Techwave recognized that IBM Cloud bare metal servers offer the right starting point for enterprises seeking to modernize operations and migrate to the cloud while retaining complete control of their IT infrastructures.
To accommodate clients that need to know where their data physically resides – for example, for compliance with GDPR – IBM offers more than 60 global data centers aligned with local data compliance regulations. Additionally, IBM Cloud supports the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and ISO 27001 information security management standard, helping enterprises meet regulatory demands even as they expand to new geographies.
In one example, Techwave helped a large education client experiencing significant infrastructure challenges: approaching end-of-life, its on-premises servers could not manage escalating workloads or support new app development opportunities. The client considered moving to virtual servers hosted by public cloud providers, but its complex mix of public-facing and internal-only servers presented significant security challenges.
To demonstrate that a cloud solution could support this client’s SAP® applications and associated environments, Techwave conducted a Proof of Concept by creating a dedicated, single-tenant cloud on IBM Cloud bare metal servers. With the IBM offering, the client gained complete control of the infrastructure environment, from hardware, hypervisor and gateway to their trusted applications. Techwave moved the client’s existing perpetual software licenses from the outgoing on-premises infrastructure to the IBM Cloud bare metal servers. The increased capacity and performance of the IBM servers enabled the same workload to run on a smaller number of machines, reducing the number of licenses required and therefore cutting costs.
From the Proof of Concept, the client recognized the considerable benefits a comprehensive migration to the cloud infrastructure could deliver, and moved its SAP ERP and SAP Human Capital Management applications to IBM Cloud bare metal servers. Disaster recovery capabilities are provided by replication to a second data center. With ground-up control of the infrastructure stack, the client can securely separate its internal and external servers and services, and easily add server capacity to meet new workload.
“Being able to use their existing VMware perpetual licenses was a major gain for this client, and removed one of the largest obstacles to their cloud journey,” says Chandra Rao Jampa. “This off-premises private cloud built on IBM Cloud bare metal servers delivers an innovative option that enables the client to modernize, scale and develop its applications while retaining full control. They can add new IBM Cloud bare metal servers or select IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for the next phase of their development.
“Typically, we find clients save 15 percent of IT monthly expenses by moving to cloud. On top of that, they cut costs by a further 25 percent by reducing the number of people tied up with management and maintenance issues. Additionally, the increased system uptime delivered by IBM Cloud bare metal servers releases yet more staff to be re-allocated to essential development and business tasks, delivering a productivity gain of a further 20 percent.”