By 2024, all SAP users must upgrade to SAP HANA, the technology company’s high-powered, in-memory data platform for digital business. Requiring full data migration onto the new platform and the installation of new hardware, this upgrade is a sizable endeavor. For some enterprises using SAP, particularly those with a high volume of data and multiple business units leveraging the technology, the mission-critical application could take upwards of two years.
Even with five years of runway remaining, the SAP edict has stirred frustration and fear in enterprise leaders. It is, after all, a daunting, time-consuming, and capital-intensive affair.
Over the last 18 months, American Digital has done more than 15 such migrations, helping enterprises resolve limitations with current IT infrastructure and implement modern platforms that incorporate SAP HANA.
In one of its most notable recent projects, American Digital worked with one of the nation’s largest food distributors, a Fortune 500 company with annual sales in excess of $7 billion. With the company’s internal IT team focused on tactical business priorities, leadership leaned on American Digital’s expertise to resolve problematic infrastructure issues and build a platform for the future.
In a massive undertaking that touched nearly every aspect of the distributor’s IT infrastructure, American Digital corrected substantial IT problems that caused downtime and made it impossible to complete a successful disaster recovery test, which increased risk levels and posed compliance and audit problems. American Digital also deployed an environment to meet future demands, installing an IT infrastructure that could reliably support around-the-clock operations, reduce costs, scale to support additional growth, employ private-cloud architecture, and integrate future-minded upgrades like SAP HANA.
In the end, American Digital’s personal and consultative approach to the distributor’s IT needs did more than accommodate the SAP HANA upgrade. It compelled the food distributor, one that has grown rapidly through acquisition, to think about its IT infrastructure in a more strategic, forward-looking manner. In the distributor’s fast-changing business environment characterized by high volume and low margins, American Digital’s support helped to transform the distributor’s competitive positioning and enhance its responsiveness in a way that supports growth and promotes optimal performance.
For a forced upgrade, those are some positive results.
Looking for a trusted partner to assist with your digital transformation? Please contact Daniella Lundsberg-Steele at daniellal@americandigital.com and she will get you in touch with the appropriate contact at American Digital.