The defense company Hensoldt, which emerged from Airbus Defence and Space for sensor technology in 2017, used the established IBM FileNet P8 software solution for data and document archiving. However, they were not very satisfied with it because the solution is not only maintenance-intensive, but also expensive.

Thomas Holzmann is an SAP Basic Administrator at Hensoldt and no longer wanted to accept this unsatisfactory situation. “IBM FileNet P8 was a kind of black box for us. When problems arose, there were huge delays in resolving them, because in many cases not only our provider but also FileNet experts had to be involved. ”

Lean archiving

An order of 2 terabytes of ERP data and 6 terabytes of PLM data had to be managed and archived — primarily SAP documents and product-related documents and files. Holzmann was convinced that there must be different and better options for archiving than IBM FileNet P8 — ideally a highly integrated solution that makes an intermediate level for archiving superfluous. In conversation with his provider Datagroup, he got to know the intelligent archiving tools from KGS Software GmbH. “Their approach and solutions convinced us from the very beginning, for various reasons. On the one hand because of the portfolio, the price and the transparency and on the other hand because it is a solution that is transparently integrated into our ERP system. ”

When comparing the goals defined by Holzmann in the specifications, it was not only the functions of the kgs Tools that were convincing, but also the software manufacturer's many years of SAP expertise. “Since our archiving only concerns SAP, the SAP partnership of kgs and the fact that it is a fully integrated solution in SAP were, of course, compelling arguments,” recalls Holzmann, who was involved in the decision-making process together with a project manager and an archiving manager. But he and his colleagues were particularly impressed by the price. Holzmann: “The cost ratio was 1:10 — i.e. archiving with IBM FileNet P8 cost us ten times the kgs solution. ”

The KGS moment

In December 2018, they reviewed the kgs concept and decided to introduce the tia® Document Router, tia® Content Server and tia® Migration in January 2019. Preparation and implementation began in March 2019. At the beginning of July, the intelligent archiving solution tia® from kgs went live — initially six months in parallel with FileNet operation. “We had previously agreed on a PoC (proof of concept) which — in addition to the technical test — presented itself to us like training, in which we learned completely transparently and very clearly from the kgs consultants how we can work with the tools ourselves,” says the SAP Basis Administrator. They were very impressed by the simplicity, transparency and focus on the essentials. After the start of the migration, all data and documents — a total of 8 terabytes — had been migrated to tia® within two weeks for the ErP-relevant data and another 3-4 weeks for the PLM-relevant data.

“The migration was my personal KGS moment,” Holzmann admits. “The move from IBM FileNet P8 to kgs in this short period of time really blew me away. I did not expect anything like this.” He considers this migration project to be transparent, comprehensible and very well documented, for which the IT management also received praise and recognition. “We also received final documentation that is tailored to audits by auditors and therefore gives us certainty on this page as well. ”

New kgs projects

Following this positive experience with the introduction of kgs tia® archiving at Hensoldt Sensors, Holzmann could imagine rolling out KGS across the Group and also introducing it to sister company Hensoldt Optronics. “Although we at Hensoldt Sensors have primarily archived ERP and PLM data so far, and the other areas of the company would involve SAP business warehouse data in addition to ERP files, I am convinced that there are also major effects here,” estimates Thomas Holzmann.

He would definitely recommend kgs — and not just internally. “Archiving from kgs provides exactly what you need. Sleek and effective. The solution is easy to use, for maximum transparency and you can maintain the system yourself and no longer need an external service provider,” says the IT administrator.