Tag Archives: SAP

News, Tech

CNOOC Petroleum Europe Limited selects Absoft to support its SAP S/4HANA data migration

CNOOC Petroleum Europe Limited (CPEL) has awarded Absoft, a dedicated SAP® consultancy, a contract for consultancy services to support the UK data migration activities from its existing SAP solution to SAP S/4HANA.

In order to migrate from its existing SAP solution to SAP S/4HANA, CPEL issued a Request for Quotation in Q4 2021 which consisted of multiple scopes of work, one of which being data migration services. 

The Absoft team, composed of expert SAP Consultants who bring over 100 years of combined experience to the project, will be engaged in delivering the full remit of data migration services across extraction, transformation, and loading throughout 2022. 

Don Valentine, Commercial Director, Absoft commented, “Absoft has extensive expertise and an impressive track record of delivering successful data migration projects into asset intensive businesses. Our proprietary DATAMA migration toolset has helped Absoft to shorten migration project timeframes and increase the quality of data migrated. We are delighted to be able to deploy our proprietary toolset and technical expertise into CPEL’s data migration project.”

Acquisitions & Partnerships, News

Hampleton Partners advises akquinet enterprise solutions GmbH on its acquisition by Pathlock backed by Vertica Capital Partners

London, UK – 18 May 2022 – Hampleton Partners, the international M&A and corporate finance advisory firm for technology companies, has advised akquinet enterprise solutions GmbH, a leading provider of SAP cybersecurity & access governance software, on its acquisition by Pathlock backed by New York-based Vertica Capital Partners, a growth-oriented private equity investor with a focus on the software sector.

akquinet’s SAST SOLUTIONS software suite, consulting experts and managed services provide all-round protection for classic SAP systems as well as S/4HANA. The SAST software suite is a holistic software solution for real-time monitoring of SAP systems and provides protection against compliance violations, data loss and cybersecurity attacks. SAST SOLUTIONS targets national SMEs as well as international blue-chip customers across a wide range of industries.

The acquisition is backed by Vertica Capital Partners, an experienced software investor with an existing cybersecurity portfolio, and will create an international player in the field of application security software.

Bodo Kahl, managing director of akquinet enterprise solutions GmbH, said: “With its many years of experience and sector expertise, Hampleton acted as a trusted and competent partner at our side from the very start. It was particularly important for us to select a partner who understood the aspects of cybersecurity and the value of SAST SOLUTIONS to actively support us in the process with Vertica Capital Partners. In working with Hampleton, we found Vertica Capital Partners to be the ideal partner for the future of akquinet enterprise solutions GmbH.”

Axel Brill, director at Hampleton, commented: “We are delighted to have worked with akquinet enterprise solutions GmbH to shape the continuation of its successful business model. Vertica Capital Partners’ acquisition will empower the SAST product portfolio to enter extremely interesting markets beyond the DACH region.”

Following the acquisition of DOCUFY GmbH to Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, Tradebyte Software GmbH to Zalando, CPU 24/7 to IAV and the acquisition of FAST LTA by Afinum, this transaction represents a further milestone in the German-speaking market and is further evidence of Hampleton’s M&A expertise in the technology sector, where more than 100 mandates have been completed to date.

The engagement was led by Axel Brill and Henrik Jeberg.

News, Technology

Absoft Awarded Microsoft Azure Advanced Specialisation

Dedicated SAP® consultancy, Absoft has achieved the SAP on Microsoft Azure Advanced Specialisation, in recognition of its deep understanding, experience and proven success in migrating and integrating SAP solutions on the Azure cloud platform.

Since its foundation in 1991, the UK-based consultancy has committed itself to transforming its customers’ business processes and financial well-being through the delivery of SAP products, support, managed services, and cloud migration services. Absoft is uniquely placed to support its customers with their cloud migration projects through its combined in-house skill set that ensures transparency, operational efficiency, and innovative deployment in a seamless unification of two centres of excellence, as its progression through the Microsoft partner rankings over a mere five year period demonstrates.

Partners who desire an Advanced Specialisation have to meet rigorous requirements, such as obtaining customer references, undergoing an outside audit, proving they possess the required skill set, and meeting various performance measures.

According to Microsoft’s highest technical standards and a result of a successful audit, the Advanced Specialisation is recognition of Absoft’s expertise in driving continuous improvement and confidence for its combined SAP and Azure customers. The newly acquired accreditation means that Absoft can now also further expand its portfolio of services to its customers. In addition to SAP on Microsoft Azure Advanced Specialisation, Absoft is a Microsoft Gold Partner in Cloud Platform and Data Analytics, making it one of the few highly-accredited independent service providers in the UK.

