Sweetening Südzucker’s Business Operations with a Unified Data Platform

The snapshot

About the Customer 

Südzucker, the largest sugar producer in Europe, has a history dating back to 1926 and employs over 19,000 people globally. They produce sugar, food products, animal feed, and bioethanol. 

The Challenge 

Südzucker wanted to enlarge their existing internal analytics portfolio, which was mainly driven by BI reporting solutions. There was a need to integrate various internal and especially external data sources to improve internal processes and offer new services to customers. However, their data was distributed across numerous systems, which complicated access and utilization.

The Goal 

Südzucker needed a central platform to address emerging demands related to accessibility and utilization of their data in a more expansive manner. This would allow them to quickly build new data-driven services in a scalable and governed way and support the transition of the existing reporting environment to a cloud-native tool stack according to the group strategy. 

The Solution 

Devoteam built a custom data platform for Südzucker using Google Cloud’s BigQuery. This platform combines data from various sources, including SAP, Oracle, Salesforce, various external / SaaS APIs, and SharePoint.  

Key features:

• Automated data updates: The platform automatically collects and updates data from various sources. 
• Easy to add new data: New tables can be ingested without writing any code. 
• Organised data: The platform organises data into multiple layers for staging, history, and specific use cases. 
• Secure and reliable: The platform includes monitoring, alerting, and access control to ensure data quality and security. 

Technology:

• BigQuery and Cloud Storage for data storage. 
• Microservices-based architecture using Google Cloud managed services -> Cloud Run Jobs, Cloud Functions, Cloud Workflows and Cloud Scheduler. 
• Security by leveraging IAM, WIF, VPC Service Controls, and Secret Manager. 

The Methodology 

Devoteam took a structured and collaborative approach to building Südzucker’s data platform: 

1. Design and Planning: They started with a comprehensive design phase, working closely with Südzucker to understand their needs and create a platform architecture that met those requirements. 

2. Agile Implementation: Using an agile methodology, the platform was built in incremental steps and continuously adapted to Südzucker’s feedback. 

3. Prioritising Use Cases: They focused on Südzucker’s most important use cases first, ensuring that the platform delivered immediate value. 

4. Automation and Best Practices: Devoteam automated many aspects of the platform, such as data ingestion and updates, and followed best practices for data management, security, and reliability (Automation, CI/CD, IaC, Alerting, Monitoring). 

5. Integration with Existing Tools: They integrated the new platform with Südzucker’s existing tools, such as SAP Data Intelligence and SAP Analytics Cloud, to maximise efficiency and minimise disruption.

The Result