Next-generation cloud service

SHD AG, an international IT company headquartered in Andernach, Germany, has been a leading provider of IT solutions for the furniture and kitchen industries for almost 40 years. More than 100,000 users rely on SHD’s wide range of industry-leading ERP applications and planning tools.

In Germany, 75% of the top furniture retailers use SHD solutions and one in every two kitchens is planned using SHD software. Complementing its Software–as–a–Service (SaaS) and on–premises software portfolio, SHD also offers comprehensive IT outsourcing services to more than 600 of its customers through its SHD Technologie und Service GmbH subsidiary. SHD has more than 600 employees and generates annual revenues of EUR 74.2 million.

Challenge

Providing a perfect customer experience is key to building a trusted relationship when selling furniture and kitchens. Planning a kitchen can be a tricky, highly personal task, so sellers want to avoid any unnecessary distraction—they require tools that are easy and just work. It can be very difficult for small specialist retailers to attract and retain the qualified IT talent needed to run modern business services reliably. Stephan Röder, Executive Director and Head of Sales and Organization at SHD Technologie und Service GmbH, says: “Many smaller companies do not have big in–house IT teams. Every day, we hear from customers about how difficult and expensive it is to find IT staff. They want to accelerate and modernize their IT processes to promote growth and business development. That’s where we come in. To make life easier for customers, we are building on our extensive industry experience and expanding our cloud and managed services offering.”

With SHD’s cloud business already having grown steadily in recent years, the company realized that its current IT infrastructure could no longer be extended easily within its existing data center. “To efficiently scale our cloud services, we needed to achieve higher workload density, move to a more consolidated architecture, and also improve energy efficiency to support an even more sustainable Green IT strategy,” confirms Röder.

Why Lenovo? Reliability, scalability, and fast, flexible service.

As an IT solution and service provider, SHD has a long–standing relationship with Lenovo. The company is a Lenovo Data Center Platinum Partner as well as a Lenovo PC Gold Partner. “As a business, we are fully committed to Lenovo solutions,” confirms Röder. “For our own infrastructure and our customers—on–premises and as managed service—we only work with Lenovo. We always aim for the best, and that’s exactly what Lenovo delivers.”

However, the company was looking for a more modular, flexible, and cost–efficient solution architecture. To replace its traditional server and storage systems, SHD chose Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series, a software–defined infrastructure solution. The hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) from Lenovo and VMware combines high–quality hardware components with far–reaching customization capabilities, thorough compatibility testing, and quick delivery.

Röder recalls: “We discussed several options with the Lenovo specialists. Together, we selected optimized configurations that offered the performance and density we need while facilitating cost–effective licensing and emphasizing our Green IT ambitions. Lenovo managed the verification and technical approval of our customized solution seamlessly and fast.”