Meratus optimizes operations with Microsoft Cloud

Meratus is Indonesia’s leading integrated maritime and logistics company. In 2018, the company set out on a digital transformation journey to increase internal efficiency and improve workplace agility. It has since implemented Microsoft cloud solutions across various business processes. As a result, Meratus has enabled workplace mobility, cut performance complaints, and reduced infrastructure costs significantly.

Established in 1957, Meratus has a rich history of growth. In 1990, Meratus became the first Indonesian shipping company to operate dedicated container liner service. Since then, Meratus has expanded its service offering in Southeast Asia and China, from maritime to land offerings with logistic end-to-end solutions. In 2021, Meratus set a new international milestone by launching a new route from Jakarta, Belawan, and Lampung to Singapore and Port Klang.

“Digital transformation requires agile, collaborative engagement with partners who bring technological and industry expertise to the table and experiences that correlate to the challenges companies are facing today. Through a ceaseless collaboration with Microsoft, Meratus is making processes gradually efficient. All the tools help us make our work more effective and efficient.”

Farid Belbouab, Chief Executive Officer, Meratus

In this very dynamic time, Meratus is aware that the biggest challenge is the acceleration of digitalization, which is changing consumer behavior. As a response to this challenge, Meratus implemented various transformations, with the goal of improving service to clients and partners. In 2018, the company set out on a digital transformation journey to ensure that the technologies that enable its teams can drive growth.

“The transformation journey was started by my predecessor, Mr. Eduard Pieters, beginning with the migration of IT infrastructure, including Exchange server on-premises, to the cloud. This in turn led to the implementation of Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365,” shares Hendy Harianto, Group Chief Information Officer at Meratus.

Hendy adds, "The cloud is at the core of today's agile business world. Cloud-based infrastructure is essential in providing flexible, on-demand access to the resources supporting these new digital business offerings. Infrastructure can be scaled fast as needed to support changing business priorities, while reducing the risks of wasted IT resources that hampered past investments in new digital services."

“Our Microsoft team in the APAC region has been collaborating with us on a multitude of projects recently. Microsoft experts have shared their expertise on security implementations on the cloud, Well Architect Frameworks, Zero Trust Security solutions, Azure DevOps and End-to-End Analytics in Azure, among other things. Collaboration, shared knowledge, and technical support make the implementation of the Microsoft solution for Meratus a whole lot more efficient and faster.”

Hendy Harianto, Group Chief Information Officer, Meratus

To ensure the technologies that power Meratus are helping the company achieve its ambitions, the team also set out to overhaul its IT ecosystem three years ago. A key issue to address was the company’s legacy email system. It was difficult to expand and update. In addition to better communication pathways, operational teams needed new software to continue efficiently serving an increasing customer base.

Connecting in the digital age

After exploring ways to improve email service, the team realized that a more holistic approach could improve communication and collaboration in Meratus Group. Meratus' IT team initially searched for a new mail server and came across Microsoft 365 solutions with the capability of integrating easily with the company's on-premises SharePoint platform. The cloud-based solution was relatively easy to adopt, so the implementation went smoothly.

Optimizing Meratus technology usage was made possible by moving from capital to operational expenditure model. Meratus gets the most value from the pay-as-you-go service—Microsoft Teams was one of the tools that stood out immediately. After holding a workshop for the group's top executives, it quickly spread across the Meratus organization and has since become a key communication tool.

As Meratus experienced a boost to business efficiency after the implementation of Microsoft 365 modern workplace tools, the team was inspired to migrate more of its operations online.

Streamline business processes with Dynamics 365

In order to streamline its business processes, Meratus is using Microsoft Dynamics 365 as its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system across finance, accounting, procurement, asset management, and human resources.

“Meratus credits the timely adoption of Microsoft 365 modern workplace tools and Dynamics 365 for its ability to avoid business disruption during the pandemic. By using Microsoft Teams, we could continue working and collaborating effectively.”

Johannita R. Pramadi, HR Director, Meratus

Meratus credits both the timely adoption of Microsoft's modern workplace tools and Dynamics 365 for its ability to avoid business disruption. Meratus' IT team was unsure whether using the cloud was a wise decision due to connectivity issues and infrastructure challenges in Indonesia. However, cloud-based infrastructure enabled employees of Meratus to continue collaborating and working during lockdowns at COVID-19.

“One of our focuses is digitalization and having a single integrated platform that accommodates our business requirements. Our current Back Office System runs on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and is used by different teams and users. The integrations with Microsoft 365 and Power BI also happen seamlessly. We worked closely with Microsoft Consulting Services (MCS) Team and were supported by the Microsoft Local Partner in Indonesia. The collaboration among all the involved stakeholders managed to achieve success and could work towards a common goal.”

Hilda Tirto, Transformation Manager, Meratus

Three-cloud architecture for continuous growth

Gradually, Meratus is also moving its business-critical applications and databases to Azure to ensure its infrastructure can support new features and ensure security.

“We haven't had any performance complaints from the users after the migration of some critical applications to the cloud. Operational risks are also mitigated without additional IT resources needed thanks to built-in security integrations.”

Gideon Evert, Head of IT Infrastructure, Network, Security and Cloud, Meratus

In less than two years since it embarked on the digital transformation journey, Meratus has seen an increase in efficiency. "We haven't had any performance complaints from the users after the migration of some critical applications to the cloud. Operational risks are also mitigated without additional IT resources needed thanks to built-in security integrations," says Gideon Evert, Head of IT Infrastructure, network, security and cloud at Meratus. The company also reports that cloud-based services save significant expenses that would otherwise be spent on infrastructure improvements.

Looking to the future, Meratus plans to extend its cloud solutions to boost internal and customer-facing operations. The company wants to optimize the use of Microsoft 365 by integrating various Power Platform features such as Power Automate with Teams for more efficient workflows.

The team also hopes to see more data-driven operations and decision making at Meratus. Operational teams are already utilizing Power BI capabilities and plan to expand its AI, Machine learning and IoT projects. “We want to maximize our use of business intelligence and advanced analytics features,” shares Hendy Harianto, Group Chief Information Officer at Meratus.

In terms of customer-facing improvements, Meratus would like to expand the use of Teams to communicate with their customers. “Instead of investing in a new telephony system, our customers will be able to call us on Teams through local telco numbers,” adds Harianto.

“Partnering with Microsoft, I was able to teach almost 1,000 Meratus employees about Power Platform and Microsoft 365 as part of our Meratus IT Digital days 2022. Employees gained digital skills, resulting in better performance, productivity, and innovation.”

Hendy Harianto, Group Chief Information Officer, Meratus