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AVEBE GETS THE MOST OUT OF POTATOES AND SAP THANKS TO CTAC'S RELIABLE MANAGEMENT

Potatoes are not only delicious – they are also packed with useful nutrients. Royal Avebe knows this like no other. Avebe uses SAP systems to get the most out of its potatoes. Ctac supports the company with hosting services and the technical management of its SAP landscape.

Avebe is a cooperative of starch potato growers. The company uses innovative techniques to extract as many usable nutrients and components from potatoes as possible, such as starch and proteins. These are then used in food, animal feed and industrial applications such as paper, textiles and adhesives. Avebe relies on SAP to keep these processes on track.

The challenge: No SAP management concerns

Avebe’s main administrative business processes run on SAP ECC. Consequently, it is extremely important that SAP never fails. Good hosting and technical management of the SAP landscape are essential. Avebe ICT Director Gijs Bleeker and Functional Application Support Manager Tom Wassink explain how Ctac helps them achieve this.

Bleeker: “Before 2011, another company looked after our hosting and technical SAP management. We felt like we were just a number to them, and we didn’t get the service we were looking for. We also wanted more flexible costs that would adapt to our usage. We didn’t want to have to worry about anything to do with hosting or technical application management.”

The solution: flexibility and stability in hosting and
technical application management

Bleeker explains that after some serious research into possible new management partners, Avebe eventually chose Ctac. “Ctac offered the best combination of service, price and flexibility. We can now easily upscale or downscale our hosting depending on our use. We can also discuss other issues with them, such as master data management, reporting and integration.”

“Ctac takes care of all the hosting and technical application management work. The installation of changes, upgrades, patches and add-ons, facilitating connectivity with other applications... Ctac also guarantees the landscape’s performance and stability. Our production is continuous, so SAP has to be constantly online. That is now the case. It’s a matter of course, like water from a tap. We never get any questions from the business about performance. That in itself says a great deal.”
 

Personal service and broad expertise

Bleeker attributes the successful cooperation to effective communication. “Ctac knows our processes well. We feel heard and understood. When we raise a problem, Ctac has a good sense of its urgency. When necessary, they immediately put someone on it to take care of it. That’s exactly what we were looking for: an understanding of our processes and a personal service.”

Wassink is also pleased with the service delivery: “We are in touch with a lead consultant each month to go through the technical management developments. We discuss the strategic level with our manufacturing expert from Ctac once a quarter. We have particularly noticed that Ctac has expertise in far more than hosting and management alone.”
 

An extra three years

Even though Avebe and Ctac have worked together for ten years, Bleeker believes there is more room for growth: “We recently extended our contract with Ctac by another three years, and rightly so. We are confident that, together with Ctac, we can achieve our planned business development.”