet its requirements. Bechtle also configured Microsoft Azure Defender for Cloud and discussed backup and encryption details with C + P. Micro-segmenting the network and setting up firewalls also ensures that the network’s data traffic is always secure. In a final step, C + P gradually migrated its applications to cloud-native services. It was important to the company to use as many native Azure Platform as a Service (PaaS) services as possible, and so Bechtle optimised its applications, migrating the production planning system to Azure SQL, making database management more efficient and secure, and providing Azure Virtual Desktop for secure and high-performance non-web-based applications.
Business benefits.
With Bechtle’s extensive support, C + P Möbelsysteme GmbH Co. KG. now has a modern, flexible and scalable IT environment in the cloud. Bechtle and C + P’s IT department worked closely together throughout and regular training courses and meetings ensured that the in-house IT team quickly got to grips with the new technologies. Bechtle didn’t only offer C + P support when it came to technical implementation, but also with strategic planning and the continuous optimisation of its IT infrastructure. Rolling out Microsoft Azure services such as Azure IaaS and Azure PaaS has made management more efficient and the IT more easily scalable.