Niterra powers its global precision engineering and next-generation technologies on a modern cloud foundation

Solution

To achieve its goal of rapidly moving and consolidating three data centers and its SAP environment to the cloud, Niterra needed a strong technology partner who was proficient both in Google Cloud and SAP. It also wanted a partner with a history of executing rapid migrations without disrupting ongoing business operations. For this critical mission, the company chose Rackspace Technology.

“We needed a partner with not only deep SAP and Google Cloud experience, but also the ability to understand our unique business requirements and ensure our operational continuity throughout the project,” stated Bernd Hinkmann, Senior Manager, IT Service Delivery Management EMEA at Niterra.

“From the very beginning, I got a very good impression from the presentation Rackspace gave to introduce our team to its service offerings,” noted Hinkmann. “The company is focused on its customers’ needs. After hearing about our needs and requirements, the team was sure they could accomplish our challenge. That gave us confidence to choose Rackspace.”

The partnership began early, with Rackspace immediately taking on an advisory role, while collaborating closely with Niterra throughout its complex migration. Critical stages of the overall cloud migration project included:

• Designing the landing zone: As a foundational step, Rackspace designed and implemented a secure, scalable Google Cloud landing zone. This environment provided essential infrastructure, governance and security controls, serving as the baseline for all migrated workloads and ensuring compliance with best practices in networking, security, and identity access management. 
• Migrating data centers:Rackspace executed a complete IT transformation to consolidate Niterra’s three global data centers and migrate all virtual machines to Google Cloud. Niterra shared that Google’s native migration tools performed exceptionally well, enabling many workloads to move without issue. Because each data center used different virtualization technologies, Rackspace supplemented these tools with alternative methods, such as transferring data through Google Cloud Storage (Buckets), to ensure full compatibility across environments. Even with this hybrid approach, all workloads were migrated smoothly and without technical complications.
• Migrating SAP environment: The migration encompassed all core SAP landscapes, including development, QA, production and reporting systems. With 4TB of business-critical data in play, Rackspace implemented network transfer optimization to accelerate data movement while keeping maintenance windows to a minimum.
• Accelerating the timeline: Both the SAP migration and the server migration were completed on an exceptionally compressed schedule. The SAP environment moved from kickoff to go-live in just two months, enabled by tight coordination, disciplined project management and a phased transition. In parallel, the server migration, excluding the planning and design phase, was completed within eight weeks. Overall, the data center consolidation finished several months ahead of Niterra’s internal timeline, demonstrating a highly efficient and well-executed migration effort.
• Minimizing downtime: The project’s most pressing requirement was uninterrupted operations, especially given Niterra’s dependency on SAP for financial processes and warehouse logistics in Germany. The strategy developed by Rackspace prioritized seamless cutovers, rigorous scheduling and contingency planning to keep the business running without noticeable interruptions.
• Collaborating with the global team: Rackspace brought together distributed teams across the U.S., Mexico, Germany and India to help execute the projects. Despite initial concerns about communication and coordination, the teams unified around shared goals, providing both advisory and on-site support.
• Executing a smooth system for knowledge sharing: A close collaboration with Niterra’s teams created project alignment and provided knowledge transfer throughout the process. Rackspace facilitated process via targeted workshops, on-site sessions and ongoing dialogue, ensuring that the Niterra team was well equipped to optimize its new cloud platform.

“We are always working to stay on the edge of IT innovation,” stated Hinkmann. “That's why we moved to Google Cloud. Company-wide, we are committed to Google-first. We are trying to move all our services to Google. We just needed a strategic cloud partner to help get us there. We found exactly what we needed with Rackspace. I consider Rackspace a strategic supplier for Google Cloud. And Rackspace Modern Operations has made a very professional impression on everyone here. It’s a huge benefit to have one provider supporting your entire infrastructure.”

Managed cloud operations:Rackspace Modern Operations provided Niterra with deep cloud expertise, proven operational frameworks and powerful automation to help manage their complexity with confidence. Unlike one-size-fits-all providers, Rackspace Technology adapts solutions to your environment, delivering resilient, secure and high-performing operations backed by 24x7x365 support and a commitment to continuous optimization.