Bits GmbH

Project organization for the reduction of CO2 emissions in the IT infrastructure (IT decarbonization) at a world-renowned commercial vehicle manufacturer
As part of a project to decarbonize IT at a world-renowned commercial vehicle manufacturer, BITS GmbH has taken over IT project management and consulting.

The aim of this project was to create a more sustainable IT landscape through the use of innovative technologies and efficient processes and thus make a contribution to climate protection.

• Reducing CO2 emissions in IT infrastructure: By using energy-efficient technologies
• Significant CO2 savings: saving significant amounts of CO2 emissions
• Sustainable IT landscape: Consideration of ecological aspects throughout the entire life cycle of the IT infrastructure

Challenge
Decarbonizing IT requires a deep understanding of IT infrastructure, processes and technologies. One challenge was to implement comprehensive energy management software. This should enable a transparent analysis of energy consumption and show the interactions between the IT infrastructure and the building infrastructure. In addition, the feasibility of a rooftop photovoltaic system on the data center in Dachau had to be examined. This included evaluating various factors such as site conditions, architectural constraints and technical requirements. It was necessary to find a solution that was both technically feasible and economically viable.

Last but not least, the coordination of external service providers, such as structural engineers and installers, required a high degree of methodological competence in project management in order to manage the many stakeholders at the right time and to professionally manage the many actors in this complex project while meeting the project milestones.

Another central component of the project was CO2 monitoring. It required precise data collection and analysis in order to establish a meaningful monitoring system.

• Deep understanding of IT infrastructure, processes and technologies
• implementation of comprehensive energy management software
• Evaluation of various factors to examine the feasibility of the photovoltaic rooftop system
• Accurate data collection and analysis to build a meaningful monitoring system
• Managing numerous stakeholders at the right time

realization

BITS GmbH was involved in the project both organizationally in project management and in IT consulting.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, a comprehensive energy management software was successfully implemented. Structured data collection and analysis enabled transparent insights into energy consumption to be gained. These findings served as the basis for decisions on CO2 reduction and PUE optimization. In addition, the insights gained could also have a positive impact on decisions and directions in other departments, such as purchasing.

BITS GmbH played an active role in the project development of the rooftop photovoltaic system on the data center in Dachau and coordinated external service providers such as structural engineers and photovoltaic installers. In addition, it supported the customer's approval process and contributed to the presentation of the economic framework data. This ensured that the project could be implemented successfully.

BITS GmbH also carried out an inventory of all IT equipment and compared the energy consumption in kilowatt hours per year and the CO2 footprint of the main consumers. This made it possible to better monitor CO2 emissions and take targeted measures to reduce them.

• introduction of energy management software
• development of the photovoltaic rooftop system
• CO2 monitoring

Project Roles at a Glance
The BITS experts took on the following roles in this project.

• IT project support
• IT consulting / advice

Seamless connection of a Shopware 6 online shop with the ERP system SAP Business ByDesign
In this project, the BITS experts connected the online shop of a manufacturer of cooling solutions in the food ( easy2cool ) and pharmaceutical ( Licopharm ) industries to their SAP ERP system. For this purpose, individual interfaces between Shopware 6 and SAP Business ByDesign were designed and implemented. At the same time, a test environment was set up and put into productive operation after successful testing.

BITS' tasks included IT conception and IT consulting, the individual development of the SAP interface as a Shopware 6 plugin, and the commissioning of the finished solution.

The project was carried out agilely based on the BITS MVP process model with the aim of being able to further expand the solution in the future.

• Shopware 6 and SAP: Seamless connection of two standard software solutions
• 100% Agile: Agile development based on the MVP process model of BITS
• Future-proof and Flexible: As a Shopware 6 plugin, future-proof and flexibly expandable

The expertise of BITS
“In close cooperation with the BITS team, we were able to seamlessly connect our Shopware 6 online shop to our SAP ERP system. The expert know-how and professionalism of the entire team contributed significantly to the success of the project. We at easy2cool GmbH are looking forward to further expanding the solution we have developed together with BITS.”

Matthias Holhut, Business Development Manager at easy2cool GmbH

Challenge

The task in this project was to develop an individual interface between two standard software solutions in order to exchange all relevant data and keep it synchronized.

At the same time, a new test environment should be set up in which future development projects can be carried out.

The solution should be flexible and future-proof in order to be able to respond quickly to individual requirements. Commissioning should take place without any downtime.

• online shop based on Shopware 6
• SAP ERP system based on SAP ByDesign
• setting up a test environment
• Commissioning of the interface without downtime

realization
First, a test environment was set up and put into operation parallel to the productive environment in order to be able to test all future developments and extensions independently of ongoing operations.

The interface between the two standard software solutions was then designed and programmed as a Shopware 6 plugin in order to be able to operate and flexibly develop the interface in the future, independently of software updates of the standard solutions.

After a successful test phase, the interface was put live without interrupting ongoing operations.

The BITS experts took on the roles of IT consulting, IT project management, software development and IT infrastructure in this project.

We look forward to further expanding the solution in the future.

