Neptune Energy consolidates its IT landscape and provider base in the Azure Cloud in collaboration with Syntax
Neptune Energy is a leading German oil and gas company based in Hanover. It employs some 420 people who contribute to the production of vital raw materials at 31 sites throughout Germany. Following a carve-out from its parent group at the end of 2023, Neptune Energy in Germany faced unique IT challenges.
Previously, the complex and diverse IT environment comprising many of the group’s specialist solutions was hosted on a central Azure tenant exposed to all the subsidiaries. Neptune Energy had been fully integrated with this infrastructure, from the architecture to individual apps as well as end-user device.
Further, the company only operated its SAP ECC 6.0 and HCM solutions in a private cloud environment from a data center in France. This centrally hosted model was in stark contrast to the new challenge: a mixed landscape of different IT service providers distributed around the world, all of whom needed to be involved in the migration project given their experience of the individual system configurations.
And all of this was set against a high-pressure backdrop. “As an operator of safety-critical plants, such as for natural gas extraction, there was no scope for any unscheduled downtime of the IT systems. We had to guarantee a seamless transition without any loss of production,” explained Frederic Sager, Neptune Energy Deutschland CFO.
Customer Profile
Location: Hanover, Germany
Industry: Energy
Products and services: Complex carve-out and client management in the Microsoft Azure Cloud
Featured solutions: Successful migration and improved IT security
Sought: capable partner with a broad service portfolio
Neptune Energy began looking for a suitable IT service provider. It had a specific idea of what it wanted.
“Leading SAP and Azure expertise in the implementation of a technically complex carve-out and subsequent systems operation was just one aspect,” commented Cindy Schindler, Neptune Energy Deutschland Head of IT. “We also wanted to use the project to consolidate our diverse provider landscape.” The target of the company’s search would need to act as a single point of contact for all future internal and external IT queries and be capable of supporting a broad range of services from application and provider management to workplace and security maintenance, as well as operation of the company service desk.
One candidate caught Neptune Energy’s eye from the start of the tendering process. The Syntax team’s open communications struck a convincing chord from the beginning and demonstrated a willingness to understand the specific requirements.
“We weren’t simply given a standard presentation, but received a custom offer that was tailored to our situation,” recalled Sager. “In addition, we quickly recognized that we were dealing with partners working at the same level as us. They were open about potential risks, and we worked together to find potential solutions. Syntax also ensured the costs were clear.”
This combination of capability and clarity convinced Neptune Energy that Syntax was the right partner for the job.
“What impressed us the most was the commitment of the entire team, including management. Syntax was always willing to listen and was honestly interested in us, our long-term goals, our markets and our challenges.”
Frederic Sager
CFO, Neptune Energy Deutschland
Lift and shift to the Azure Cloud
The partners agreed to implement the migration in the form of a lift-and-shift move.
“All SAP and non-SAP systems, workplace services and apps, data and workloads from across the business would be moved from the existing global instance to a new Azure tenant used exclusively by Neptune Energy Deutschland, without any modifications,” said Schindler
A comprehensive assessment of the specifics resulted in a plan for a migration in three major steps. Syntax worked with the many different IT service providers involved to prepare the target landscape in the Azure Cloud, creating the landing zone for the three-stage process.
Live workplace services and global apps
The first step to Neptune Energy Deutschland’s future autonomy was completed within just four months of the kick-off. All workplace services, mail and underlying data hosted on the old tenant were moved to the new Azure instance set up by Syntax when stage one went live.
“These tangible modifications to the working environment made our IT autonomy all the more evident for the very first time,” said Schindler. “In addition, the fact that this stage of the carve-out went so smoothly helped motivate us for the rest of the project.”
The next stage was scheduled for just one month later. Global applications such as document management, which the German operation had also been using, were uncoupled from the global cloud environment and implemented on the new Azure tenant.
“We owe the successful completion of this complex three stage carve-out in just 6 months and 9 days to our extremely positive and cooperative working relationship with Syntax. Even when preparations were not going exactly as planned, the team always came up with a well thought-out solution that suited our needs.”
Cindy Schindler
Head of IT, Neptune Energy Deutschland
SAP carve-out: preparation is key
The biggest challenge lay in the third stage: the carve-out of the SAP systems from a private cloud environment and subsequent migration to the much more standarized Azure cloud.
The partners had already agreed upon their approach. They would first create a full copy of the global systems, including all specific customisations. From this, data relevant to Germany would be extracted and transferred. Syntax experts constructed a testing system in Azure where they evaluated various scenarios in many trial runs over several months to make the move as smooth as possible.
“In this context it was especially important to take feedback from individual business departments that work with SAP daily. We needed to test every detail of system functionality in the new environment,” explained Sager. “This meant that the accounting department, for example, could be certain that the upcoming month-end accounts would run correctly in the migrated system.”
Once all the departments had signed off, stage three went live on schedule in just 36 hours. Neptune Energy Deutschland was now fully independent from the legacy environment. Schindler believes that the reason for the project’s success lies in their constructive cooperation with Syntax.
“In a complex project of this type, success depends on good communication. Issues must be discussed openly by both sides, with the aim of finding a solution. That is exactly what happened, time after time.
A single source for all services
As a Service Integration and Management (SIAM) partner, Syntax now looks after application management, runs the company-wide service desk through the ServiceNow ticketing platform, and administrates workplace services, including infrastructure and device management.
In addition, the IT service provider is also responsible for access credentials and Azure Active Directory, providing comprehensive cyber security services from its Security Operations Center. Syntax acts as the Level 1 Single Point of Contact for all IT-specific queries from customers and suppliers alike.
The successful three-stage carve-out has, further, been the launchpad for long-term cooperation on future IT projects.
According to Sager, that comes down in part to Syntax’ proven record of accomplishment. “We have worked with many different suppliers and service providers, and the commitment and proactive approach that Syntax shows and takes are truly rare.”