Success Story

Everything in view with AT+C VM.7

DCIM at the REWE Group

All components always in view

REWE relies on DCIM from AT+C EDV GmbH

With a turnover of more than 75 billion euros, the REWE Group is one of the leading retail and tourism groups in Europe. The basis for this success is formed by powerful IT and communication structures - this is precisely what REWE Systems GmbH provides as the central solution provider for the REWE Group. The company plans, designs, develops, configures and operates efficient systems and applications. Around 1,300 IT specialists set standards for the use of IT in retail every day and develop new technologies for the industry.

Moving the digital world of the REWE Group - this means constantly supplying more than 80 logistics centers, 100 wide area network lines and more than 23,000 local network connections with data via the 26,000 scanner checkouts in more than 7,500 stores. The logistics systems used for this purpose deliver more than 10 million data records back to the REWE Systems systems every day so that their experts can organize the replenishment of goods on time and overnight.

The challenge: Documentation of complex structures  

In order to modernize the IT structures that have grown over the years and in particular to document the hardware and cabling in the data centers, the company began looking for a suitable tool for DCIM. The aim was to find a solution that would allow the cabling and the hardware as well as the data center area down to the individual racks to be documented. Based on this, the rack utilization itself should also be able to be controlled.

After a tender and subsequent evaluation, REWE Systems opted for the AT+C Connection Manager VM.7, a modern DCIM solution from AT+C EDV GmbH. As comprehensive information and planning software for networks, building cabling, cable management and the associated network documentation of all IT components, the solution combines the geographical order of a building plan with the logical structure of a database. From the beginning, we wanted to equip our data centers with hardware ourselves, document everything and be responsible for everything that happens in our data centers, instead of always needing a service provider for all of this, says Marcel Schleuthner, Product Owner Datacenter Infrastructure, REWE Systems. The tests showed us that the tool is extremely flexible and that we can adapt everything ourselves. We were completely convinced by the graphical interface, because we wanted to be able to depict the data center areas graphically in CAD.

The solution: combine database and CAD application

The starting signal was a three-day training course by the AT+C experts. Marcel Schleuthner's team already began to document the productive environment. For example, floor panels were taken from existing CAD drawings and cabinets were placed. In this short time, we had already laid the foundation and were then ready to equip the cabinets with the hardware and the corresponding cabling, says Marcel Schleuthner happily, adding: After the initial filling, we were able to add all the other components ourselves. The tool has been integrated into our daily routine from day one. We have even adapted it to the extent that we also record our smart power rails. We query these via the SNMP interface and can thus determine how much energy is being consumed in the rack. The solution then visualizes this consumption and we can use this as a basis to distribute energy consumption according to the person who caused it. The AT+C connection manager VM.7 can also save such queries periodically in the database. Together with functions for summation and allocation, this forms the basis for, for example, breaking down the electricity consumption costs for the different departments.

Results: Complex relationships presented in a simple way

The software has now been in use at REWE Systems for several years. The processes in the data centers have been significantly optimized, and you can see at a glance: what is the inventory, what is the rack and energy utilization. Inventorying is also very easy to map. We even built a new data center. Before it was even built, we were able to document it in the software. We had a basic stock of components and cabling and were able to recreate the entire data center with very little effort. It is really great fun to start the documentation right from scratch, summarizes Marcel Schleuthner. At the push of a button, you can now see which device is installed in which cabinet and which data center. There is no need to go to the data center itself - which saves a lot of time for all employees. Marcel Schleuthner adds: With this documentation of the hardware as a basis, we are well equipped as a provider of critical infrastructures, especially for all the certifications that a company like ours has to go through.

The application has become an integral part of REWE Systems GmbH's data center infrastructures. Thanks to the solution, we have achieved a new level of transparency, efficiency and time savings. We not only value the functionality of the solution itself, but also the trusting cooperation with AT+C. Suggestions from us that arise from daily use are happily implemented at AT+C. We are therefore continuing to rely on the DCIM solution and are already thinking about broadening the scope of the software, i.e. rolling it out to our REWE Group warehouse and logistics locations, summarizes Marcel Schleuthner.

In addition, Marcel Schleuthner's team wants to use the software even more to automate processes and, for example, provide data from the active components in VM.7. The user no longer has to open different applications and query data, but instead receives the desired information via a central platform.

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Image source: REWE Group