“With Swisscom as our IT partner, we were able to make a smooth transition to the cloud”

Staff at the headquarters of Coop Mineraloel AG are kept very busy. The company operates a nationwide network of approximately 330 petrol stations and Pronto shops and has a significant market share in Switzerland. It is therefore essential that its IT systems function perfectly at all times. However, the company suddenly found itself facing an unexpected crisis: it had to withdraw its SAP and non-SAP systems from its existing provider and transfer them to a new solution. “We were in a real emergency in which we had to act quickly,” explains Pierre Das, IT Project Manager & Line Manager and Head of the SAP Competence Centre at Coop Mineraloel AG. The new situation not only called for the rapid and seamless transfer of the systems into a new environment, but business operations also had to be guaranteed at all times throughout the transition. The solution? A strategic partnership with Swisscom. “For us, it was very important that our new partner was not only extremely competent, but also thought in the same way as we do. And Swisscom fitted the bill,” Das stresses.

There was one clear goal from the very outset of the partnership: to migrate the systems to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud in Stockholm within a very short, four-month timeframe without customers noticing any interruption to business operations. This was particularly crucial for the heating oil shop, which had to remain available constantly. Coop Mineraloel AG was also keen for the infrastructure of the new solution to be separated from the related support. “The infrastructure is provided by a specialist (AWS), while Swisscom looks after all the technical requirements associated with AWS,” Das explains. This gives the company greater flexibility. 

It was undoubtedly an ambitious project, given that  Coop Mineraloel AG’s petrol stations and shops of are open seven days a week. That left just a small window of a few hours at night and in the early morning to work on the systems. Pierre Das explains: “We were able to plan the interruptions in such a way that our daily business was never affected by the cutover.”

The project countdown began on 26 July 2023 with the goal of migrating all the systems by the end of November. The company also wanted to guarantee both its customers and its employees trouble-free business operation during the switch. Throughout the process, Swisscom proved itself to be a valuable and flexible partner. With its comprehensive, end-to-end services and seamless integration into the AWS platform, it offered more than just technical expertise. Its team of project managers also always kept their cool, even in the most critical stages of the project. 

“Following an exploratory phase in which the respective needs were clarified, we were able to put together a very good new IT operations team in a short space of time,” Das says, adding: “We felt that we were a very good fit with Swisscom.” The first system was migrated 1:1 to the AWS cloud in the first week of October and the last one was transferred in late November. “The decision to collaborate with Swisscom paid off in every way,” Das says.

Pierre Das was pleasantly surprised by the successful go-live on the 27th and 28th of November 2023, as the system was up and running with remarkable speed and stability. Overall performance has also improved significantly, as has been confirmed by his staff. What’s more, the AWS platform not only offers stability and versatility, but also enables new software solutions to be implemented quickly and flexibly. This provides the company with many advantages, including lower maintenance costs, higher security standards and access to innovative technologies.

Thanks to the PAYGO model, Coop Mineraloel AG now benefits from the flexibility to scale its cloud resources according to its needs without having to tether itself to fixed contractual terms or expensive up-front investment. This approach enables the company to adapt its server capacities quickly to changing demand. AWS also offers rapid and simple adjustment of the database size. This gives the company significantly greater agility compared to the previous situation.

The successful cooperation with Swisscom and use of the AWS cloud impressively shows how an intelligent partnership and innovative technologies can help a company prepare for the future. At a time when speed of response and professional support are paramount, Coop Mineraloel AG has turned a necessity into a virtue. The collaboration between the customer and the partner was crucial to meeting the challenges and finding a solution for Coop Mineraloel AG’s systems. Effective teamwork made it possible for Swisscom’s resources and specialist expertise, as well as the innovative technology of its partner, AWS, to be deployed optimally in order to develop a solution that would meet the company’s current requirements as well as being future-proof.