Don Valentine, Commercial Director at Absoft said, “Absoft has invested our time to gain this accreditation with our customers in the forefront of our mind. With the newly gained access to Advanced Specialisations, we are able to combine the best of Microsoft and SAP – meaning that we’re able to continue to provide exceptional service for our clients, as demonstrated by our lead position in cloud-based technology and management.

“More and more companies are choosing Azure to embrace their vision for the future, with Absoft having migrated over 20 customers from across a range of industries, including manufacturing, food and beverage, government, oil and gas, and many more. Developing better integrated solutions that meet our customers’ needs is a top priority for our collaboration with Microsoft, and we’re excited to continue to do so.”

  

Case Studies and Partnerships

Case Study: Migrating & Running SAP on Azure with Frank Roberts & Sons

Frank Roberts & Sons was looking to realise cost-savings and replace an aged hardware platform by migrating SAP to the cloud, whilst also unlocking other business benefits. 

The Challenge

Inflexible, outdated, on premises SAP systems can not only hinder business growth, cost more time and money to run, but also pose security risks. Having recognised that, the family-run baker, Frank Roberts & Sons embarked on a journey in early 2020 to find a provider who would work with them on a scalable, agile and reliable solution. Following an introduction to Absoft, Frank Roberts’ then IT & Projects Director, Stephen Whitehouse, was immediately struck by the pragmatic and down-to-earth approach of the team. 

Upon engagement with Absoft, Frank Roberts rightly anticipated that the SAP specialist would offer a collaborative partnership and consider their business interests at all times. With integrity, respect and quality playing a vital part of everything they do, Frank Robert recognised similar traits within the Absoft culture. 

Unlike the other offers they had received, Absoft’s SAP on Azure migration approach gave specific consideration to their SAP landscape’s technical details and functional requirements. Absoft’s team highlighted a focus on interfaces and SAP-specific design elements of the solution and project plan, in order to de-risk it.

The Solution

Absoft proposed a technical migration of Frank Roberts’ SAP system to the cloud on Microsoft Azure, followed by a three-year technical managed service to run and support the SAP on Azure solution. Working closely with Frank Roberts’ team of IT specialists, Absoft migrated the SAP ERP 6.0 landscape to a fully supported Azure infrastructure in just two months, with minimum disruption to operations. 

Absoft team’s combined expertise in SAP and Microsoft Azure enabled the creation of an Azure design that was optimal in cost and performance. The project plan considered operational requirements and, most critically, included a strategy for all interfaces and SAP functionality. Viewed by Frank Roberts as a partner at a very early stage, and working on a highly collaborative basis, Absoft has been able to discuss topics such analytics and archiving in tandem with the migration. 

The close, focused working relationship between the two companies yielded positive results in resolution of interface issues, and when it came to the challenge of additional system integration, issues were addressed swiftly and led to a successful go-live. 

“Listening to Absoft’s webinar was a lightbulb moment for us. Further discussion confirmed that in addition to their technical skills, the team really understood our concerns and our pain points as we made the decision to move our SAP system to the cloud,” said Stephen Whitehouse, IT & Projects Director, Frank Roberts & Sons*

The Leap into Innovation

For many SAP customers the main reason to migrate to the cloud is necessity – reaching the limits of scale, age or cost of an existing on-premises landscape. The desire to access the latest innovations in Azure usually comes second. Experimentation and success through innovation, however, has always been fundamental to Frank Roberts & Sons as a company. 

Therefore, just as a standard off-the-shelf migration would not have done it for them, they also opted in for the best ongoing support – through Absoft’s next generation managed service. Aligned with Frank Roberts’ specific processes and with a focus on automated monitoring and self-healing features, the subsequent technical managed service has seen Absoft continue its partner-based relationship with the Frank Roberts team. 

Automation has always been at the core of Absoft’s delivery, and recently it took its commitment to this ethos a step further, partnering with Avantra, the leading AIOps platform for SAP operations automation. 

Absoft has used complete SAP landscape visibility via Avantra to implement automation and self-healing capabilities to improve efficiency, introduce transparency and shed outdated processes within Frank Roberts’ SAP system. This has facilitated an emphasis not only upon the smooth day-to-day running of operations but also the development of the bakery expert’s IT strategy. 

“We are a family-owned business and Absoft has proved itself to be more than a technology provider. They are a trusted partner, with whom we can communicate openly and who we know always has our company’s business interests at heart.”  IT & Projects Director, Frank Roberts & Sons

News

Absoft Completes Collaborative SAP-to-Azure Migration with Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council

When Barnsley Council first opened a bid in order to migrate their SAP landscape to the cloud, the tenders received did not offer an economically viable outcome. However, a non-negotiable deadline (the sale of its current premises and an outdated on-premise functionality) meant that a solution was required sooner rather than later. 

The Council initially issued a brief for a one-provider solution to migrate and run its SAP environment in the cloud. The tender requested that the critical run aspect of the scope covered the multi-year provision of the cloud infrastructure on which to run SAP, plus associated technical managed services to manage and maintain the SAP landscape. 

