A pioneer in the food and beverage industry
The company has established itself as a leader in quality and innovation. A leading brand in Malaysia for curry mixes and spice powders, they offer a diverse range of high-quality products, including masala mixes, pure spice powders, pure flours, staple food mixes and snack and sweet mixes. Their products are widely available on retail shelves across Malaysia and Singapore, benefiting from an efficient distribution system managed by the company's extensive network of sales branches.
Overview
THE CHALLENGE
As the company grew, it sought to adopt a cloud-based ERP system to support its expansion and integrate its reputation for high-quality products with modern technology. By implementing SAP S/4HANA and leveraging AWS for its cost-effective scalability, robust services, and disaster recovery capabilities, the company aimed to streamline operations, automate manual tasks, and enhance efficiency. This strategic move was designed to solidify market leadership while expanding its reach across Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and beyond.
THE SOLUTION
Ollion proposed a comprehensive solution for setting up, configuring, and managing an AWS environment for SAP HANA, covering infrastructure provisioning, deployment, and ongoing operations. This was achieved through a five-phase design structure to align technology needs with business goals.
THE OUTCOME
By migrating to a cloud-based ERP system using SAP S/4HANA on AWS , the company transformed its business operations, unlocking faster order processing, enhanced automation, robust disaster recovery and significant cost savings. These improvements have not only streamlined internal processes but also empowered them to scale efficiently, innovate and position themselves for global growth.
TOOLS AND SERVICES
The challenge
As the company experienced steady growth, it aimed to adopt a cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to support its business expansion.. Their objective was to integrate their reputation as a trusted, high-quality product provider with modern technological advancements to drive growth. By leveraging innovative ERP systems, strengthening its distribution network, maintaining cost-efficient practices and diversifying its product range, they aimed to solidify their market leadership while expanding reach and operational efficiency in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and beyond. To achieve this, they needed to streamline and integrate various business operations while boosting efficiency by automating manual tasks like inventory tracking, invoice management and delivery processing.
After selecting SAP S/4HANA as its ERP solution, they carefully assessed which partner and cloud platform could provide both efficient scalability and reliable performance while minimizing overhead costs. A Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis revealed that Amazon Web Services (AWS) offered the most cost-effective option due to its extensive suite of services, high availability and robust disaster recovery (DR) capabilities.
The Ollion solution
Ollion suggested an all-encompassing solution for setting up, configuring and overseeing an AWS environment to run SAP HANA. This solution covered every aspect, from provisioning infrastructure and deploying SAP HANA to managing operations and tasks after deployment.To achieve this, Ollion employed a five-phase design structure to ensure that their technology requirements were met, ultimately aligning with their business goals.
Build and Configure the AWS Environment
Provision AWS Resources:
- Amazon EC2: Used for hosting SAP HANA nodes.
- Amazon EBS: Provides high-performance block storage for SAP HANA databases.
- Amazon VPC: Configures a secure and isolated network environment.
Setup and Preparation:
- Prepare the AWS Account : Subscribe to SLES for SAP or RHEL for SAP HANA from AWS Marketplace.
- Setup the SAP HANA Software: Download the SAP HANA software from SAP and upload it to an Amazon S3 bucket.
- Launch the AWS CloudFormation Template: Specify all parameter values and deploy the SAP HANA stack in the AWS environment.
Access the SAP HANA Nodes:
- Use SAP HANA Studio or SSH through a bastion host to verify deployment.
Post-Deployment Considerations and Strategy
OS and Network Configuration:
- Configure Linux or Windows as needed, including changing firewall rules.
- Set up logical network separation and security using Elastic Network Interfaces (ENIs) and Security Groups .
SAP Server Connectivity:
- Enable secure and reliable networking for SAP servers.
- Configure SAP HANA System Replication (HSR) for high availability and disaster recovery.
Ongoing Administrative Tasks:
- Managing EC2 instances hosting SAP HANA (start/stop operations).
- Tagging SAP AWS resources for better visibility and cost management.
- Perform OS hardening and disable unnecessary HANA services for enhanced security.
Backup and Recovery Design
Utilize AWS services and components for a robust backup and recovery strategy:
- Configure EBS snapshots as the backup destination.
- Use the AWS CLI (Command Line Interface) for automating remote backups.
- Perform backup scheduling, execution, and restore operations for SAP HANA databases.
Ongoing Monitoring and Automation
Monitoring:
- Use Amazon CloudWatch for tracking resource performance (CPU, memory, disk utilization).
- Analyze logs and audit trails to monitor performance and compliance.
Automation and Security:
- Automate patching, performance tuning, and system updates.
- Leverage API Call Logging for maintaining operational visibility and security.
Ensuring High Availability and Disaster Recovery
- Configure AWS Regions and Availability Zones for a resilient architecture.
- Set up SAP router for secure support channel access (both on AWS and on-premises).
This end-to-end Ollion Solution for SAP HANA on AWS ensured a reliable, scalable and secure architecture for running business-critical SAP applications. By leveraging AWS technologies and expert consulting, businesses can streamline operations and focus on growth.
The business benefits
50% Reduction in Order Processing Times
The company became one of the first companies in Southeast Asia to implement the Direct Store Delivery (DSD) module of SAP S/4HANA, integrated with handheld touchscreen computers connected to SAP on AWS. This innovation allowed the sales team to:
- Quickly and efficiently count stock, process orders and issue invoices.
- Reduce order processing and delivery times by 50%, improving operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Enhanced Scalability and Cost Efficiency
By partnering with Ollion and AWS , implementation emphasized cost efficiency, reliability, high availability and robust disaster recovery capabilities.
Automation and Integration of Key Business Processes
Leveraging AWS’s on-demand infrastructure, they were able to automate business-critical processes such as:
- Purchase order generation.
- Credit note matching and account reconciliation, leading to a 40% reduction in the order-to-cash cycle.
- Integration of all processes on a single SAP S/4HANA platform increasing efficiency while minimizing manual intervention.
Real-Time Data Insights for Optimal Decision-Making
With real-time insights from SAP on AWS, the platform provided accurate stock replenishment capabilities for its retailers, reducing excess inventory and ensuring its "Freshest On The Shelf" policy. This was accomplished through:
- Implementing the SAP CRM module to offer real-time customer feedback through handheld devices.
- Empowering their teams with actionable insights into sales, payment collections and inventory movement.
Strengthened Security and Disaster Recovery
- Ollion configured an AWS Landing Zone and used Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) to provide enhanced data security and segment third-party vendor integrations.
- Additionally, Ollion enabled disaster recovery capabilities with enhanced Multi-AZ architecture , eliminating the need for separate hardware or additional DR sites.
Cost Optimization
Regular optimization exercises, including AWS Well-Architected reviews, allowed them to:
- Right-size EC2 instances based on workload requirements.
- Reduce costs by approximately 30% compared to an on-premises deployment.
- Shut down non-production systems during off-peak hours and adopt an AWS Savings Plan for long-term savings.
The one big thing
By migrating to a cloud-based ERP system using SAP S/4HANA on AWS , the company transformed its business operations, unlocking faster order processing, enhanced automation, robust disaster recovery and significant cost savings. These improvements have not only streamlined internal processes but also empowered them to scale efficiently, innovate and position themselves for global growth.
