DSB, a Danish transportation company, is consolidating its IT environment by moving applications and data to cloud services from SAP and Microsoft. This includes moving its SAP applications like finance, procurement, and HR to SAP's HANA Enterprise Cloud. DSB expects benefits like scalability, flexibility and reducing the number of consultants needed to manage its complex IT solutions. The transition to cloud is one part of DSB's effort to modernize its IT for a more digital workplace.

1. It is in this SAP data center near Walldorf that DSB will now have their data. Photo: SAP.
Giant cloud-bet at DSB: Moves data to SAP and Microsoft
DSB is in the process of vigorously consolidating the number of applications to modernize their entire IT
environment. This means, among other things, an investment in cloud services from SAP and Microsoft.
September 16, 2014 at. 13.55
Kim Stensdal Technology Editor, Twitter: @kimstensdal
A digital workplace.
The three words are repeated again and again all the time at DSB, who is in full swing modernizing their IT
solutions in order to get a modern and digital workplace.
One of the more attention-grabbing decisions is that DSB banks on SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud, which
provides access to applications and data-processing via subscription.
"We've chosen to go into the cloud with them. It gives us the scalability and flexibility, that we would like to
have, and you pay for what you use," says DSB CIO Martin Börjesson to Computerworld.
DSB has been using SAP's solutions for accounting, HR, procurement and a number of other areas since
1996-97.

2. Too many consultants
It is often large and complex solutions, we are talking about, and the number of consultants who have been
engaged and paid has been significant, explains Martin Börjesson.
"We have in the ruff numbers used 50 different consulting agencies, and it is then not good enough, when
we might not have been enough internally to get the processes and systems to run optimally."
Last year a major analysis at DSB showed that there was a need for a new approach to IT. Among other
things in order to be able to get a common approach to business processes throughout DSB, which consists
of several different companies. Consequently, a plan for the future was created:
"One common approach, one set of data. With that conclusion it was obvious we had to do something
radically different. So the setup from 1996, we could not use to achieve what we wanted in the future."
Photo: DSB
BLACK BOX: "We are talking the whole suite. The entire HEC (HANA Enterprise Cloud), Business Warehouse
and Solution Manager run directly from Germany. "
Facts about DSB:
There are 145 employees in the IT department at DSB, and the company is right now searching for 15
additional employees hereof 5 solution architects.
DSB is an independent State-owned company. DSB´s annual turnover is 10 billion dollars.

3. DSB has been operating trains in Denmark since 1847.
Approximately 500,000 customers are traveling with DSB every day.
DSB has 7,807 employees.
Source: DSB
Many benefits - but also challenges
DSB began therefore to examine whether the future IT solutions of the company should be traditional, local
IT solutions or whether to go for a cloud setup.
"We are working very closely with SAP, and in this regard, we considered that it was the right time for us to
adopt the HANA-technology. Then you could choose whether you wanted an on premise solution or a
cloud-based solution", explains Martin Börjesson.
DSB ended up choosing a private cloud solution from SAP, and it is physically located in SAP's own data
center close to Walldorf in Germany.
"We are talking the whole suite. The entire HEC (HANA Enterprise Cloud), Business Warehouse and Solution
Manager run directly from Germany" says Martin Börjesson.
Consequently, finance (accounting and controlling), procurement, maintenance and personnel data now
run from the SAP cloud.
And SAP is not the only cloud provider at DSB. Also Microsoft Office 365 is already in use.
Martin Börjesson explains that there are many benefits of cloud, such as scalability and flexibility – but that
the cloud model also leads to challenges.
"When they (Microsoft, ed.) update the systems, we do not have liberty to say no to updates". He adds that
DSB with the SAP HEC-solution has the possibility to say no to new updates and instead wait until the
organization is ready for rollout.
"We talk a lot about how you build up a function for multi-sourcing service. Somebody will have to take
care of all the suppliers, which today is actually only NNIT", says the IT Manager about the discussions they
have at DSB.

4. SAP's data center near the town of Walldorf in Germany.
BLACK TEXT BOX:
"Now we come into the next phase, where the trend is that you start to look at your entire portfolio".

5. Servers in SAP's data center. Photo: SAP
Applications must be consolidated
DSB still also have local systems for ticket handling, drive time scheduling, staff scheduling and availability
of train sets.
"But we are right now running a complete application overhaul. We started with more than 300
applications, and have assessed them on technical value and business value, and have found out that we
should probably halve our application portfolio within a few years. "
There are many reasons why this need has arisen, explains Martin Börjesson.
"We have had a very unstable environment where many systems have had the same function. It goes
without saying that we will have to do something about that".
"Many of these systems are outdated and not adapted to the future. We should not just have stable
running systems running stable - we also need systems that can meet our digitalization process".

6. "The whole engine room is to be fine-tuned and updated to handle the development towards internet-on-
time."
Martin Börjesson was previously Development Director at Vestas in Randers and was appointed IT Manager
at DSB a year and a half ago. When describing DSBs future he says:
"I still believe that we are going to have a bit locally, but I can imagine that the majority will be cloud-
based."
"Our first phase of cloud was very CRM related, but now we come into the next phase, where the trend is
that we start to look at our entire portfolio".
"It may be that there are some things that we don't want in the cloud, but I have not seen any concrete
arguments as to why one should not be able to handle customer inquiries in the cloud for example".
Cloud may seem abstract, but in reality it is still a data center operating the solutions.
BLACK TEXTBOX: "I've been to Germany, and it looks very smart. In fact, it is just another data center
with some servers trying to divide the capacity in a smart way. "

7. It's really just a data center
In those areas where cloud delivery is extra important for DSB, dedicated lines are established excluding
delivery via the general internet.
Martin Börjesson believes that many of the concerns that are typically raised regarding cloud computing, is
based on a somewhat thin foundation.
"There are many who are afraid of the cloud, because it is so abstract. But I have been in Germany, and it
looks very smart. In fact, it is just another data center with some servers trying to divide the capacity in a
smart way".
DSB now has the first systems running in SAP's cloud, and in January go live is planned with the productive
environments from the cloud.