What EDEKA Südwest lacked with regard to the further digital development of its retail business was, first of all, IT transparency. Much of the data relevant to Service Management still resides in distributed inventories and continues to be maintained manually ─ for example, software license and serial numbers via Excel spreadsheets. “It was high time that we created a solid basis for centralized automated data collection and information provision. Only with this transparency can we make our IT Service Management more efficient quickly and consistently,” says Thomas Fesenmeier, Head of Service Management EH & GH in Edeka Südwest’s IT department.
After sounding out the market, EDEKA Südwest opted for comprehensive data collection with a CMDB by REALTECH. “The technical basis of the software is excellent,” continues Fesenmeier. EDEKA Südwest identified the easy technical connection, the well thought-out structure, and the options for recording and managing site information in a simple and clearly differentiated manner as particular strengths. Positive practical experience at the IT subsidiary Lunar had already shown this.
It is integrated into a REALTECH theGuard! solution for Service Management. “The picture of our system landscape will quickly become complete. Especially in IT support, we will have the answers and solutions to questions and urgent concerns much more quickly at hand,” reports Thomas Fesenmeier. Whether it’s license management (Which software is in which market?), optimized error analysis in support (Which devices cause the same problems again and again?) or the billing process (Which devices are still in maintenance? For which devices do repairs still have to be paid for?). The gain in transparency improves service work, speeds up processes and simplifies investment planning for new devices.
The implementation of the CMDB went smoothly and quickly. At the push of a button, around 80 percent of the software and hardware elements used in the approximately 1,300 stores could now be automatically identified by scan and inventoried centrally. Cash registers, scales, mobile data entry devices (MDEs), displays, reverse vending machines … in short, all devices that can be accessed via IPs are consistently mapped in REALTECH’s CMDB. In total, this amounts to around 135,000 configuration items (CIs). Next on the to-do list were the wholesale clients, servers, networks, and access points (APs) – another 25,000 CIs. The next step will now be the data centers.
The optimized billing and support processes in IT already prove it today: There are currently no more manual invoices, and all necessary investments can be calculated at the push of a button for conversion or new construction projects of stores. Thanks to the centralized, structured information in the CMDB, the complete lifecycle management of IT elements can also be mapped and easily managed. Thomas Fesenmeier is optimistic about the next digitization steps: “Better data and information, more efficient services and more transparency. We are well on our way ─ also thanks to CMBD from REALTECH”.
EDEKA Südwest
With modern and sustainable stores, the cooperative entrepreneurial company EDEKA sets the standards in food retailing throughout Germany. EDEKA Südwest is the second largest of seven EDEKA regional companies. Its sales area extends across Baden-Wuerttemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland to the southern part of Hesse and neighboring parts of Bavaria. Since 1927, the original 17 cooperative members have grown to over 500 with around 1,000 stores.
With REALTECH’s CMDB, we are taking our IT Service Management to a new level. At the same time, we have created an essential prerequisite for rapid and efficient digitization.
Thomas Fesenmeier, Head of Service Management EH & GH in EDEKA Südwest’s IT division