• Setting up a test environment parallel to the productive environment
• Development of the interface as a Shopware 6 plugin
• Successful test phase in the test environment
• Developed solution takes into account the updateability of standard components
• Commissioning of the solution without downtime
• Flexible and agile future development

The agile process model of BITS
The implementation of the project was based on the agile process model MVP by BITS and enabled a go-live 6 weeks after the idea and goal definition.

Project Roles at a Glance

The BITS experts took on the following roles in this project.

• IT consulting / advice
• IT project management
• Infrastructure / Operations
• software development
• Shopware 6 programming
• SAP byDesign development

Tools & Technologies
The following tools and technologies were used in this project.

• Agile
• data transfer
• e-commerce
• ERP
• custom software
• Industry 4.0
• Json
• SAP Business ByDesign
• interfaces
• Security
• Shopware
• SOAP
• XML

Automation of ordering processes via a ServiceNow® module
The aim of the project was to automate the ordering process for the customer's IT infrastructure using ServiceNow IT Service Management. In this context, the workflow server, databases, middleware, certificates and infrastructure for applications should be able to be ordered by the customer's various departments.

An authorization concept for user group management and license monitoring formed the basic framework of the project.

In this context, the BITS team took over the coordination of the various stakeholders at the customer in order to plan the implementation of the workflows via ServiceNow and to control and monitor the implementation by the developers at the customer. The implementation of each individual workflow began with a stakeholder analysis in order to observe and consider all dependencies.

The project team was also responsible for prioritizing tasks and resource planning, both for the internal BITS team and for the customer's employees. The project team recorded the requirements of the departments and stakeholders, prepared them for the customer's development team and passed them on to them in clear instructions. The BITS project team contributed its technical know-how, questioned the customer's processes and advised on dependencies on other systems. In addition, the interfaces to third-party systems were taken into account in order to ensure smooth data exchange between the ServiceNow system and the customer's third-party systems.

By implementing the project and automating the ordering process of the IT infrastructure, dependencies in orders can now be automatically taken into account, which reduces the susceptibility to errors in these ordering processes and minimizes manual work. A centralized system now ensures an automated and documented workflow.

• Automation of IT infrastructure ordering processes
• Consideration of dependencies in orders (reduction of susceptibility to errors)
• Minimizing manual workload
• Automated, documented collaboration between different departments/departments

Challenge
A particular challenge in this project was that the ordering process for IT infrastructure is subject to many dependencies, since, for example, a firewall must be ordered when ordering a server, or when ordering the infrastructure for an application, the special features of the application must be taken into account and mapped in the ordering process via ServiceNow.

Our team of IT project managers and consultants solved this challenge by integrating automated tasks into the ServiceNow workflow. This ensured that when an infrastructure component is ordered, all departments and people downstream in the process are informed and can therefore also order the necessary components for the respective order.

Another challenge in the ServiceNow project was that due to the amount of different IT infrastructure that can be ordered via the automated workflows, many departments and specialist areas at the customer had to be involved in the project. Several departments and specialist areas have to work together for each order.

Managing these different stakeholders, bringing together the different interests and identifying various solutions were among the main tasks and challenges in this project, along with capacity management and support coordination.

• Consider dependencies in the IT infrastructure ordering process
• Managing many interest groups and stakeholders with different interests

Conclusion & Outlook
The project to automate the ordering process for IT infrastructure at our customer represents a significant step forward in the use of IT service management tools. The successful implementation of ServiceNow has not only increased efficiency and reduced sources of error, but also laid the foundation for future automation initiatives.

Our experience and the results achieved show that with the right strategy and the right tools, significant improvements in process design are possible. We are convinced that similar approaches can be successfully implemented in other companies to increase efficiency and manage IT infrastructures more effectively.

*ServiceNow, the ServiceNow logo, and other Service Now marks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ServiceNow, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective affiliates.

Project Roles at a Glance

The BITS experts took on the following roles in this project.

• IT project management
• IT consulting
• ServiceNow Consulting

Tools & Technologies
The following tools and technologies were used in this project.

• IT Service Management
• ServiceNow

Digital transformation: Increasing the efficiency of a medium-sized company through process consulting and system optimization of an IT system landscape that has grown over the years
Our project managers and consultants have thoroughly analyzed the system landscape of a medium-sized company that has grown over the years. This was followed by comprehensive advice on digitization and process optimization in order to sustainably increase efficiency and collaboration within the company. A key focus was on comprehensive customer support with a holistic view of the business and processes.

BITS took on a leading role in the areas of consulting and project management.

1. analysis of the system landscape: Thorough analysis of existing systems to identify optimization potentials and weak points
2. digitalization consulting: Consulting on the introduction and optimization of modern IT-supported processes that replace manual activities and increase efficiency
3. process optimization: Standardization and optimization of the process landscape to reduce complexity and improve collaboration. Reduce the burden on employees and improve performance

Challenge
The analysis of the fragmented system landscape included a detailed examination of the existing IT infrastructure and processes. The goal was to identify weak points and create a basis for digitalization and process optimization. Our team worked closely with all departments to understand their specific requirements and develop customized solutions. To achieve this, a comprehensive approach was chosen that included the analysis of the systems and processes and the subsequent digitalization and standardization of the processes.

