Case Study

Worlds largest manufacturer of school bags deploys Dynamic IT infrastructure solution

FlexFrame for SAP carries the day for Sternjakob

FlexFrame for SAP from Fujitsu Siemens Computers is a flexible, high-performance, scalable solution based on an optimal combination of standard components.
Gnter Beres, IT Manager, Alfred Sternjakob GmbH & Co. KG, Frankenthal
The challenge

ERP upgrade preparation for migration from version 4.6c to mySAP ERP 2004 and deployment of SAP Business Warehouse and CRM applications in the medium term Modernization of hardware landscape system enhancement to meet the need to improve performance and storage resources Future-driven investment deployment of a future-safe solution for optimal flexibility and agility

The solution

With the FlexFrame for SAP infrastructure solution, Alfred Sternjakob GmbH & Co. KG is ideally equipped to accommodate dynamic growth with demand-based IT. The employees of this leading manufacturer of school bags, rucksacks and luggage now benefit from complete modernization of the IT platform and virtualization of the ERP application. Fujitsu Siemens Computers and IT service provider IS4IT delivered the necessary technical support. The deployment of FlexFrame for SAP gives Sternjakob a secure and scalable basic infrastructure to support high-performance availability of SAP services.

Established in 1934, Alfred Sternjakob GmbH & Co. KG is a leading international manufacturer of school bags, rucksacks and high-quality luggage. Based in Frankenthal, Germany, Sternjakob is a typical medium-sized company and has 143 employees. In addition to Scout, the worlds leading name in lightweight school bags, the companys brands include 4YOU and HARDWARE as well as its trend-setting logstoff.com, Quer and Fastbreak brands. More at: www.sternjakob.de

Solution components

Customer benefits

FlexFrame for SAP 3.2B Solution consisting of 6 PRIMERGY RX300 S2s, 2 PRIMERGY RX300 S3s, NetApp 3020 MetroCluster Operating system: Suse Linux Version 9 ERP software after release change from SAP R/3 4.6c to mySAP ERP 2004

Flexible IT infrastructure to provide optimal support for future growth High-availability ERP applications Improved data security Scalability and investment security Minimum maintenance Reduced administration and operating costs

The project

Project partner

When it came time for Alfred Sternjakob GmbH & Co. KG to upgrade to the next release of the SAP solutions the company had been using, management and the IT department wanted to make the right investment. One option was to accept the high cost of upgrading the system in place and the risk of having to upgrade again in two or three years. On the other hand, another possibility was to modernize the entire hardware landscape and at the same time take advantage of the opportunity to deploy new technology such as, for example, virtualization. The companys decision-makers finally opted in favor of an innovative infrastructure solution and decided to deploy FlexFrame for SAP from Fujitsu Siemens Computers. Steep, an SAP system integrator, and IS4IT, a company that specializes in implementation, convinced Sternjakob decision-makers of the considerable benefits of the solution. Sternjakobs decision-makers were impressed not only by the functionality and price of the proposed solution, but also by the ease of operation and the reduction in administration costs this would mean For Dieter Liebler, Managing Director of Alfred Sternjakob GmbH, the latter aspect represented a compelling argument: Our goal is dynamic growth. The potential savings that FlexFrame for SAP offers, especially as regards administration costs, will enable us to grow 20 to 30 percent without having to hire new IT personnel. As a result, the same four-man team is now handling the entire Sternjakob IT system for a total of 104 ERP users, including employees of two sister companies, Steinmann and Kottek. IS4IT handled the installation of the new IT high-availability infrastructure, which offers greater flexibility and improved data protection, as well as production deployment of mySAP ERP 2004 and implementation of SAP Business Warehouse.

A record of success

IT Manager Gnter Beres recalls the start-up phase, when he and his team wondered how much performance the ERP version would actually require. But the uncertainty as regards the big unknown turned out to be unfounded once the system went into production, and Gnter Beres reports: It quickly became obvious that we wouldnt have any performance bottlenecks with FlexFrame for SAP and that the new infrastructure would give our users very short response times. For Sternjakob GmbH, the big advantage lies not only in the virtualization of applications, but also in the fact that the application environment can be expanded at any time. In addition, FlexFrame for SAP gives Sternjakob long-term planning certainty. The company can now look forward to dynamic growth with the confidence that comes with being well prepared. After all, the companys IT resources can be scaled as a function of needs, and new applications can be integrated without major expense. And, finally, the companys IT investment is protected since the system requires so little maintenance, which reduces administration and operating costs.

Contact
Fujitsu Siemens Computers Customer Interaction Center Mon. Fri.: 8:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m. Email: cic@fujitsu-siemens.com Phone: +49 (0) 1805-372 100 and +49 (0) 1805 FSC 100
(each call 14 ct/min.; the prices for calls made from mobile devices can vary from this rate) Fujitsu Siemens Computers GmbH, Mies-van-der-Rohe-Strasse 8, D-80807 Munich, Phone +49 (0) 89 62060-0 www.fujitsu-siemens.com/casestudies SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, xApps, xApp, SAP NetWeaver, and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Fujitsu Siemens Computers, 08/2008, Printed in Germany