Continental Corporation

Continental Lowers Costs, Improves Security, and Achieves 99.9 Percent Server Reliability.

Continental AG had out-of-date and disparate client-server infrastructure that needed groupwide standardization. This involved providing more than 80 sites worldwide with a total of 24,000 new workstations and portable computers, installing new server computers, and setting up modern operating systems and applications. Continental first tested a Linux solution, but the company decided instead on a platform based on Microsoft® Windows Server™ 2003 Enterprise Edition and Windows® XP Professional because of the opportunity to lower costs and improve security. The new system architecture has considerably reduced IT costs at Continental AG. With Active Directory® as a groupwide directory service, the corporate network can now be centrally administered.

Headquartered in Hanover, Germany, Continental AG is one of the world’s largest automobile suppliers, specializing in the manufacturing of passenger car and commercial vehicle tires using brake and drive technology as well as rubber and plastics technology. About 80,000 employees work at more than 100 Continental AG sites. The company reports a consolidated group profit of 13.8 billion euros (U.S.$17.7 billion) and operating revenue of 1.5 billion euros ($1.9 billion).

Continental AG is considered a technology leader both in its industry and on the stock market. The IT landscape that had historically grown up within the company was anything but standard. “Our disparate infrastructure was antiquated. Distributed responsibilities and different processes interfered with getting a groupwide perspective on costs, processes, and applications,” says Tobias Rölz, Manager of the Distributed Environment project at Continental AG. “In addition, it wasn’t possible at the time to have continuous and automated patch management because individual applications and support services had been implemented only at certain sites.”

Continental's management realized the company had to develop an IT infrastructure capable of supporting a dynamic business with evolving commercial strategies. Paul Schwefer emphasizes the key challenge, advising, “We needed rock-solid reliability, and we weren’t getting it from our existing infrastructure,” he says. “We needed an IT infrastructure and architecture that would provide the flexibility to build an efficient global operation and support our ongoing strategy of growth through acquisition.”

In the context of his project, Rölz was responsible for setting up a new, standardized architecture. “Our goal was to equip the group’s 24,000 workstations with the best possible technology and the highest degree of security at the lowest possible expense,” Rölz explains. The new platform had to be designed in a way that would let in-house IT experts or outside service providers administer it depending on need and cost.

Solution

IT experts at Continental AG first tested the options of a Linux platform. Supported by Sun, Continental had also evaluated StarOffice. According to Rölz, however, using a Linux/open-source solution would have necessitated an “unmanageable migration expense,” especially because individual Microsoft Office documents and solutions would not have been convertible. Moreover, a series of important applications that run exclusively on Microsoft software would have made it necessary to run virtualization software on a Citrix application server in the background of any new Linux platform.

Standardized Microsoft Infrastructure

With an eye on the tight time frame—the project had to be globally completed within one year—Continental ultimately decided in favor of Microsoft. The future security of the Microsoft solution and the opportunity to lower costs over the long term were also factors in the decision.

Continental chose a uniform client-server infrastructure based on the Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 operating system (for its server computers) and the Windows® XP Professional operating system (for workstations and portable computers). The company decided to equip each client computer with Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003.

Quick Project Implementation

From February 2004 to June 2005, Microsoft Services supported Continental AG with an Enterprise Strategy Consultant, who drove project management, technical design, and quality assurance. The objective was to set up an architecture that would guarantee the secure operation of all processes—regardless of whether they had been operated previously under Microsoft Windows NT® or Microsoft Windows 2000 operating systems.

IT specialists at Continental AG and experts from service provider EDS started with the actual implementation immediately after they had completed a thorough data backup at the head office in Hanover and at a plant in Vahrenwald. They first migrated the server computers to avoid from the outset any system conflicts in rights administration and network logons during the subsequent client migration. Converting the workstations to Windows XP Professional went quickly. By the end of 2004, more than a third of all personal computers at Continental had already been converted and integrated into the uniform Microsoft server environment.

Benefits

By migrating its client-server infrastructure to Microsoft software, Continental AG has cut IT operating costs. Thanks to the Active Directory service, employees can log on groupwide and work in their usual IT environments. The solution also improves asset management. “Microsoft’s standardized infrastructure has markedly improved administration, enhanced security, and thus considerably lowered costs in the area of terminals,” says Paul Schwefer, Chief Information Officer, Continental AG.

Infrastructure Reliability of 99.9 Percent

One of the most important reasons that Continental has been able to make such improvements in its overall performance and management is the increased reliability it has gained with its Windows Server-based solution. The company has experienced 99.9 percent reliability in its distributed environment since the deployment.

Considerable Cost Savings

“Using the standardized Microsoft infrastructure, we can lower operating costs in the area of terminals considerably,” Rölz calculates. The Active Directory® service in Windows Server 2003 contributes to lower costs with its use of group guidelines that the administrators can use to centrally determine security and access settings for the workstations. “This tool is included in the functionality of Windows Server 2003. To get comparable functionality for a Linux/open-source solution we would have had to acquire an additional program first,” Rölz says.

Centralized IT Administration

The Active Directory service ensures that all users can have their computers administered and maintained centrally with their individual links and properties. Employees can easily log on to any workstation and work with their personal files and programs and with all company resources accessible to them from there.

Easier Conversion and Specialized Support

The Microsoft solution presented fewer conversion problems than Linux and hardly any expense to train users. “We were especially concerned about Microsoft Excel macros and Microsoft Access databases that had been developed over the years by many employees at different sites and that over time had evolved into important tools without anyone’s noticing,” reports Dr. Bernd Thomas, Manager of Corporate IT Infrastructure at Continental AG.

According to Thomas, Microsoft also offered an interesting licensing model with fast and specific support both specialized for migration and tailored to each individual situation. Rölz says, “Microsoft’s support played a major role in the success of our conversion.”

Automated Client Management and Improved Security

IT administration and operation have become easier and more flexible, reducing dependency on a service provider. In addition, the security level has increased overall. This is because the new IT landscape makes improved system management and update management possible.

Within 72 hours of release, new virus definitions and software updates can be set up on 24,000 total workstations—including prior intensive tests. In the same way, Continental gains full transparency over the hardware and software used, thanks to its new architecture, thereby setting up modern and comprehensive licensing and asset management. “We are now on par with the best-practice standard in the automobile industry,” says Rölz with satisfaction. “This means modern standard software at low cost, fast support processes at top quality, and comprehensive security coverage.”

Thanks to the uniform architecture, software distribution now runs like clockwork. “Employees can call in the morning, and have the software they need on their PC or laptop by the afternoon,” reports Rölz. The groupwide setup of Acrobat Reader and an SAP update went without problems as well. In addition to considerably lowering operating costs, the project has paved the way for innovations in Continental projects for years to come.

[Via:- Case Study - Continental Corporation]

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