MSC unifies global operations and tracks millions of shipment data points with Azure

Oceangoing cargo ships are the heavy lifters of world trade. It’s estimated that 80 percent of all goods are transported by container shipping fleets, and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has both the largest fleet and overall cargo capacity in the industry. The company operates on 300 trade routes, reaching 520 ports in 155 countries. With more than 850 container vessels transporting over 24.5 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) annually, MSC moves all kinds of cargo 24/7 on some of the largest cargo ships in the world, including the MSC Michel Cappellini, with a 24,346-TEU capacity.

Founded in 1970 in Italy by former ship captain Gianluigi Aponte, the company has remained a wholly owned family business, committed to Aponte’s vision of “Where the customer goes, MSC goes” and the core values of caring for employees and customers. “MSC is a leader in global trade because of its longstanding emphasis on people, customer service, and employee care” says Quentin Drion, IT Director of Infrastructure and Operations, at MSC.

MSC customers range from single individuals to large corporations, shipping everything from consumer necessities such as medicine and fresh produce to luxury products like cars or precious commodities. “For every customer, getting their shipment delivered on time and in pristine condition is imperative, and our aim is to provide personalized care,” explains Drion. With recent growth in overseas shipping, plus the company’s vast array of vessels, locations, shipping partner companies, and its own internal teams, keeping everything and everyone connected requires constant evolution and adaptation.

Ocean operations connecting in the cloud

MSC wanted to get its employees and shipping partner companies working on the same platform, using compatible devices to better synchronize efforts and give them visibility into the same data in real time, from anywhere in the world.

“From an IT standpoint, we used to bepretty decentralized, with on-premises applications running in almost every country in the world,” says Drion. “With teams using different applications, there were challenges staying in sync andensuring people had access to critical data when they needed it, as well as with scaling applications up to a global level.”

The company decided to upgrade its infrastructure using Microsoft Azure. “A few years back, we migrated everyone to Microsoft Office 365. The natural second step was to move all our on-premises infrastructures to Azure,” says Drion. Considering the size of MSC, the move and integration went smoothly, adds Drion. “We saw improvements right away.”

For example, at the corporate headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, MSC used to rely on multiple datacenters. “Now, we have only one for connectivity,” says Drion. “And we were able to do this same kind of streamliningfor our 675 offices all around the world.” The company also used Azure App Service to simplify the creation, deployment, and management of web applications essential for global operations, and take advantage of built-in platform capabilities such as load balancing and autoscaling.​