ElringKlinger accelerates innovation and sustainability using RISE with SAP on Azure

ElringKlinger’s transition to electric vehicles and transformative mobility requires greater flexibility, standardization, and compliance with regulations, while consolidating services on a single platform to improve efficiency and sustainability.

The company is consolidating services on Microsoft Azure and migrating to RISE with SAP on Azure to enhance flexibility, improve efficiency, ensure compliance with regulations, and support its transition to new business models.

The migration enhanced ElringKlinger’s flexibility with faster responses to product demands. Consolidating services on Azure is leading to increased sustainability, global compliance, and improved IT management.

ElringKlinger, a global leader in automotive manufacturing, is committed to innovation and sustainability. To support its transition to new business models, particularly with the shift toward transformative mobility, ElringKlinger embarked on a significant migration to RISE with SAP on Azure. This initiative aims to enhance its digital presence, improve customer engagement, and ensure compliance with various regulatory requirements. “It’s more sustainable and cost-effective to consolidate services across locations and departments, rather than building new infrastructure at each facility. This approach enhances sustainability and reduces costs,” says Alexander Maute, Director of IT Technology at ElringKlinger.

“Nowadays, we have less time to prepare for changing workloads compared to 10 years ago. We need to be more flexible and standardized. Consolidating services like SQL, especially Azure SQL, on a single platform like Azure really helps.”

Alexander Maute, Director, IT Technology, ElringKlinger

ElringKlinger faced several challenges, including: 

Safety regulations: Ensuring the reliability and security of IT services and products to support new business models.

Emissions regulations: Achieving CO₂ neutrality by tracking emissions through IT systems and consolidating services to reduce infrastructure needs.

Data privacy regulations: Complying with data sovereignty laws in the European Union and China, with systems located in datacenters in Amsterdam and Sweden.

ElringKlinger decided to migrate its workloads to RISE with SAP on Azure, transitioning from its previous hosting partner in Dettingen. This project, which began at the start of the year, was successfully completed within nine months. The decision to rely on Azure for cloud services and SAP as the enterprise resource planning system has led to a strong relationship between ElringKlinger, SAP, and Microsoft. 

“This strong relationship with Microsoft and Azure allows us to lean into their extensive experience and capabilities, offering better service times than we could achieve as a large, but not super large, enterprise.”

Alexander Maute, Director, IT Technology, ElringKlinger

Maute explains, “Nowadays, we have less time to prepare for changing workloads compared to 10 years ago. We need to be more flexible and standardized. Consolidating services like SQL, especially Azure SQL, on a single platform like Azure really helps.” 

The migration to RISE with SAP on Azure has provided ElringKlinger with several significant benefits: 

Enhanced flexibility and responsiveness: The company can react quickly to changing demands, crucial for its focus on product transformation and the shift toward electric engines.

Sustainability and cost efficiency: Consolidating services and reducing the need for new infrastructure has led to lower energy consumption and cost savings.

Global reach and compliance: Using Azure global datacenters, ElringKlinger can offer high-quality, efficient regional services while complying with data sovereignty laws.

Improved IT management: The company benefits from simplified management and enhanced transparency of IT services on Azure.

Strong technical support: ElringKlinger gains access to extensive expertise and resources from Microsoft and SAP.

“This strong relationship with Microsoft and Azure allows us to lean into their extensive experience and capabilities, offering better service times than we could achieve as a large, but not super large, enterprise,” says Maute. ElringKlinger’s migration to RISE with SAP on Azure has been a transformative journey, enhancing its operational efficiency, sustainability, and ability to innovate. Maute sums up the journey: “By taking advantage of Microsoft cloud services, ElringKlinger takes one step forward on its transformation path with its SHAPE30 Group strategy and its vision of being the preferred partner in driving innovative technologies.”

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