CASE STUDY: Automaker increases innovation, speed and agility
Motivated by the opportunities of real-time insights and improved user experience, Audi was eager to extend the boundaries of what is possible by implementing SAP® S/4HANA® with IBM
Drivers around the world know Audi for its beautiful, high-quality premium cars — which in the past were mostly built around the internal combustion engine. Yet consumers, legislators and the company increasingly favor electric cars. How can premium car manufacturer Audi pivot to increase the share of plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles within its lineup?
To address these momentous market changes, Audi is focusing on electrification and hybridization but also on digitization, including cutting-edge areas such as connected cars and autonomous driving. From 2021 to 2025, the automaker plans to spend EUR 35 billion on research and development and on investments in fixed assets. It will allocate almost EUR 17 billion to future technologies in order to newly energize the brand promise of “Vorsprung durch Technik,” which translates to “progress through technology.” Audi aims to build on its stellar reputation and long experience to create innovative customer experiences that shape the new era of electric and connected premium mobility.
A representative for Audi explains: “At this period of intense and very rapid change when business models need to be adjusted and reinvented, we want to enable agile, real-time processes. As a forward-looking company, we rely on our IT services to accelerate our digital transformation. To provide the capabilities for the business to succeed, we depend on flexible systems that can handle rapid data growth, even as we modernize and harmonize our operations. We were challenged to achieve this, and at the same time reduce operational costs and increase productivity.”
Powers more demanding business processes while using 66% fewer servers
Driving digital transformation together
Working closely with IBM for more than ten years, Audi has experienced the benefits of robust computing platforms combined with outstanding customer service. In fact, IBM® Power® Systems servers consistently rank first in every major reliability category, according to the 2020 ITIC Global Server Hardware, Server OS Reliability Report.
“With IBM Power Systems, we’re building on proven technology,” the Audi representative says. “To maximize continuous manufacturing output, a stable platform is crucial for our business, and we maintain a focus on high availability. IBM Services has consistently shown the flexibility and willingness to go beyond the ordinary to ensure that we can modernize our IT and successfully deliver the digital transformation to business users and customers.”
Motivated by the opportunities of real-time insights, an improved user experience and new customer services, Audi’s business departments are eager to extend the boundaries of what is possible by implementing SAP® S/4HANA® software, the next-generation business suite. Audi already relies on SAP S/4HANA for financial accounting on Power Systems servers, and is working to simplify controlling, consolidation and data management with SAP S/4HANA to optimize business operations by shaking up legacy processes.
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"IBM Services has consistently shown the flexibility and willingness to go beyond the ordinary to ensure that we can modernize our IT and successfully deliver the digital transformation to business users and customers."
Today, IBM Services manages and runs six IBM Power System E980 servers with the latest IBM POWER9™ processors, providing Audi with top performance and room for future growth. IBM Platinum Business Partner SVA System Vertrieb Alexander provides the systems infrastructure as a service to Audi for increased flexibility. Rainer Maiwald, Senior Account Manager Automotive at SVA, comments: “In close collaboration with IBM Systems and IBM Services, we designed a tailored offering for Audi to provide maximum performance with improved cost-efficiency. This approach allows Audi to benefit from the latest IBM POWER technology innovations even more quickly, to meet dynamically changing business needs.”
Additionally, Audi has deployed IBM Power System E880, IBM Power System S824 and IBM Power System E850 servers in two data centers. Using the advanced virtualization capabilities of IBM PowerVM® technology, the company runs more than 250 SAP instances and management systems on the Power Systems platform. To meet demanding high-availability requirements, IBM Services has implemented IBM PowerHA® clusters for mission-critical SAP applications. Features such as IBM Power VM Live Partition Mobility help ensure business continuity during maintenance tasks and optimized balancing of SAP workloads across all physical servers.
Read the full IBM CASE STUDY HERE
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