Achieving One Fujitsu with Red Hat Enterprise Linux on Azure for Enhanced Security and Operational Efficiency

Data-driven management requires real-time observation of data-connecting activities in the field to executives. A globally unified framework is necessary to support these activities and the same applies to the platform supporting in-house systems. Fujitsu adopted Microsoft Azure to consolidate its next-generation IT platform, DXP Cloud.

Before the migration, Linux-based operating systems, including Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® (RHEL), accounted for more than 40% of the existing, domestic, and internal platform services. The company’s core systems, including purchasing, sales, finance, and production management, were all running on RHEL. This reflects the company's heritage in pioneering the mission-critical Linux market in Japan, using know-how and expertise cultivated through its in-house practices to propose and implement solutions to its customers.

Tsuyoshi Tatebayashi, Senior Director, Platform Transformation Unit, Digital Systems Platform Division, Fujitsu Limited, explains the importance of integrating infrastructure for RHEL that was previously distributed in global on-premises environments into the DXP Cloud.

"In the past, security levels differed in every region making it necessary to rely on local administrators to implement security measures. Migrating RHEL to Azure helped us achieve a common global platform with standardized operation and secure platform services. This unifies security levels globally with the goal of strengthening our governance. The concept of operational uniformity applies not only to RHEL, but also to the larger concept for the DXP Cloud." 

Tatebayashi expands on the reasons for choosing Azure as the migration platform.

"Our considerations were not only from the perspective of a common global platform, but also included requirements of high availability, high reliability, and disaster recovery. We also focused on the fact that using Azure can solve operational issues such as patch updates, compatibility with existing mission-critical systems, and ease of cloud migration through lift and shift.”

However, one issue remained that needed to be resolved when migrating from RHEL to Azure: the extended update support period for certain minor releases of RHEL was limited to only two years.

A lift and shift migration of distributed on-premises environments running RHEL

Upgrades of core infrastructure in a tight timeframe is risky, particularly with limited experience and knowledge in the cloud. Moreover, if lifecycle management is performed once every two years, there can be an increase in operational costs and management burdens for version upgrades.

Keiichi Yoshida, Manager, Platform Transformation Unit, Digital Systems Platform Division, Fujitsu Limited, values the way Microsoft addressed these challenges.

“In our consultations with Microsoft about the mounting challenges of moving internal deployments of RHEL to the cloud, we were offered a new solution called Enhanced Extended Update Support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. We were very grateful for the proposal which extended support from two to four years. That would allow us to gain know-how while conducting lifecycle management once every four years and acclimating to our operations in the cloud.”

The company's RHEL-based system is structured on three tiers consisting of operating-system infrastructure, middleware, and business applications. As the first stage of the migration to Azure, a cloud lift was undertaken before the support period finished for RHEL. The cloud shift phase was started afterwards, in which the business applications themselves are being modernized.

Yuji Kawada, Senior Director, Platform Transformation Unit, Digital Systems Platform Division, Fujitsu Limited recalls how the design phase is crucial for a smooth transition to and operation in the cloud.

“Aligning our company’s conditions and requirements was foremost in structuring the resources and services available with Azure. We designed DXP Cloud based on the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure, a collection of proven guidance and best practices, with assessment and advice from Microsoft. As a result, we were able to efficiently create a highly reliable cloud infrastructure with security and governance, while maintaining scalability and flexibility. We also consulted with Microsoft on our approach to migrating the three tiers of RHEL."

Improved license management for globally consistent security

Starting in April 2022, and continuing as of March 2024, more than 400 RHEL servers have been migrated to Red Hat Enterprise Linux on Azure.

Use of Azure has greatly changed operations of RHEL. Patch updates are now performed automatically with Microsoft Azure Update Manager.

“The platform-service delivery department uses Azure Update Manager to provide users with predefined schedules. Users can also set their own preferred schedules based on their business requirements. We feel that it’s beneficial being able to both reduce operational loads and reliably apply patches."

Using Azure also eliminates the need for RHEL license management. “In our on-premises environment, we previously managed licenses using Microsoft Excel and other management tools, but now we don't need to track licenses since our pay-as-you-go plans include RHEL licenses with Azure. Our license costs can now be optimized using pay-as-you-go billing. We can better address surplus expenditures while buffering against unexpected circumstances than when we used yearly licensing for contracts. This has resulted in a cost reduction of about 40% compared to existing on-premises operations. In terms of operations, we no longer have to go through the annual approval process and signing of contracts every year. We feel that we are making more effective use of our time and have more flexibility as well.”

In DXP Cloud, "our goal is for users to be able to use the service immediately, without needing to read the manual."

Standardization of operations and user convenience are related, and the company aims to strike a balance between the two. “We have a range of pre-set specifications such as CPU and disk capacity. It’s time-consuming for users to configure these settings and requires knowledge of Azure. However, resources required by each user may differ so they can change basic settings on their own as long as those remain within security parameters.”

Achieving globally unified security is expected to have other significant benefits. The new platform service provides users with settings and backups that are highly effective against ransomware and changes to RHEL settings that are undesirable from a security perspective. Microsoft Defender for Cloud provides protection by generating alerts and push-type notifications when threats are detected, allowing users to take immediate action in any area of the cloud environment from the Azure dashboard. This allows for both proactive prevention of incidents and rapid response when risks do occur.

RHEL and Microsoft Unified support

The company is moving toward its cloud shift for RHEL with support from Microsoft Unified. Yoshida says, “We are receiving support from Microsoft for the next steps of modernizing aging business systems. We’re finding it reassuring to use Mission Critical, which is not only for solving simple technical issues, but also provides consultations for requests and concerns of business divisions. We’re also asking for support in training programs for Azure platform as a service, as migration of business systems are the responsibility of our business departments."

The key to resolving concerns about cloud computing from the business units will be important in the future. “We plan to hold ongoing information sessions and increase opportunities to see and work with RHEL running on Azure. In addition to reporting on problems and improvements, we would also like to demonstrate how managed services on Azure will make things better, such as the fact that it can significantly reduce costs and save time in operational departments.”

Tatebayashi says that there is a notable advantage in being able to centralize support for RHEL and Azure, rather than having to contact each company individually.

“How do we get the best use of RHEL in the cloud? I think we are achieving what we want to accomplish with the full support of Microsoft at each step of the process, including initial design, cloud lift, business department support, and the cloud shift. We are looking forward to proactive and forward-looking proposals from Microsoft.”

Tatebayashi concludes, "We are halfway through our program for One Fujitsu. We believe that full-scale migration and use of DXP Cloud for business systems will begin in the near future. So that users can maintain peace of mind, we will continue providing platform services using the latest technologies and maximizing the capabilities of our public cloud on Azure. We will also strive to achieve our mission of becoming One Fujitsu.

Another important theme is accelerating digital transformation for other Japanese companies by sharing the know-how we have accumulated through this migration of our internal RHEL systems with our customers. Fujitsu will continue to actively work toward the use of Linux in the cloud era and contribute to the creation of new value.”