Swiss company ESA relies on 24/7 SAP monitoring with Paessler PRTG
About ESA
ESA offers auto repair shop owners more than 500,000 products from a single source – from tires, paints, tools, and lubricants to large-scale auto shop equipment. Its goal is to bundle products to keep prices low for the 7,000 co-owned auto repair shops in Switzerland. ESA employs around 510 workers (including 65 trainees), and generated more than 370 million Swiss francs in sales in 2018.
After modernizing its SAP ERP, ESA (the Independent Purchasing Organization of the Swiss Car and Motor Vehicle Industry) was looking for a reliable and user-friendly solution to continually monitor its SAP system processes.
The company, which has over 500 employees in several locations, had heard good things about the IT service provider itesys, so decided to seek their help in finding a solution. itesys recommended PRTG Network Monitor (a network monitoring tool from Paessler), as well as SAP and database sensors developed especially by itesys to read information directly from the SAP HANA® database and the SAP system. With this solution, ESA can now keep a constant eye on all its SAP system processes and fix problems before they affect day-to-day business operations. In addition, itesys provides 24/7 SAP BASIS support for ESA.
“Thanks to the combination of itesys SAP sensors and PRTG, we finally have the real-time system information we need, all the way down to the transaction codes. We now have full control over the many batch processes and SAP jobs in our automated order processing and Pick workflows, and if necessary, can intervene immediately.”
Heinz Rolli, Head of IT Development, ESA
Initial situation
In 2019, ESA migrated its SAP ERP to SAP S/4HANA®. At the same time, it introduced a new e-shop, a new PIM system, and new mobile devices for its truck drivers. Heinz Rolli, Head of IT Development at ESA, explains: “This multifaceted project stretched our 15-member IT team to the limit. Since we only have one SAP infrastructure specialist, we quickly understood our (urgent) need for SAP BASIS support and SAP system monitoring. We have a very high level of automation, and must be able to monitor batch processes and jobs in SAP with the utmost precision.” ESA was already using a monitoring tool for its previous SAP system, but this solution provided very little (and often inaccurate) information, and didn’t meet the latest requirements. When it came to SAP BASIS support and monitoring, the company’s previous IT service provider was unable to provide a viable 24/7 solution.
The solution
itesys was indeed able to offer just the right SAP monitoring solution. Its SAP sensors provide reliable information regarding performance and potential issues – both automatically and around the clock. Monitoring data is read directly from the database or the SAP system via the RFC interface, and displayed with a traffic light system in the dashboard of the network monitoring solution PRTG.
Push messages can be sent automatically from the PRTG mobile app in the event of anomalies. The SAP sensors from itesys monitor updates, SAP jobs, dialog response times, work process loads, and other important parameters. Sensors are also available for databases (SAP HANA®, SQL, Sybase, MaxDB, Oracle, and Db2). itesys needed a single day to implement PRTG and configure the SAP sensors at ESA.
Customer benefits
“Thanks to the combination of itesys SAP sensors and PRTG, we finally have the real-time system information we need, all the way down to the transaction codes. We now have full control over the many batch processes and SAP jobs in our automated order processing and Pick workflows, and if necessary, can intervene immediately. With eight branches (each with four daily delivery routes), 120 delivery trucks, and 5,000 orders per day, this is an enormous relief in terms of avoiding late deliveries,” explains Heinz Rolli, making an initial, extremely positive assessment of the solution.
In addition, by opting for an “SAP Expert Desk” with itesys, ESA also secured comprehensive 24/7 SAP BASIS support with guaranteed response and intervention times.
“The monitoring of our SAP systems and networks is now quick, centralized, and incredibly easy. It doesn’t get any better than the solution developed and implemented by itesys,” rejoices the project manager.
At a glance
Systems/Software
SAP S/4HANA® (on-premise), ERP HR, PI (JAVA), ERP Gateway, BO, SolMan HANA
Databases: SAP HANA®, Oracle, Sybase
Initial situation
Migration to SAP S/4HANA®, an existing monitoring tool with limited features and imprecise monitoring, limited internal resources for SAP BASIS support
The solution
The network monitoring solution Paessler PRTG Network Monitor and SAP monitoring sensors from itesys
SAP Expert Desk from itesys for 24/7 SAP BASIS support
itesys services
- Consulting and analysis
- Installation and configuration of PRTG
- Installation and configuration of itesys SAP sensors and definition of thresholds
- Training and support
- 24/7 SAP BASIS support with guaranteed response and intervention times
Goals achieved
- Total control of relevant system processes and databases (such as SAP HANA®)
- Monitoring perfectly adapted to the customer’s needs
- Meaningful monitoring data displayed on easy-to-read PRTG dashboards
- Prevention of failures, increased process reliability and system availability
- Improved customer satisfaction thanks to a consistently higher level of service
- Less work for the IT team
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