Grenke AG

Freedom and flexibility thanks to a new SD-WAN network

Gerhard Lang

Team leader for IT customer infrastructure management

GRENKE AG is an international financial services provider with a focus on leasing, factoring and banking services for small and medium-sized enterprises. Since 1978, GRENKE has supported entrepreneurial growth with flexible financing solutions and offers individual advice at over 140 locations worldwide. The combination of digital efficiency and personal proximity makes GRENKE a strong partner for SMEs. The aim is to create financial freedom so that companies can realize their ideas. It stands for quick decisions, transparent processes and cooperation based on partnership.

SD-WAN instead of standstill

How RIEDEL Networks helped GRENKE achieve greater agility and efficiency

Are there IT projects without surprises? I doubt it. If you think otherwise, you may not have been in the business long enough. But even unpleasant surprises can be overcome. A reliable partner with excellent solutions ensures that your project doesn't come to a standstill, no matter what happens. I have been the team leader for IT customer infrastructure management at GRENKE digital for five years now. GRENKE digital takes care of IT support within Grenke AG, a German financing partner that offers its customers leasing, banking and invoice factoring. I'm there for all GRENKE employees, and that's over 1,900 people in 33 countries. These are our customers. With a five-person IT team, we take care of the planning, installation and support of the respective local infrastructure of these employees, from PCs to printers, servers, network cabinets and much more. As soon as someone at GRENKE needs help with the infrastructure, we are there - of course with the support of our 120 IT colleagues in the areas of first-level support, data centers, networks, messaging, software development and deployment.

Another aspect of my job is collecting and implementing feedback. The global IT infrastructure is constantly changing, especially in the course of GRENKE's growth. As a result, you naturally get to know almost all the problem areas in Support. However, one that came up particularly often was our slow branch network.

The bottleneck of our global MPLS WAN

For years, MPLS-WAN was the right solution for GRENKE, but problems crept in. The general consensus among colleagues was: "It justdoesn't work." Employees working from home told us that even the internet connection at home was faster than the one in the office, and that they could comfortably make a coffee while waiting for an app to open. The distances between our global offices made it even more difficult.

Our system was too slow, too expensive and too inflexible to allow customization at a granular level. The problems became very apparent at the end of the month when the sales teams were working overtime to update contracts, check figures and produce financial reports. Sales is at the forefront of our business, so the sluggish network was a real drag on efficient, smooth selling. It caused operational delays and frustration among employees. Bad for business, bad for IT.

"A modern business needs flexibility, speed, reliability, and cost efficiency to expand sustainably."

Together with network and security experts, my team set about analyzing the causes. To do this, we identified the requirements of all stakeholders and users of the global company as well as all the problem areas and obstacles they could encounter. The result was clear:

GRENKE's network was slow.
The loading times were unacceptably long.
There was virtually no flexibility.

Our vendor at the time was charging astronomically high prices for an outdated MPLS WAN, and the installation time and cost to increase speed would have blown our budget. We came to the conclusion that a traditional WAN network would no longer serve us. As a modern company, you need flexibility, speed, reliability and cost efficiency to grow sustainably, and the technology you choose often determines the commercial success or failure of a business. At GRENKE, the decision was made to switch to SD-WAN in order to work more agilely and cost-efficiently. We conducted a market analysis of SD-WAN vendors that would fit our business approach.

We needed SD-WAN to increase our agility

SD-WAN technology offers numerous options for configuring an Internet connection. Multiple data paths can be aggregated or connections can be precisely customized according to user requirements. This would give us outstanding flexibility for our distributed global locations while saving time, money and effort by only using what is actually needed. Another big advantage is the ability to set up rules for network traffic. With SD-WAN, traffic can be categorized and prioritized to avoid bottlenecks like the one we have at the end of the month.

