SUCCESS STORY

DB Schenker gains data security and support in a heartbeatA world leader in logistics relies on world-class solutions to govern vast flows of data

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Head Office Schenker AG

Essen, Germany

Industry

Transportation and Logistics

Challenge

Ensure business continuity and mitigate risk for a mission-critical business that governs vast flows of data

Solution

• Axway Mission-Critical Support • Axway B2B

Results

• Proactive, preventive and predictive services • 24/7, follow-the-sun support and efficient

escalation management for rapid resolution of issues

• Dedicated MCS Account Manager coordinates all support services, provides regular calls and onsite visits

• Dedicated technical support team and access to development teams

• SLA with Axway, with monthly reports to track performance

• Axway test environment in India replicates DB Schenker Logistics production system, for fast, accurate testing and updates

• Regular system health check, including volume forecasting and production environment assessment

• Product improvement process, with road map, product updates and enhancements, product optimization

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With 62,200 employees and sales totaling €14.87 billion in 2011, DB Schenker Logistics is a world leader in its industry, providing European land transport, global air and ocean freight, comprehensive contract logistics solutions and global supply chain management. The company holds top positions in the automotive, high-tech and consumer-products sectors.

The Heartbeat of the business

Schenker Worldwide Online Data Network (SWORD)

DB Schenker Logistics established SWORD to govern the vast flows of data generated by its business operations.

Often called the “heartbeat of Schenker,” SWORD is a global, multi-enterprise business-to-business (B2B) integration platform for electronic data interchange (EDI). SWORD as a central EDI platform is based on Axway’s B2B product portfolio to provide B2B services across all business areas globally.

Currently, SWORD handles:

• More than 10,000 customers connected directly or via local environments • Over 25 million messages per month, supporting all common protocols and message formats • 4.5 terabytes of message volume per year, growing at a rate of 15 percent a year

To provide a maximum level of support for this activity, DB Schenker Logistics adopted Axway’s Mission-Critical Support (MCS), a comprehensive package that includes preventive and proactive services, rapid problem resolution and efficient escalation management.

Mission-critical support

Essential for SWORD

Axway MCS performance is monitored by a Service Level Agreement (SLA) between Axway and Schenker. In turn, DB Schenker Logistics has established SLAs with some of its largest customers.

”With SWORD so vital to the business operations, we needed something beyond the typical support organization,” said Thomas Endries, Senior Vice President Corporate Customer & Enterprise Integration, DB Schenker Logistics. “Nearly every single B2B message, every data communication within Schenker is run by this system, including data communications with our customers, Schenker entities worldwide, with our external partners, and our back-end applications.”

“For example, an export from Singapore that becomes an import shipment to the U.S. involves messages for booking, transport, tracking, customs declarations, and status messages to customers, in addition to invoicing. All this is handled via SWORD.”

“Together with Axway, we developed a customized mission-critical support organization that’s essential for DB Schenker,” said Endries.

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Axway MCS

A proactive, preventive, predictive approach

DB Schenker Logistics needed a full range of MCS services, with an emphasis on proactive, preventive and predictive services that help to eliminate downtime and mitigate risk, while leveraging Axway’s detailed knowledge of the DB Schenker environment. Key services include:

• 24/7, follow-the-sun access to support. Support is provided in all three regions (APAC, Americas and Europe, including headquarters) and is available regardless of issue severity.

• MCS Account Manager. “We have an MCS Account Manager in each of the three regions,” said Endries. “In addition, we have a top-level MCS Account Manager who provides company-wide oversight.”

• Technical support team. “The MCS Account Managers are backed by a dedicated team that supports us 24/7 and is in direct contact with us on a working level,” said Endries. “When needed, we also have direct access to the development teams at Axway.”

“If there’s an issue, we have a clear escalation path… It’s great to work with Axway due to their commitment.”

• Escalation procedures. “If there’s an issue, we have a clear escalation path based on the priority levels we set. We also have access to top management at Axway. It’s great to work with Axway due to their commitment,” said Endries.

• Regular calls and onsite meetings. “Once a month, we have a regular call or onsite meeting in Essen,” said Endries. “In addition, twice a month, we have calls between the MCS Account Manager and my global operations staff.”

• Product improvement process. “We have a structured process with Axway to improve products,” said Endries. This includes product optimization, patch review and deployment, product updates and product roadmap.

• Regular health checks. “Twice a year,” said Endries, “we have a meeting to look at the environment. Our system administrators and technical staff, along with the Axway product experts, look at the production environment to see if everything is as it should be to run stably. There is a lot of communication, a lot of collaboration.”

Monitoring performance

Meeting SLAs

Axway performance is continuously monitored through a SLA with DB Schenker Logistics. “We get a monthly report from Axway with key performance indicators (KPIs): the number of tickets, their priority levels, how quickly they were resolved,” said Endries. “The bottom line is that Axway is meeting its SLA.”

In turn, DB Schenker Logistics has established SLAs with some of its largest customers. “We have SLAs with very large customers for whom we do warehouse management and enormous volumes of transport,” said Endries. “These SLAs concern the business side, such as warehouse operations, delivery times, etc. for which the IT system provides support.”

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Ensuring business continuity

The MCS test environment

To ensure system availability and business continuity, Axway set up a test environment for DB Schenker Logistics at its support site in India. “The environment consists of the Axway products we use, as well as the additional layer we put on top of the Axway product,” said Endries. “This way, Axway has a copy of our production environment,” he continued. “It has a smaller capacity, but the same technical setups, so they can carry out tests, install patches, verify product updates and do performance testing.”

“The test environment gives us yet another layer of security and precaution,” said Endries. “It goes way beyond normal support collaboration to that of joint development.”

Return on investment

Assessing Axway MCS by ROI

“MCS improves system stability and reliability for DB Schenker Logistics B2B environment,” said Endries. “Various preventive measures, such as the pretesting of patches and volume testing, means there are no surprises. The benefit is that the product is stable. In addition, if there is an issue, we know we can get the system back on track, quickly and effectively.”

“The system is the ‘heartbeat’ of Schenker. If it stops, the Schenker business stops. If you have such a system, you need appropriate support,” Endries said. “I would say that MCS absolutely gives

us value for money. Our target is to have a stable and reliable environment with optimal support for our customers and business operations, and that’s what we have.”

“I think trust is also a very important issue,” said Endries. “Yes, Axway is a vendor for us, but we also have a long-lasting relationship with them. It’s a strong relationship that’s totally built on trust.”

A key feature of this relationship, according to Endries, “is the involvement of MCS staff throughout the project lifecycle. This enables us to have a common understanding of business targets,” he said. “Moreover, we are aligned on the development and enhancement of Axway and Schenker solutions.”

The next step

Deploying Axway MCS with DB Schenker next-generation B2B integration system

“To secure investments taken and accelerate the future deployment process, we’ve involved MCS from the very beginning,” said Endries. “The MCS Account Manager is on board, as are the product development people. We get to see how everything fits together: the new Axway product and the additional layer Schenker developed. MCS has a key role to play, from system design to migration to production.”

Endries concluded, “We’re absolutely satisfied with Axway MCS. For us, it fully meets our expectations. Quite often, it exceeds them.”

“I would say that MCS absolutely gives us value for money. Our target is to have a stable and reliable environment with optimal support for our customers and business operations, and that’s what we have.”