SAP Business One secure in our Data Centers

SAP Business One is a high-quality ERP solution that has been developed by software developer SAP with medium and small businesses in mind. It offers comprehensive management of finances, sales and purchasing processes, as well as customer relations. The unquestionable advantage of this solution is that it does not require a complex implementation, but supports and organizes the company’s business processes. For VISAGE Group, SAP B1 proved to be the optimal solution.

The bottom line – safety

The security of company data for any company is a priority, even more so when it comes to the production system on which the work of most departments in the company is based. It needs to be accessible, efficient and secure so that in the event of a failure, the company can function unhindered without losing important data.

This was the premise that guided VISAGE Group’s management in commissioning the audit of the of IT systems security systems at its headquarters. This task was entrusted to BCC (currently All for One Poland).

The most important conclusions of the IT audit were related to increasing data security and guaranteeing the uninterrupted availability of the SAP B1 environment.

The company was running a server that was dedicated to the SAP B1 environment. In the event of its failure, restoring a copy of the system, database and database logs to another server with a different configuration could be very time-consuming and problematic. In addition, copies of databases, and more specifically, database logs, must be made continuously, so that in the event of a failure it is possible to restore data to a so-called point in time. A situation where a copy of the database is from the previous day, or even from an earlier period, is simply unacceptable. In an era where virtually everything is generated and processed in purely digital form, it is often impossible to restore lost data in the event of a failure (e.g., invoices issued).

Equally important is the physical security of the server, as well as the infrastructure necessary for its operation. This element consists of many factors, such as restricting access to the server room to only selected people, monitoring, fire detection and extinguishing systems.

The end result of the audit was to provide VISAGE Group with reliable information on the state of security of their organization’s IT systems. The client also received a set of recommendations for eliminating threats along with a recommendation for their implementation. In this case, the proposal for a comprehensive solution was to move the SAP Business One system to the All for One Data Centers.

Hosting – a solution also for SAP Business One

Why would a company that already has an IT infrastructure and its own dedicated server for SAP Business One opt for hosting? Hosting for a relatively small environment like SAP B1 may seem unnecessary at first glance. After all, it’s better and more secure to have your own server at your fingertips, because where will it be more secure if not on the company’s premises? However, if we consider the issues of security and possible server unavailability, it turns out that the mechanisms used, may not be sufficient.

The proposed hosting solution at All for One Data Centers had many benefits. The most important of these are:

• Virtualization, or a server tailored to your needs,
• System scalability,
• A redundant environment in case of failure,
• physical security of the server room (monitoring, security, alarm, fire detection and suppression systems),
• data security – backups are stored in two different data centers owned by BCC (currently All for One Poland), connected by a fiber optic cable and 0.5 km apart,
• A team of qualified specialists – more than 50 people with SAP/IT competencies confirmed by industry certifications,
• Comprehensive administration of: virtual environment, Windows server, SAP B1 environment, database engine, backup policy, backups.

All this led VISAGE Group to decide to move SAP B1 system from its server to All for One Data Centers. The work took place in one weekend (11.02.2017-12.02.2017). The system was migrated on Saturday in a way that did not disrupt business processes. On Monday, employees connected to the system in exactly the same way they did before.

After calculating all the above elements, it turned out that outsourcing BCC’s SAP B1 system was cheaper than providing a similar level of system security and hiring an employee to administer the production environment.

The server, previously intended for SAP Business One, was used as a high-performance file server at the customer’s site, according to BCC recommendations.

We focus on business
After the implementation of SAP B1, it became the central system in the company, where corporate data was collected and through which all our business operations passed. Knowing that we could not afford to lose data or have the system unavailable, and at the same time knowing our weaknesses in IT security issues, we commissioned BCC (now All for One Poland) to conduct an audit in this area. When our concerns were confirmed, we knew we would have to take concrete action. The solution recommended by BCC about migrating our production system and keeping it hosted at All for One Data Centers proved to be a win-win for us. We have a stable system environment, secure data, regular backups and system administration. We don’t have to worry about what will happen if the system stops working for some reason. We can concentrate on business with peace of mind.
Piotr Selak, CEO, VISAGE Group