Vilore Foods Embraces Innovation with SAP S/4HANA on Azure

“Protera's expertise in SAP and Azure has enabled us to embrace innovative cloud technology such as AI and Microsoft CoPilot, positioning the company for future advancements​."

— Eduardo Valdes, IT Director

The Opportunity 

Vilore Foods faced a significant technological pivot when required to migrate from their previous cloud service provider which was decommissioning their data centers. The migration needed to achieve minimal downtime and disruption while maintaining continuity of critical business operations. Additionally, an upgrade to SAP S/4HANA was an imperative to leverage enhanced functionalities including real-time analytics.

The dual challenge of migrating existing SAP systems to a new platform while upgrading to SAP S/4HANA required meticulous planning and flawless execution. “It was important that we modernize our enterprise workloads with zero disruption to the business,” said Eduardo Valdes, IT Director of Vilore Foods. “As a lean team of eight, we sought a partner who had deep expertise in SAP and Microsoft Azure, and could provide secure, optimized ongoing management of our systems.”

The Protera Solution

Vilore Foods chose Protera, a Microsoft AI Cloud Solution Partner with specializations in SAP on Azure, Windows Server and SQL Server Migration, Azure Virtual Desktop, Azure Networking, and DevOps on GitHub, to migrate and manage SAP systems and surrounding workloads to Microsoft Azure. The migration and comprehensive managed services would provide the availability segmentation, scalability, and open connectivity with third party cloud solutions the Vilore Foods team was looking for.

Protera's approach was structured around a comprehensive migration and upgrade plan, tailored to meet specific business needs:

Strategic Migration Planning: Utilizing Microsoft Azure's Migration Framework, Protera mapped out a phased migration strategy that minimized operational impact and aligned with industry best practices.

Deployment on Microsoft Azure: By selecting Microsoft Azure as the destination cloud platform, the solution benefited from Azure’s robust enterprise-grade capabilities for scalability, reliability, and global reach, which are essential for Vilore Foods’ expansive distribution network.

SAP S/4HANA Implementation: The transition to SAP S/4HANA was integral, not just as an upgrade but as a transformational move to streamline and enhance Vilore Foods’ enterprise resource planning processes.

Comprehensive Managed Services: Post-migration, Protera provides ongoing managed services including SAP Basis administration, endpoint protection and continuous cost optimization, taking full advantage of Microsoft Azure native tools and Protera’s proprietary management technologies.

Advanced Testing Protocols: Rigorous testing was conducted to ensure functional equivalence with the legacy system, safeguarding against any degradation in user experience during and after the transition.

Business Outcomes

The migration of SAP and surrounding workloads was completed with zero downtime and without any disruption to Vilore Foods' daily operations, marking a seamless transition to a more robust and scalable cloud environment.

“The migration was flawless. Our users told me on Monday that nothing has changed,” says Valdes. “That’s the point!”

A critical component post migration was the ongoing management of SAP S/4HANA and additional enterprise workloads and cloud infrastructure, ensuring system are secure and continuously optimized with proactive communication from the Protera team. “With Protera’s FinOps and cost governance services, I am aware of any deviation in cost, as well as provided proactive communication on ways to save resources,” noted Valdes.

Key outcomes include:

Enhanced Performance and Scalability: The Vilore Foods team now benefits from an infrastructure that easily scales to meet demand fluctuations. The Vilore Team has already noted a 2X increase in performance.

Cost Efficiency: Vilore Foods has reduced its reliance on physical data centers, significantly cutting infrastructure costs by 50% with monthly FinOps meetings for continuous visibility.

SAP Integration and Innovation: The shift to S/4HANA on Microsoft Azure has enabled Vilore Foods to better integrate with other cloud-native applications and services, harnessing AI and automation to improve efficiency and insights. The team has also begun to realize the benefits of Fiore.

Security and Compliance: Enhanced security features and compliance postures are now inherent, with Protera providing ongoing endpoint protection services complimenting Microsoft Azure’s comprehensive security frameworks.

“Protera’s global team is an extension of mine, they are available, proactive, and knowledgeable,” says Valdes. “Their expertise in SAP and Azure has enabled us to embrace innovative cloud technology such as AI and Microsoft CoPilot, positioning the company for future advancements.”