First, the company's fragmented process landscape, which consisted of many individually developed solutions, had to be analyzed and optimization approaches worked out. To achieve this, a comprehensive approach was chosen that included the digitalization and standardization of processes. By introducing BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation), process documentation was improved and process standardization was advanced.

• Complex system landscape (many individual solutions and historically grown processes)
• Integration and acceptance (ensuring the acceptance of new systems by all departments)
• Comprehensive advice (need for comprehensive advice on the selection and implementation of suitable solutions)
• Selection of a new system (weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of “best in class” and “all in one” solutions)

Conclusion & Outlook
The successful implementation of the project took place in several phases:

1 Analysis phase: Thorough analysis of the existing system landscape and identification of optimization potential. We started with defining the goals from a business perspective, which was then broken down into the IT perspective
2 Consulting: Development of customized digitization strategies and recommendations for IT-supported processes, including the introduction of a modern CRM and ERP system
3 Process optimization: implementation of standardized processes and replacement of manual activities with IT solutions
4 Training and change management: Comprehensive training to ensure acceptance and effective use of the new systems

Special features of the project:

• Comprehensive analysis: In-depth investigation of existing systems and processes to identify vulnerabilities
• Individual advice: Tailored recommendations based on the agency's specific requirements
• Efficiency improvement: Introduction and optimization of IT-supported processes to increase efficiency and reduce manual activities
• CRM and ERP integration: Seamless integration of the new system to improve overall processes and data quality

The thorough analysis and comprehensive consulting led to the sustainable optimization of the process landscape and digitalization of the company processes, which significantly improved efficiency and collaboration throughout the company.

The implementation of the new CRM and ERP system began with detailed planning and preparation of the system integration. This included planning the migration of the existing data and training the key users to ensure a seamless transition. The challenges lay in particular in the complexity of the system integration and ensuring user acceptance.

Project Roles at a Glance

The BITS experts took on the following roles in this project.

• project management
• Consulting
• PMO

Tools & Technologies
The following tools and technologies were used in this project.

• BPMN
• CRM
• digitization
• ERP
• Microsoft Dynamics 365
• process modeling

Centralization and standardization of applications in group companies at different locations
The aim of this project was to centralize and standardize the IT infrastructure of several group companies and their services, applications and (web) applications. The various locations and their specific applications were analyzed in order to create a harmonized IT landscape. The project required understanding the effects of the individual applications from the IT architecture program or enterprise architecture management of the individual group companies and different locations in order to be able to define them afterwards. The last step of the project is the migration to the central data center based on the analysis results.

• Centralized management and monitoring of the IT infrastructure
• Reduction of local support effort
• Improved security and data recovery
• Reducing hardware requirements by using centralized resources
• Reduction of CO2 emissions through efficient use of resources
• Cost reduction through software and system harmonization

Challenge
One of the key challenges in this project was the successful decommissioning of the local systems in the various group companies, taking production-critical applications and systems into account. These systems had to be migrated to the central data center without disrupting ongoing operations.

Planning to ensure system integrity after migration was of great importance. It must be ensured that the systems continued to function properly and that all processes ran smoothly after the relocation to the central data center.

The adaptation of individual applications was also an important aspect. Since each group company had its own special applications and systems, it was necessary to analyze and adapt them individually to ensure seamless integration into the central IT infrastructure.

Another significant obstacle was managing numerous internal and external contacts. Communication and coordination between the various parties involved was crucial to the success of the project.

By specifically addressing these challenges, the project was successfully planned and the IT infrastructure of the group companies was effectively centralized and standardized.

• Successful decommissioning of local systems
• Avoiding data loss during migration
• Ensuring system integrity after migration
• Dealing with production-critical infrastructures
• adaptation of individual applications
• Management of numerous internal and external contacts
• adherence to tight budgets and schedules

Conclusion & Outlook
The project began with a comprehensive analysis of the existing IT infrastructure in the various group companies. The individual requirements and systems of each company were recorded and evaluated. Particular attention was paid to identifying production-critical systems that could not be affected during the migration.

Migration planning included defining the target infrastructure in the central data center. This involved deciding which systems should be centralized and which should be operated locally. Special measures were taken to ensure data security and enable a smooth transition.

The project was carried out according to agile principles, which enabled flexible adaptation to changing conditions and rapid reactions to new findings. This enabled dynamic and flexible project management. An efficient life cycle process was defined through short development cycles (sprints) and iterative procedures. This method enabled continuous improvements and transparent communication between all those involved.

Centralizing IT systems reduced administration and operating costs. Harmonizing systems and applications led to more efficient use of resources and an improved carbon footprint.
 

Project Roles at a Glance
The BITS experts took on the following roles in this project.

• IT project management
• IT consulting/advice
• IT quality assurance
• move management

Tools & Technologies
The following tools and technologies were used in this project.

• Cloud
• firewalls
• Linux
• Microsoft Teams
• MS Office
• Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
• ServiceNow
• Sharepoint
• web server
• Windows Server