Once the decision for SD-WAN was made, our IT consultants suggested several providers of SD-WAN migration packages. We compared price, features and team spirit, and RIEDEL was the right team for the job. With global networking expertise in numerous countries and highly skilled technicians in their German service center, RIEDEL could guarantee that all support needs would be met regardless of time or language. The offer included managed services, including a "set and forget" concept. We liked that. Right from the start, RIEDEL and GRENKE were always on the same current project status, and RIEDEL ensured that a dedicated technician accompanied the entire deployment on our premises.

We were back on track, although - as mentioned above - there are always surprises in store.

Supply chain disruptions threatened to upend our plans

Tailored to our different locations and branch sizes, GRENKE created an optimal, cost-efficient migration plan with different setup categories: Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Copper. Our main branch in Baden was the first to receive Platinum status (the most extensive setup), while smaller or more remote locations were classified and prioritized accordingly. In some countries, installation by the providers took up to eight weeks, while in others, including Germany, it took four weeks or less.

Deployment officially began in 2021, but disrupted supply chains due to the pandemic led to a chip shortage in our Cisco SD-WAN equipment. Suddenly, our order was one in a million and we had no idea when it would be fulfilled. As a result, we had to adjust the order in which we migrated our branches according to the availability of the equipment we needed. Our larger sites with more SD-WAN components and more complex configurations suffered delays of over six months in some cases.

But RIEDEL did not leave us alone with the problem. On the contrary: they came up with a solution. RIEDEL offered us used equipment that they still had in stock - an interim solution until the ordered equipment was delivered by Cisco. We were happy to accept this proposal, as it allowed us to stay on schedule regardless of the supply chain issues. In September 2022, the entire project was already 90% complete.

Realizing the benefits of SD-WAN

We have benefited enormously from SD-WAN. In just one year, our infrastructure costs have fallen by 25%. We can also customize the configuration of our global network to meet the needs of individual sites, increasing connection speeds for everyone. We no longer spend money on unnecessary equipment, and the built-in flexibility of RIEDEL's SD-WAN makes it easy to scale up or down as needed.

Last but not least, we have gained time. Because RIEDEL takes care of the monitoring and configuration of our SD-WAN network, we at GRENKE digital can concentrate fully on the sales business. The freedom of choice and flexibility of a good solution are really worth their weight in gold for us.

RIEDEL's considered and unagitated, professional approach has helped to fundamentally transform GRENKE's internal processes so that we - and our IT - can now act with greater agility and speed. I and my team know that we can always count on RIEDEL and feel really relieved with this strong partner.

Partners who share the same spirit

I think a lot of this success can be attributed to our very similar mindset. GRENKE may be globally active and listed on the stock exchange, but it is still a family business at heart. And we want to preserve this by always remaining human at work. We have had this in common with RIEDEL from the very beginning of our partnership. Thanks to personal support and direct communication, all technical problems are solved quickly.

Our technicians use a fixed communication channel with RIEDEL's German branch, whose employees impress us every time with their commitment and quality standards. From the managers to the expert technicians, we feel that we receive perfect support from everyone. Anyone who has a lot to do with IT may be familiar with the endless support queues and can understand how valuable personal support is. And despite the unpleasant surprises with the equipment and a rollout that had to be carried out completely remotely at the height of the pandemic, our networking project was ultimately a great success thanks to RIEDEL. Today, we are convinced of RIEDEL's expertise and quality standards.

"Authenticity matters, and is the basis of a strong partnership."

At the first face-to-face meeting with the team at the end of the migration, I realized that our gut feeling had been right. Whether in technical meetings, when concluding contract negotiations or during small talk over lunch: everyone was really who they said they were on the phone or screen. This authenticity counts, and it is the basis for a good partnership.

If you are looking for an IT partner with whom you can stick together through thick and thin, you should rely on your gut feeling. Look for someone who ticks just like you and follow your instincts. Or save yourself the trouble and go straight to RIEDEL Networks.