Independent SAP consultancy and Microsoft Gold Partner, Absoft had anticipated the likely problems the Council would face with tender responses early on. Following the completion of the procurement process, Absoft reached out to the Council and, building upon a relationship established during the tender process, suggested various solutions. 

The Solution Co-Development 

The key components of the original brief lay at the heart of the problem and therefore at the heart of a solution that Absoft proposed. Any solution had to address three facets: the provider landscape; the migration to the cloud project and subsequent running of the cloud-based SAP systems. Additionally, affordability was critical. 

Provider Landscape 

Absoft became increasingly aware of the capabilities of the Council’s in-house technical team and after further discussions, the option crystallised for the in-house technical team to assume responsibility for running the SAP landscape. 

Absoft confirmed the feasibility of this and suggested that, depending on the selected infrastructure provider, Absoft – or another specialist partner – could provide support where additional help may be required. This joint decision to utilise the internal team significantly reduced the project scope and required budget. The team at Absoft pointed out that there were a number of potential advantages to MS Azure as cloud infrastructure provider, including but not limited to:

  • Microsoft Azure offers public sector discounts for direct customers; 
  • Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council was already using Azure for other parts of its landscape; 
  • Part of the project to migrate SAP into Azure would involve the implementation of Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute. ExpressRoute extends organisations’ on-premises networks into the Microsoft Cloud establishing connections to Microsoft Cloud services such as Microsoft365. Absoft pointed out that this would be a significant accelerator and cost reduction driver in-terms of Barnsley Council’s declared future ambitions; 
  • Absoft also highlighted areas where Barnsley Council could optimise their licence estate with the assistance of Microsoft, including taking advantage of Azure Hybrid Benefit to significantly reduce the costs of running workloads in the cloud. 

Having investigated the advantages, with the help of Absoft and its Microsoft Azure account manager, the Council concluded that Azure was the preferred cloud infrastructure for SAP. As a result, Barnsley Council could now re-focus on the procurement of a partner to assist with the evermore impending migration project and its non-negotiable deadline, creating a revised bid with Azure as the preferred cloud infrastructure. 

The Successful Bid

Absoft’s success in this bid was attributed to the following key differentiators: 

  • Functional consulting capabilities allowed Absoft’s team to augment the Council’s scare business resources; 
  • Successful track record in migrating 17 SAP landscapes into the cloud – including cloud migrations from local authority “on premise” to the Azure Cloud; 
  • Absoft’s public sector credentials as a provider of SAP services and support into multiple local authorities; 
  • The combined Azure and SAP expertise and capabilities of Absoft meant no third party was required; 
  • As a Microsoft Gold Partner, Absoft works together with Microsoft to meet the client’s best interests and provide the best solution, not just overhead; 
  • A collaborative approach, as demonstrated during the solution co-development, and Absoft’s proposal to ensure knowledge transfer for cloud support and filling documentation gaps around the SAP solution and interfaces; 
  • Absoft’s Azure infrastructure design fitted the Council’s functional needs, as Absoft did not propose a “lift-and-shift” to move a suboptimal solution to Azure. The final design included removal of unrequired UI components and an enhanced technical architecture for the remaining components; 
  • To protect the deadline, Absoft split the proposed project into two phases, de-risking the first critical phase; 
  • Last but not least, the bid was affordable and well within the nominated budget.

The Migration Project

Upon agreement of contract, the work commenced in March 2021. Shortly after this date, the initial project timeline was significantly reduced to a period of just 12 weeks. 

A technically-challenging project, operating systems were different between the Production, Test and Development instances, with a total 128 interfaces to test. Risks represented by out-of-date business data and confusion generated from orphaned solutions was significant. 

Furthermore, the deadline of twelve weeks was hugely aggressive – but immutable. Many late nights, early mornings and hours over multiple weekends were required to get the job done.

“I just wanted to take the time to say a HUGE thank you from the Barnsley SAP Team – you well and truly deserve it. “We are in awe of the Absoft team – having an appreciation of the task that you’ve achieved, it’s still hard to believe how easy you made the transition look. “You have done an exceptional job in keeping us all on the straight and narrow; we work with so many IT suppliers and I must say that working with Absoft has been an absolute pleasure.” Head of ICT, Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council

The Result

The migration work was achieved within an unprecedented timeframe. The SAP and Azure skillsets of Absoft and its expertise in the UK public sector were instrumental in making sure this project was successfully completed, on-time, and within budget. 

Based on Absoft’s expert understanding of the available technology options, the company was able to provide a cost-effective approach to the migration, taking into account maintenance dates, software versions, and future-proofing the environment. 

Through the enablement of the internal team, Absoft saved the client in the region of £125,000 in ongoing operational support fees for a Council under huge budgetary pressure.