From in-house to external IT: BayBG opts for customised solutions and security with Claranet

"We were faced with the key question of how our IT organisation needed to be set up for the future in order to ensure reliable operations and at the same time, guarantee a high level of IT security in the long term," says Andreas Käufl, CFO of BayBG Bayerische Beteiligungsgesellschaft, describing the motivation behind the switch to an externally operated IT infrastructure.

The challenge

BayBG has been supporting SMEs in Bavaria as a financing partner for over 50 years. With around €370 million invested, it is one of the largest providers of equity capital for SMEs in Germany. It currently has investments in around 350 companies, which together employ around 40,000 people and generate a turnover of around €9 billion.

BayBG also has a broad technological base: The IT landscape includes application systems for the investment business, a sister company with a banking licence as well as specialised tools for CRM, investment management, guarantee management, document management, reporting and due diligence.

"Our infrastructure was previously operated in-house on around 60 servers - supported by a service provider but managed internally," explains Frane Crnjak, CTO of BayBG. "However, the requirements for efficiency, availability and security are constantly increasing, especially for a financial company. That's why we decided to transfer our systems to an external data centre."

It was not only important to have a secure and stable platform, but also a partner who understood the complex IT landscape and could provide individual support. "We didn't want a standard solution, but a partnership at eye level, with a direct contact person and an understanding of our specific requirements," says Frane Crnjak.

The solution

BayBG opted for Claranet. In addition to technical expertise, many years of experience and a comprehensive security concept, the personal commitment was particularly convincing. "Claranet wanted to understand exactly how our IT works and what is important to us. Right from the start, we had the feeling that a solution was being developed for us and not off the shelf," says Andreas Käufl, CFO of BayBG.

Claranet clearly defined what they were taking on and where our tasks lay. This created transparency and trust right from the start"

Frane Crnjak
CTO, BayBG

In intensive workshops, the specific requirements of BayBG were analysed and a technical concept was developed that took into account both the individual needs and the high security and compliance standards of the financial sector.

As many of BayBG's applications are customised and not designed for cloud operation, migration to a public cloud would have involved considerable effort. The decision was therefore made in favour of the flexible dual data centre platform from Claranet in Frankfurt, which can be flexibly adapted to existing systems and specific requirements. The infrastructure is based on converged systems with tiered SSD storage and fulfils the highest data protection and compliance requirements in accordance with German law - as evidenced by numerous ISO certifications such as ISO 27001, ISO 22301 and ISO 9001.

The move was preceded by close coordination with the various software service providers. "We worked with each of the more than ten service providers to determine exactly whether the respective solution could be migrated directly or whether specific adjustments were required and when these could be made," explains Frane Crnjak. "Claranet not only provided advice, but also active support, including direct communication with the vendors." 

The migration itself took place in three clearly defined phases:

Global infrastructure: Setting up central systems such as domain controllers, admin servers, and terminal servers

Test environment: Deployment and extensive testing of the applications

Productive environment: Complete commissioning of all systems after further successful tests

Twelve months into the project, the new environment went live as planned. 

The result

The careful and structured preparation paid off in full. We initiated the planned change freeze and successfully completed the move within a week, including the commissioning of 55 virtual machines in the Claranet data centre. All employees were able to work in the new environment on time the following Monday."

Andreas Käufl
CFO, BayBG

The migration week followed a precise schedule with over 180 individual steps, each carried out by project participants according to their responsibilities. Claranet was available at all times, including outside office hours, to address any delays early and ensure the schedule was reliably maintained.

The active and coordinating role of Claranet was particularly important for BayBG, as Andreas Käufl reports: "My original concern was whether the interaction between software service providers, internal requirements and Claranet as a service provider would work. This concern was unfounded. Claranet moderated the project in a structured manner right from the start, with regular jour fixe meetings for status checks and fine-tuning. This close coordination was crucial to the success of the project, which was also demonstrated by the smooth go-live."

During ongoing operations, Claranet also ensures that everything runs smoothly at BayBG: The application environment is continuously monitored, secured and optimised with integrated 24/7 monitoring and performance management. German-speaking 24/7 support and a service management team based on ITIL and DevOps principles are available for ongoing operations.

The future

A gradual switch to the public cloud is conceivable for BayBG with Claranet as a trusted partner at its side. "In Claranet, we have not simply found a service provider to operate our systems - we have gained a partner that provides us with continuous support and with whom we can also shape future IT issues together," concludes Andreas Käufl.