References
Efficient endpoint management at KRITIS company
Adelholzener Alpenquellen GmbH
References
Adelholzener Alpenquellen GmbH, based in Bad Adelholzen in Upper Bavaria, is one of Germany‘s leading mineral springs. The company bottles around 700 million bottles of mineral water and soft drinks every year under the „Adelholzener“ and „Active O2“ brands.
As a food producer, Adelholzener is subject to the Critical Infrastructure Ordinance. Companies in this sector are essential for the common good. Critical infrastructure companies are therefore subject to particularly strict requirements in terms of the security and stability of their IT systems:
- Increased requirements for IT security (cybersecurity)
- Implementation of the IT Security Act and the BSI-KritisV
- High availability and reliability
- Access control and identity management
- Supply chain security
- Training and sensitization of employees
- Documentation and verification
To meet these requirements, Adelholzener employs a twelveperson IT team under the leadership of IT Manager Dr. Thorsten Caus. Half of the team is responsible for business applications, while three employees are exclusively responsible for infrastructure and security.
Together, they manage around 700 Windows clients, 140 servers and 300 mobile devices at the beverage producer‘s headquarters - mainly HP clients in the form of laptops and desktop PCs, but also industrial tablets. The company‘s IT operates in a Microsoft environment with Windows servers, Windows 11 clients, Office 365 and Microsoft Dynamics Business Central as an ERP solution.
Discontinuation requires reorientation
For a long time, Adelholzener relied on DSM from Ivanti for its IT management. But when the product was discontinued, a reorientation became necessary. IT expert Bernhard Bucher at Adelholzener explains:
„In addition to the discontinuation, there were numerous reasons to reconsider the use of Ivanti DSM at Adelholzener. We were not only using Ivanti‘s software distribution, but also the ticket system. With both products, we were missing consulting from the partner at eye level. In addition, the Ivanti licenses for patch management had to be extended. In general, Ivanti‘s product was not a perfect fit for us. We took these circumstances as an impetus to consider a product change.
We therefore thought about what we absolutely needed and drew up a detailed catalog of requirements. This included the core topics of inventory, software deployment - both operating system installation and packaging - but also the mapping of a comprehensive CMDB and an ITILv4-compliant ticket system. With these expectations in mind, we approached Ivanti to develop a concept and estimate the costs. At the same time, we looked for alternatives on the market.“
The right product for all requirements
„Our Munich colleagues at the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, to which Adelholzener belongs, then drew our attention to baramundi. There we found the right product for all our requirements.“
„We initially started the implementation process with the baramundi inventory solution and ticketing system, as we had previously only used a self-programmed solution for inventory that was already quite outdated. We gradually expanded the baramundi cosmos at Adelholzener and added various products. We then set up OS installation and patch management, gradually replacing DSM‘s packaging in a migration phase.“
First test passed
„An initial test for the baramundi solutions was our KRITIS audit, in which the CMDB, ticket system and inventory were closely scrutinized. This audit was completed successfully - without a single deviating finding with regard to the way the IT team works and the mapping of processes with baramundi Of course, we have also focused on improving efficiency. In particular, the time savings and the central management of hardware and software have noticeably improved the performance of our department.“
Conclusion
„To summarize, I can say about the switch to baramundi: it simply works. We are impressed by the competence of the baramundi employees. We make a request, the baramundi team takes care of it and usually finds a solution - even for difficult challenges. Compared to the past, the partnership with baramundi is a new level for us. We feel that we are in good hands professionally , the team behind it is highly competent and we are on an equal footing. Working with baramundi is fun.“
