Secure, Agile Data Network for SAP platform
Cryptic Connections: Unveiling the Agile Magic Behind SAP Data Networks | Case Study
The project’s core objective was integrating the SAP System with existing applications, enhancing overall operations, and establishing a unified network infrastructure. Emphasis was on security, high availability, and seamless connectivity among diverse application blocks. The setup included Production, OAT, and DR environments, which are vital for testing and scalability across the EMEA region.
SAP, synonymous with Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing, represents both ERP software and the renowned German scalable database. In the realm of critical applications in the Enterprise Business Environment, what becomes pivotal for successful implementation?
Client
Environment
Objective
We were required to provide stable, secure and resilient data network infrastructure for SAP application deployment. Enable communication within the Data Center with an array of services as well as Internet Facing and wide range of remote locations in the EMEA region.
Core Objectives:
- Deploy a secure and simple solution
- Centralise, unify and automate as much as possible
- Standardise so it is easier to Manage and Support
- Split the deployment into much smaller integrations over large, more complex ones
What was done
SAP system is quite complex application as it has to integrate with other critical services within the organisation. Data Network is a platform that connects all the key components.
As Enterprise businesses heavily depend on SAP, the whole finance structure is usually delivered by SAP, and even short outages would be disastrous to the operations. We had to develop a bulletproof design to provide security and high availability for the entire EMEA region.
Key requirements on network infrastructure:
- Security: SAP uses an array of ports that must be filtered and allowed by the firewalls. Integrations with other applications and different environments had to be well planned to achieve communication: Production, OAT and DR.
- Encryption – to achieve better security, traffic was encrypted even within the Data Center and only decrypted at the hardware layer before entering the end server. This is to enhance performance, security and IPS inspection.
- Load-balancing – for high-availability traffic is load-balanced to a farm of servers.
- Users had to be authenticated, authorised and prove their identities.
- Block segmentation: this has been achieved by using dedicated Vlans and VRFs to segment the traffic between applications, users, databases and services, as well as Internet Facing traffic
- Network infrastructure has been fine-tuned and optimised for agility purposes to achieve the best performance.
Achievement
The client’s significant investment in SAP architecture paid off through seamless deployment, accomplished on time and within budget. Streamlining processes, SAP integration added substantial value to financial operations, benefiting over 1,500 daily users and saving the business millions annually.
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