SES

> 2000 Employees

2 bill. EUR (2016)

SES is the world-leading satellite operator and the first to deliver a differentiated and scalable GEO-MEO offering worldwide, with more than 50 satellites in Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) and 12 in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO).

About

Managed services free up resources

You could say that SES’s business is out of this world. As the world-leading satellite operator, the company delivers 7,500 TV channels, including the first Ultra HD channels, to every continent on
earth from outer space. It also provides broadband Internet for corporations. Even governments and confederations of nations use SES communications
networks. It’s a high-tech business – one that is impossible without fl awless IT operations. For example, the volume of data from orbit is so immense that SES built one of the largest data centers in Europe to process it.
Of course, the company also needs IT systems that are not related to actual satellite data. SES has relied on SAP for its enterprise software since 2011. “We had no in-house SAP expertise and
didn’t want to establish any,” explains Renauld Chapellier, General Manager ERP Core Team at SES. “After all, our core competence is in a different area entirely.” That’s why SES chose managed services by NTT DATA Business Solutions: The SAP systems are implemented in the NTT DATA Business Solutions data center in Bautzen, with central operation, maintenance and support.

Innovation as a service

Of course, as a technology leader, SES cannot afford to stand still. “Our enterprise IT needs to be ready for the digital future, too,” says Chapellier. “In 2016 it was obvious that we needed to upgrade our solutions to roll out new features and benefi t from innovations like SAP S/4HANA and SAP Fiori.” Migrating all of the corporate databases to SAP HANA was the key project, in addition to upgrading SAP ERP, SAP CRM, SAP BW and SAP GTS.
“We’re talking about 20 databases. That can be an extremely complex process, and the enthusiasm for projects like that in-house is limited – to say the least,” laughs Chapellier.
“But the support NTT DATA Business Solutions provided us made it a walk in the park.”

Upgrading, operating, supporting

The experts at NTT DATA Business Solutions created two automatically replicating instances of every productive SAP HANA database. If one fails, the second kicks in – without losing any data.
The databases, applications, operating systems and hardware run in high availability operation. They are monitored around the clock and are backed up by a second, synchronized data
center. Here too, if one fails, the second takes over. To ensure that this does not happen in the first place, four NTT DATA Business Solutions consultants are there for SES
at all times. They answer questions, ensure smooth service and solve problems immediately. “This is no anonymous call center,” says Chapellier. “We know these people personally and have learned to understand and trust one another over the years.” That gives SES the certainty that it has an expert partner at its side on the way to a digital future – one who understands their requirements.