24×7 SAP and infrastructure operations, at nearly 15% lower total IT cost.
How a multinational semiconductor company moved from 5×12 offshore support to 24×7 operations with senior engineers on SAP, databases, infrastructure and network, and met a 50% internal headcount target while project volume rose.
A multinational designer of semiconductor solutions for wireline and wireless network infrastructure, selling to equipment manufacturers and recognized many times for technology excellence.
Its IT estate spanned 16 data centers in 11 countries, with a highly customized, mission-critical SAP landscape at the center, supported by an incumbent provider billing senior rates for entry-level delivery.
The business trigger
More from IT, for less, with a mission-critical SAP landscape in the middle.
With tough economic conditions worldwide, leadership set out to get more value from IT for less: cut internal IT headcount by half, standardize a multi-location estate, stabilize SAP, and move to around-the-clock coverage.
A 50% headcount target
Leadership wanted the internal IT team halved without losing output.
A multi-national estate to standardize
16 data centers across 11 countries, each with its own configuration.
SAP to stabilize
A highly customized, mission-critical landscape that needed to return to best-practice standards.
Coverage and value
5×12 coverage from an incumbent whose rates did not match the skills delivered; 24×7 was the goal.
The skie.io approach
Senior engineers, onshore for office hours, 24×7 overall, priced to the skills delivered.
After a formal vetting process with reference checks, the CIO chose a provider that met the full wish list within budget and gave direct access to senior leadership. The model replaced 100% offshore, 5×12, entry-level delivery with onshore US office hours, 24×7 coverage and Level 2 engineers and above.
SAP
Basis and functional support, stabilization and performance tuning for the customized landscape.
Databases
Oracle Database and SQL Server administration and capacity planning.
Infrastructure
Linux, AIX, Solaris and Windows; EMC and NetApp storage; NetBackup.
Network
Scope later expanded to replace the WAN and LAN across all sites.
Governance
Change management and proven management processes, with the team self-managing against agreed deliverables.
Results
Smaller team, more output, on budget.
Every item on the wish list was delivered within budget, with total IT savings of nearly 15%.
Business impact
- Headcount goal met while project volume rose considerably
- Every wish-list item delivered within budget
- IT strategy, processes and procedures defined, with less management overhead
Operational impact
- 24×7 coverage, up from 5×12
- Mission-critical SAP back to best-practice standards
- Stronger security, reliability and configuration management
Technology impact
- Common infrastructure across all business units and 16 data centers
- 500 users on one standardized platform
- WAN and LAN replaced across all sites
"We are doing more with less staff because we have adopted the management processes. Without adding any additional staff, we have been able to standardize our environment and run more efficiently."
CIO · client organizationWhy it matters for your estate
The operate half of the model, before the cloud.
This is what Guardian does for an SAP estate after cutover, delivered here on premises: senior engineers, around-the-clock coverage, standardized infrastructure and governance that lets a smaller internal team do more. On AWS the same model runs automation-first, at a lower fee.
Skills matched to price
Level 2 engineers and above, priced to what is delivered.
Standardization pays
A common estate across business units cut management overhead and improved control.
Operations that scale
More project volume with fewer people, because the run was handled.
What comes next
From a standardized estate to an optimized cloud.
A standardized, well-run estate is the starting point for a VMware exit: the dependency map already exists, the processes are defined, and the operating model carries straight into Guardian on AWS.
Facing a VMware renewal or the SAP ECC deadline?
Two clocks are running. Make one decision, not two.
See the four S/4HANA paths, the 30-day assessment, and how skie.io moves SAP and everything around it, lands it optimized, and operates it from day one.