C U S TO M E R C A S E S T U DY
A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS:
HEIDELBERGCEMENT AG RELIES ON
PERSONAL ADVICE FROM VMWARE
CUSTOMER
HEIDELBERGCEMENT AG
WEBSITE
WWW.HEIDELBERGCEMENT.COM
INDUSTRY
BUILDING MATERIALS
LOCATION
Increasing digitalisation and the growing complexity this brings
to IT are posing major challenges for companies. This is why
personal advice on a par will become increasingly important in
the future.
HeidelbergCement AG brought in support from outside back in
2011. VMware’s Technical Account Manager has now been
involved with HeidelbergCement AG for five years, advising and
supporting the group personally with upcoming decisions and
new IT projects.
HEIDELBERG, GERMANY
CHALLENGES
• Increasing the value of the group
while ensuring resource-orientated
and sustainable growth
• Pursuing the goal of cost leadership
• Increasing complexity in IT
SOLUTION
Owing to the ever growing
complexity of IT, difficulties in
collaboration with other vendors and,
at the same time, strict international
targets, HeidelbergCement decided
to engage a Technical Account
Manager from VMware, who supports
the company with a wide range of
projects and decisions.
BENEFITS
• Retention of a huge pool of
resources and expertise
• Savings in resources
• Overriding corporate goals can be
pursued
HeidelbergCement became one of the world’s largest building materials groups
when it acquired the Italian cement producer Italcementi. The group’s portfolio
is made up of a large range of high-quality construction resources including
traditional building materials as well as special products for specific areas of
application. HeidelbergCement’s core activities include the production and
distribution of cement and aggregates, the two essential raw materials for
concrete. The company, which is headquartered in Heidelberg, today employs
around 62,000 people at more than 3,000 production sites in around 60
countries. The group pursues a goal of sustainable growth focused on earnings.
The challenge
HeidelbergCement’s IT activities are divided into two areas: Group IT is
responsible for global IT standards and services for the group, while so-called
Country IT is responsible for and manages IT activities at each location and in
each country. “At Group IT, we take care of demand management, applications,
infrastructure for global services as well as general support. We also answer
questions concerning operations, and create the basis for global standards and
for IT at the country level”, explains David Roberts, Application Hosting Lead
Architect at HeidelbergCement AG in Heidelberg. Besides the task of meeting
IT requirements, the department must also support the group’s overall goals:
increasing the value of the group while ensuring resource-orientated and
sustainable growth. “Owing to these predefined goals, the IT department
always strives to obtain the greatest value from every cent spent, whether on IT
or on the company as a whole”, says David. At the same time, the group’s plan
to maintain cost leadership must be kept in mind – internal costs must therefore
be reduced to a minimum. David Roberts adds: “The infrastructure that we
chose not only had to meet the various targets set, but at the same time also
had to be secure, stable and scalable – this was a challenge for everyone
involved.”
HeidelbergCement chose VMware back in 2010 when it launched its policy of
virtualisation. The company today deploys the server virtualisation software
VMware vSphere and vCenter as well as VMware’s Site Recovery Manager and
vRealize Operations Manager. All the solutions have been implemented at a
HEIDELBERGCEMENT | 1
A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS: HEIDELBERGCEMENT AG RELIES ON
PERSONAL ADVICE FROM VMWARE
“We know that we can rely
on Lars as our TAM, which is
why we involve him in all our
decision-making processes.
He is for us a trusted adviser
and partner who always gives
honest answers and excellent
advice about the products we
use.”
DAVID ROBERTS
APPLICATION HOSTING LEAD ARCHITECT
HEIDELBERGCEMENT AG
VMWARE USED
• VMware Technical Account
Manager Service
• VMware vSphere
• VMware vCenter
• VMware Site Recovery Manager
• VMware vRealize Operations
Manager
global level. Group IT took the corresponding decisions in this connection and
was responsible for infrastructure design.