Marcel Kühn-1

Technologische Impulse, Flexibilität und Skalierbarkeit

„Wir waren auf der Suche nach einem Partner, der uns kompetent und auf Augenhöhe berät und eine zuverlässige Netzwerkanbindung, selbst in ländlichen Regionen, gewährleistet. In Riedel Networks haben wir diesen Partner gefunden. Die Partnerschaft zeichnet sich durch technologische Impulse, Flexibilität und Skalierbarkeit aus, was die Zusammenarbeit auf allen Ebenen – von der Führung bis zur Fachkraft – besonders wertvoll macht.“

gedore

Marcel Kühn, CISO & Teamleiter Global IT Infrastruktur bei Gedore

Thomas Schroeder

Ein flexibler Partner für ein komplexes Projekt

"Dadurch, dass die Zusammenarbeit mit einem so professionellen und flexiblen Partner vieles vereinfacht hat, konnten wir Kosten einsparen. Die Partnerschaft mit Riedel Networks, vom Account-Management bis zur technischen Beratung, hat sich für Kyocera Document Solutions Europe ein ums andere Mal als äußerst wertvoll erwiesen."

Thomas Schroeder, Manager IT Operations Management bei KYOCERA Document Solutions Europe B.V.

Tobias_Dölder

Eine privilegierte Partnerschaft

"Dank Riedel Networks verfügt Faller Packaging heute über ein modernes, vollständig redundantes, hochtransparentes und hochverfügbares SD-WAN-Netzwerk, das unsere sieben europäischen Niederlassungen und 1.300 Mitarbeiter verbindet. Mein IT-Team hat den idealen Partner gefunden, der eine einwandfreie Netzwerkfunktion garantiert."

Tobias Dölder, Head IT-Systems, Faller Packaging

Wir fanden den perfekten Partner

"Die IT ist das Rückgrat jeder Organisation. Das gilt besonders für die Medizin, wo Fehler teuer werden können. Riedel hat sich als exzellenter Partner erwiesen, und die Entscheidung für ein verwaltetes Netzwerk war in jeder Hinsicht gut und richtig."

Torsten Emmanuel, Chief Information Officer, ATOS Kliniken

Innovative Kommunikationslösungen mit Riedel Networks

"Mit dem richtigen Partner im Geschäft – und im Leben – sind auch die größten Hindernisse überwindbar. Riedel hat sich als der richtige Partner erwiesen, nicht nur bei der Entwicklung, sondern auch für alle unterstützenden Prozesse. Die Gewissheit, ein verlässliches Netzwerk und einen zuverlässigen Partner zu haben, sind für mich unbezahlbar."

John Steeghs, Senior Manager Team Management and Logistics at TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Europe GmbH

Linus Linder

Unser SD-WAN läuft perfekt!

„Unser SD-WAN läuft perfekt und wir haben seit der Umstellung (auf RIEDEL Networks) von unserem MPLS keinen einzigen Ausfall gehabt. Das Unternehmen hat in unserem Namen neue Vereinbarungen mit unseren Last-Mile-Anbietern verhandelt und uns geholfen, unnötige Telekommunikationskosten einzusparen. Dieses eingesparte Geld reinvestieren wir in Managed Services. Mit denselben Ausgaben erreichen wir also deutlich mehr."

Linus Linder, Head of IT at Müller - Die lila Logistik AG

Riedel verbindet für uns zwei Welten: Broadcast und IT.

"Wenn es um die Übertragung eines erstklassigen Events wie der Formel 1 geht, ist eine starke und verlässliche Partnerschaft ein absolutes Muss. Wir arbeiten schon seit vielen Jahren mit Riedels RiLink zusammen. Sobald das Glasfaserkabel mit unserer Produktionseinheit verbunden ist, wachen alle Systeme auf, verbinden sich sofort mit ihren Hosts und beginnen, Dateien oder Nachrichten zu senden."

Friedrich Behringer, Technical Operations Manager, RTL NEWS