SAP Systems on a New Basis / Perfected IT-Sourcing Strategy

Chipcard maker overhauling its application support, systems operation and wide-area-network services for its SAP applications. AC-Service with All for One as one-stop supplier. Comprehensive expertise for the entire IT value chain. Better coverage for the ongoing application operation and new projects.

Stuttgart, 30 May 2006 – Small and midsized companies are increasingly reviewing their IT-sourcing strategies and concentrating the procurement of their IT services with one-stop providers that have the kind of comprehensive expertise to cover the entire IT value chain. This is why Winter AG in Unterschleiheim for its SAP systems completely reorganized the technical operation, application management and WAN services and bundled all of these with AC. Prior to this, these individual services were distributed among a number of different external service partners. AC, as one unit with All for One Systemhaus GmbH Midmarket Solutions, which has been a part of the AC Group since February 2006, has taken over the job of optimising the application and systems landscape, application management and technical operation for some 35 of Winter AG's users. One of the cornerstones for this newly developed support solution is the shifting of the SAP landscape with its functional modules such as FI (Financial Management), CO (Controlling), SD (Sales and Distribution), MM (Material Management), PP (Production Planning) and various interfaces to an optimised target platform within AC-Service's Managed IT Service Center. Hardware systems from Hewlett Packard comprise the target environment for the migration of the systems from Solaris to Linux (operating system), each with MaxDB (database). These were newly installed in the form of exclusive production and development systems for Winter AG and are also incorporated into a disaster recovery concept, which includes a Backup Service Center in addition to the IT Service Center. This secondary IT production site is a completely separate, both geographically and technologically, data center that provides a redundant production infrastructure, assumes the IT operation in case of emergency and thereby safeguards and ensures continuity for Winter AG's business operations. All communications between Winter AG and AC for managing the application and systems is coordinated uniformly through AC-Service's call center.

Winter AG is one of the leading providers of chipcards used in the banking and healthcare sectors, for security systems and as vouchers. The company employs some 60 people and most recently posted annual sales of EUR 23.6 million. "By concentrating the SAP systems with AC as a full-service provider, we are straightening everything out and getting hold of comprehensive, all-embracing expertise for each of our segments in order to better handle the ongoing application operations and new projects," summarised Michael Huber, the head of business administration at Winter AG.