Nestlé innovates its SAP landscape using RISE with SAP on Azure to be future-ready

Established in 1866, Nestlé’s story is one of ingenuity, resilience, and deep commitment to nourishing communities worldwide. From its origins as a small, condensed milk factory in Switzerland, the company has grown into a trusted presence in households across the globe, with more than 2,000 brands in 185 markets and more than 300 factories supporting local economies. For generations, Nestlé has continually reinvented itself—innovating not just to keep pace with change, but to shape it—so people everywhere have access to quality food and beverages that enrich daily life.

This spirit of adaptation and forward thinking is now driving Nestlé’s digital transformation. As Ralf Huebenthal, Global Head of IT Platforms at Nestlé, explains, “In today’s fast-changing world, IT systems have become an integral part of the consumer journey, influencing how we engage and shop. For a company of our size, it is crucial that our systems are always available. Moving our workloads to the cloud has been a key ambition to increase our resiliency and reliability.” 

To modernize its IT system, Nestlé decided to replace six aging, regionally distributed on-premises datacenters with a more cost-effective, resilient, and scalable solution. Using mature hyperscaler technology, Nestlé moved to unify its infrastructure with a cloud-first SAP environment, establishing real-time, connected operations across its global supply chain. This shift positioned the company to respond rapidly to evolving market demands with greater agility. 

Nestlé’s vision for IT modernization goes beyond keeping pace—it unlocks new growth and innovation opportunities. Embracing the cloud enables Nestlé to amplify customer experiences, accelerate product launches, and strengthen supply chain resilience, continuing its legacy of delivering quality at velocity. The transformation also breaks down data silos, using predictive analytics and AI, and streamlines global operations for faster decisions, lower costs, and more consumer-focused solutions.

Migrating 1,200-plus terabytes of data using RISE with SAP on Azure

Nestlé required an ally capable of supporting its global scale while addressing the complexity of its on-premises infrastructure. Microsoft Azure emerged as the ideal solution, offering hyperscale capabilities uniquely suited to Nestlé’s needs. 

Nestlé’s migration to RISE with SAP on Azure wasn’t just about modernizing the infrastructure—it laid the foundation for a future-ready enterprise. Huebenthal emphasizes, “That’s why we chose Microsoft. Our journey to the cloud was the foundation for RISE with SAP on Azure. We were among the first and largest SAP instances ever—and we knew it would open up future innovation.” ​

Markus Schnabel, Journey to Cloud Project Manager SAP Landscape at Nestlé IT, explains, “When we evaluated our options, we needed a technology provider that could deliver innovation and reliability at scale. The Azure roadmap for 24-terabyte VMs—critical for supporting our very large SAP systems—and its well-established expertise in running SAP workloads made it the clear choice.”

Nestlé’s migration strategy prioritized security, compliance, and operational integrity. By standardizing on Azure (versus a multiplatform approach), the company streamlined governance, reduced attack surfaces, and helped protect sensitive customer and supplier data across its decentralized supply chain. The global infrastructure of Azure helped ensure compliance with regional data hosting requirements while enabling seamless cross-border operations—a necessity for Nestlé’s global operations and more than 300 factories. 

Executing one of the largest data migrations in business history, Nestlé moved more than 200 SAP instances; 10,000-plus servers; and 1,200 terabytes of data to Azure with near-zero business disruption. Laura Vacotto, Senior Platform Group Manager SAP Landscape at Nestlé IT, reflects, “Employees experienced only one noticeable change: significantly improved performance. What used to take minutes now happens in seconds.” This leap in system responsiveness streamlined global operations, reduced outage times from six hours to a few minutes, and achieved 99.97% availability—critical for a company serving billions of consumers annually.

Preparing for a future-ready enterprise

By incorporating Azure advanced analytics, Nestlé transformed its ability to predict disruptions, optimize processes, and innovate at scale. Predictive models now generate real-time monitoring of global infrastructure, while machine learning automates routine tasks, freeing teams to focus on strategic initiatives.

“In a company with over 150 years of history, innovation is part of the culture. As we engage more directly with consumers and accelerate new product development, moving to a cloud environment like Azure helps us speed up the entire innovation cycle and deliver better experiences faster,” Huebenthal explains. 

Using RISE with SAP on Azure, Nestlé is breaking down operational silos and delivering real-time, company-wide visibility, enabling smarter and faster decision-making across its global markets. By unifying its SAP environment in the cloud, Nestlé is driving efficiencies, from supply chain adjustments to personalized customer engagements. Beyond improved performance, the move to Azure positions Nestlé to maximize predictive analytics at scale, supporting new business models and enabling rapid response to evolving market demands.

Nestlé’s decision to migrate to Microsoft Azure has led to additional transformative outcomes:

Agile growth and global scalability: The Azure hyperscale infrastructure empowers Nestlé to run SAP S/4HANA across 185 countries, supporting rapid expansion, new business models, and acquisitions.

Business resilience and efficiency: Migrating to a cloud-first SAP environment has increased system availability to 99.97%, slashed outage times, and automated failover and streamlined operations to facilitate faster time to market for new products.

Data-driven innovation: A centralized Azure data lake and integrated analytics help Nestlé break down silos, delivering real-time insights, predictive analytics, and advanced automation. This foundation optimizes supply chain decisions and empowers teams to act on data instantly.

Security and compliance at scale: The robust security and compliance capabilities of Azure help protect sensitive data and maintain adherence to regional regulations.

Nestlé’s migration to Microsoft Azure has transformed its IT operations, delivering remarkable improvements in reliability and efficiency. The company achieved an 80% reduction in critical platform incidents and a 40% year-over-year decrease in incident resolution times. Automated recovery and failover capabilities of Azure Virtual Machines have been pivotal, helping ensure system failures are addressed swiftly and seamlessly. Schnabel explains, “If an Azure M-series virtual machine fails now, recovery is automatic. With the recovery speed in Azure, unplanned VM failures often go unnoticed by the business.” 

The transformation extends beyond operational efficiency, delivering measurable business results tied directly to reduced downtime. Huebenthal says, “Nestlé now reports fewer incidents annually compared to monthly in the past, significantly minimizing business disruptions and enhancing user satisfaction.”

With system availability rising to 99.97%, Nestlé minimizes costly disruptions that can disrupt production and supply chain continuity. Insights and advanced monitoring further foster continuous operations, so the business remains responsive and resilient even during unexpected events.

For nearly 160 years, Nestlé has thrived by embracing change and reimagining what’s possible for communities around the world. Today, by harnessing the power of cloud innovation, Nestlé continues this legacy—transforming not just its operations, but the lives it touches.  

As Huebenthal notes, “We didn’t do the journey to cloud because it was easy. We did it because we knew it was the right thing to do for the future of Nestlé IT.”

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