The solution
“The solutions from VMware that we used convinced us from the start.
Nevertheless, IT became ever more complex, especially in our collaboration
with other manufacturers. At the same time, we could not risk losing sight of
our internal targets. After some reflection, we therefore decided to engage a
VMware Technical Account Manager to support us with advice and assistance
for a range of projects on a regular basis”, David Roberts says.
The Technical Account Manager (TAM) at VMware, provides the connection
between VMware and HeidelbergCement. The TAM is a fixed and trusted
member of the team who is involved in all discussions and decisions. The TAM'S
current area of responsibility at HeidelbergCement includes, for example, the
virtualisation of traditional business-critical applications such as SAP.
“Virtualising business-critical applications in particular is sometimes very
difficult and needs special expertise. Our TAM ensures that these applications
are migrated correctly and to VMware standards. He works closely together
with our SAP applications team on the virtualisation of SAP”, David states.
The Technical Account Manager spends at least one day a month on site at
HeidelbergCement in Heidelberg. In addition to this, there is not only day-today contact by e-mail but also weekly telephone and video conferences. Apart
from the contact in David Robert’s team, there are five additional employees in
other teams who constitute a single point of contact and work with the TAM on
a regular basis. The TAM also maintains contacts with the company's strategic
partners like the storage, network and server vendors, since HeidelbergCement
works with complex solutions from several different suppliers. If problems arise,
the TAM assumes responsibility for communication. “The benefit for us is that
the TAM can bring his entire knowledge into play in such situations and deal
with contacts from other companies on a par. He always brings about a solution
when problems arise with other vendors”, David explains. In these cases, our
TAM acts on behalf of HeidelbergCement, sparing the resources of the
company’s own employees.
David Roberts continues, “We know that we can rely on Lars as our TAM, which
is why we involve him in all our decision-making processes. He is for us a trusted
adviser and partner who always gives honest answers and excellent advice
about the products we use. Of course, he hasn’t got a ready solution for every
product, but we have always received an answer from him by the next day at
the latest. Thanks to this huge pool of resources, we not only have a great deal
of expert knowledge available to us, but as a business, we are able to avoid a lot
of common mistakes and to ambitiously pursue our long-term goals.”
The result
The TAM has now been working with HeidelbergCement for five years.
Enormous mutual trust has developed between him and the other employees in
this time, which is something that benefits both sides. The group’s employees
know that they can depend on the TAM, and that he will achieve the best for
HeidelbergCement from existing – and new – systems and solutions.
“Besides the products used, what helps us is the fact that we can collaborate
closely with the Technical Account Manager as a partner. The TAM knows our
company and its special requirements with regard to IT. He therefore supports
us with advice and shows what the right solution is for a particular business
case”, says David Roberts.
C U S TO M E R C A S E S T U DY | 2
A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS: HEIDELBERGCEMENT AG RELIES ON
PERSONAL ADVICE FROM VMWARE
“The decision in favour of a
TAM like Lars from VMware
has more than paid off for
itself, meaning that we will
continue to rely on this service.
It allows our company to
benefit from a constant growth
in added value and business
advantages.”
Looking to the future
HeidelbergCement wishes to continue to benefit from the VMware Technical
Account Manager in future, too. “The decision in favour of a TAM like Lars from
VMware has more than paid off for itself, meaning that we will continue to rely
on this service. It allows our company to benefit from a constant growth in
added value and business advantages”, David explains. Over the coming
months, HeidelbergCement wishes to continue its integration plans, implement
solutions in the areas of storage, computing and networks, and drive further
cost savings.
DAVID ROBERTS
APPLICATION HOSTING LEAD ARCHITECT
HEIDELBERGCEMENT AG
VMware, Inc. 3401 Hillview Avenue Palo Alto CA 94304 USA Tel 877-486-9273 Fax 650-427-5001 www.vmware.com
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trademarks of their respective companies. Item No: 17Q1 HeidelbergCement UK