Reference Story Julius Berger International

Julius Berger International’s journey from d.velop documents to a cloud solution

• Data migration to the d.velop cloud storage
• Hosting costs reduced by 75 percent
• Data migration to the cloud runs in parallel

With cloud storage from d.velop, hosting costs reduced by 75 percent

Julius Berger International: 12 terabytes of data migrated in less than two months

Julius Berger International GmbH stores and archives vast amounts of data. This includes comprehensive project documentation, which is often compiled after the completion of construction sites and typically consists of numerous scanned documents. Since 2009, the company has managed its substantial data load from Germany and Nigeria on-premises using the document management system (DMS) d.velop documents (formerly d.3 ecm). Until recently, online access to these data for all company employees was facilitated by a NetApp solution. “It worked wonderfully,” reflects Carsten Thielking, Head of IT Management at Julius Berger International. But there was a caveat.

Data migration to d.velop cloud storage

Another key driver of the significant cost savings has been the migration of large portions of the company’s international data to the d.velop cloud storage. Over the next three years, Carsten Thielking, who previously played a leading role in implementing d.3ecm at Julius Berger International, plans to migrate all data from the DMS to the cloud. “At some point, I realised the necessity of moving away from NetApp and started discussions with d.velop about the topic of cloud migration,” he explains. Agreement was quickly reached.

Cloud solution by d.velop meets all requirements

What requirements did the cloud solution need to meet? What are the key considerations when migrating large volumes of data to a different storage medium? “The solution could not show a significant difference in performance,” explains Carsten Thielking, “because the majority of documents would eventually reside in this long-term archive.” Therefore, seamless access at any time was essential. The cloud storage solution from d.velop easily fulfills this requirement. “I don’t notice any difference. Everything runs smoothly, and the migration went perfectly.”

DMS and cloud storage from a single source at d.velop

d.velop already enjoyed a high level of trust as a well-known, reliable partner. However, this did not absolve the software provider from the obligation to deliver top performance. For Carsten Thielking, it was clear that working with d.velop would bring many advantages. “We wanted to move to the cloud, and introducing d.velop cloud storage meant everything would remain under one roof,” explains the IT specialist, highlighting a key benefit. He adds, “This way, the storage medium transition could take place discreetly in the background. It worked as smoothly as I had hoped.”

Data migration to the cloud runs smoothly in the background

Regarding the project collaboration with d.velop, Carsten Thielking says: “It was all done on a relatively small scale and wasn’t a major project.” The migration itself was handled by a colleague from d.velop, whom he has known for almost 20 years and “whom I know always does a great job.” The project began with a kickoff meeting, followed by the transition to a test system, which marked the start of the project. “Once that was completed and all the tests ran smoothly, we moved on to the live system.” That took a few weeks. “I was kept informed about the status from time to time, and in the end, I received the final report. That was it – project completed.”

Quickly resolved occasional increases in data load on the server

Copying the data did occasionally create a noticeable data load, which did not go unnoticed by some colleagues. “Some processes in the system took longer because the server running the application is also the one managing the storage,” explains Carsten Thielking. He informed the affected colleagues about what was happening in the background, as no one was initially aware of it. “We simply scaled down the number of processes running concurrently during the day,” he says. “Then it was hardly noticeable anymore.” It took less than two months to migrate 12 terabytes of data to the d.velop cloud storage from the test system to completion.

Julius Berger International saves 2500 euros per month thanks to the cloud

The work itself hasn’t changed. “I don’t notice any difference, but we save quite a bit—around €2,500 every month.” Hardly anyone knows that the storage medium was changed. “Our CFO, as my direct supervisor, was informed about the process and, as a businessman, of course, sees it positively that we’re saving a lot of money,” notes Carsten Thielking. “Otherwise, most people are unaware of the change—it’s not something you see or feel as a user.”

Next step: d.velop documents as a cloud solution

Further collaboration with d.velop is firmly planned. “They’ve been offering d.velop documents as a cloud solution for some time now,” says Carsten Thielking, highlighting certain advantages. “The biggest advantage for us is that we no longer have to worry about updates and all those things you always have to deal with.” However, the switch cannot yet be fully implemented at the moment.

Additional savings potential by eliminating own servers

“I hope we’ll have less work with it,” he forecasts. Cloud solutions offer various advantages, such as “apps that can be relatively easily integrated into the system.” Financially, it will likely save even more money, “especially since we currently operate 10 servers for this purpose alone.”