itesys AG is an IT service provider that specializes in SAP technology, SAP security and platform engineering. The company’s business technology engineers understand the digital challenges of modern IT landscapes and deliver the right technological solutions, including reliable SAP operation, holistic security and the architecture of future-proof platforms. With this approach, itesys creates #SAPeaceOfMind. Its customers can rest assured that their business-critical systems will run stably and perform well at all times.
For many years, itesys has grown steadily at double-digit rates, establishing itself as a reliable partner in the market. Today, the company employs around 200 people across Switzerland (headquarters), Germany, Romania, Slovakia and New Zealand. Its customers range from medium-sized companies to international corporations that rely on itesys for securely and efficiently operating their SAP systems.
At-a-Glance
itesys has used SUSE technology to build an SAP private cloud for hosting SAP S/4HANA infrastructures. Today, around 75 customer environments run in geo-redundant data centers with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. These environments include complex SAP infrastructures with over 100 systems and several terabytes of RAM. With the highly available, secure and certified SUSE platform, itesys ensures reliable business continuity for its customers’ critical business processes. SUSE’s best practices and integrated tools also accelerate migrations, minimize operational overhead and reduce risks during ongoing operations.
Building a secure SAP Private Cloud
Since 2012, itesys has primarily focused on SAP infrastructure operations, providing a stable and secure technical platform for all SAP applications. While application partners cover industry-specific processes, itesys takes full responsibility for the performance, availability and security of the underlying infrastructure.
“Many SAP customers today want to focus primarily on the digital transformation of their business and hand over the operation of their system landscape to external specialists like us,” says Stefan Dunsch, Head of Cloud Competence Center at itesys. “Our customers expect us to provide them with an optimally configured SAP environment and ensure that all systems are available around the clock.”
When itesys AG was founded, the SAP world was in a phase of upheaval. Many production environments were still running on classic NetWeaver stacks, often on Windows Server or Unix derivatives. At the same time, a new generation of database technology was gaining ground with SAP HANA. The in-memory platform was exclusively available on Linux and quickly became a strategic core product. For the itesys founders, it was clear from the beginning that the future of SAP operations would be based on open source technology.
“We were looking for a certified Linux platform for our hosting business that would enable us to offer SAP customers future security,” says Dunsch. “We wanted to build a private cloud in Swiss data centers to provide companies with efficient and reliable SAP base infrastructure as a service.”
“The joint support model takes away complexity and gives our customers peace of mind, knowing that SAP and SUSE work closely behind the scenes.”
Stefan Dunsch
Head of Cloud Competence Center
itesys AG
Why SUSE Linux Enterprise Server?
itesys chose SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as the operating system for its SAP private cloud on account of SUSE’s close partnership with SAP and the platform’s widespread use. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is validated by SAP as a preferred Linux operating system and is now used by over 30,000 SAP customers worldwide for a variety of applications.
“When we set up the first SAP HANA environments for our customers, SUSE was the only platform that offered us comprehensive certification and immediately applicable best practices,” recalls Dunsch. itesys was able to rely on SUSE’s SAP-approved reference architectures from the outset instead of having to validate its own configurations, a key factor for stable business-critical operations.
Other key advantages for itesys include SUSE’s transparent release cycles and long-term support strategy. These foster planning security and make it easier to meet individual customer needs. Because every organization manages its SAP environment differently, itesys supports a range of operational requirements. Some organizations want to adopt new operating system versions as soon as they’re available, while others prefer extended support periods so they can run their SAP systems unchanged for many years. With Long Term Service Pack Support (LTSS), SUSE provides the option of running specific versions for up to 19 years.
“We don’t want to be forced onto new releases every few months. SUSE allows us to keep systems stable over the long term and meet all our customers’ expectations,” explains Dunsch.
Additionally, SUSE’s MSP program provides the flexibility to offer granular, customer-specific environments, unlike the rigid models of many hyperscalers where SAP systems can only be operated in predefined sizes. SUSE enables itesys to configure and scale resources precisely to each customer’s needs. This allows customers to avoid overprovisioning and obtain an infrastructure that is optimally designed both technically and economically.
“In the end, it’s not about individual features. What matters is that SUSE is committed to our success as a service provider. We see that commitment every day,” says Dunsch.
The impact of SUSE
Accelerates migrations and optimizes the operation of SAP landscapes
With SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, itesys deploys complex SAP environments quickly and consistently. Predefined templates accelerate the deployment of new whole SAP environments, while the integrated saptune tool automatically applies the settings recommended by SAP in each system.
“When we use SUSE to provision a new machine for our SAP customers, the necessary parameters are already set, and the system is immediately HANA-compatible. We no longer have to manually configure the system, which saves a tremendous amount of time and reduces sources of error,” explains Dunsch. For customers, that means shorter project runtimes and fewer risks when moving to SAP S/4HANA.
Additionally, itesys relies on a high degree of automation during ongoing operations. Patching and updates are script-controlled and therefore easy to reproduce. With SUSE’s Workload Memory Protection, itesys can optimize memory usage and ensure that SAP HANA databases have sufficient memory at all times. Integrated functions also allow for the quick and reliable cloning of SAP HANA systems for migrations and tests. With SUSE, itesys simplifies everyday processes, increases system stability and enables the efficient modernization of customer environments.
11 years of no unplanned downtime due to the operating system
itesys guarantees 99.9% uptime for its SAP hosting customers and has consistently exceeded this figure with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.
“Since setting up our SAP private cloud with SUSE over eleven years ago, there has not been a single unplanned outage caused by the operating system” reports Dunsch.
A key factor in this success is the SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension. Based on Pacemaker and Corosync, this component provides failover mechanisms and ensures that services are automatically transferred to other nodes in the event of a failure. In combination with geo-redundant architectures and validated cluster scenarios for SAP HANA, even complex environments can be reliably protected against service interruptions. As a result, core business processes like finance, production and logistics remain continuously available to customers.
Secures operations with rollback controls and industry certifications
SUSE also provides itesys with best practices and guidelines for hardening SAP environments, special security features such as the SAP HANA firewall, as well as continuous security patches for all supported system versions. itesys tests every update in a dedicated environment before deploying it to production. If problems do occur despite testing, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server improves resiliency with automated snapshots and rollback options, enabling a quick return to a stable state and providing additional protection against unplanned downtime.
“SUSE lets us close vulnerabilities fast without disrupting operations. This gives our customers the assurance that their systems are protected and available at all times,” explains Dunsch.
Additionally, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server holds important certifications such as Common Criteria EAL4+ and FIPS 140-2. These certifications ensure the integrity of the software supply chain and help organizations in highly regulated industries meet their compliance requirements.
Ensures service excellence through reliability and collaboration
itesys has continuously expanded its hosting business in recent years and now operates around 75 customer environments, ranging from smaller installations to complex landscapes with over 100 virtual machines and several terabytes of RAM. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server provides the stability and performance needed to reliably run even the most demanding and business-critical SAP S/4HANA environments. This saves customers from having to invest in hardware and data center infrastructure and reduces the cost of operation, maintenance and emergency response.
“Above all, our customers want a reliable partner who understands SAP infrastructure and can take work off their hands in their dayto-day operations. That’s exactly what we can ensure with SUSE,” says Dunsch.
In his view, SUSE’s joint support model with SAP also plays a role in maintaining high service quality. With SUSE Priority Support’s ‘one face to the customer’ principle, issues are resolved quickly and ownership is always clear, reinforcing itesys’s reputation as a dependable partner. “The joint support model takes away complexity and gives our customers peace of mind, knowing that SAP and SUSE work closely behind the scenes,” says Dunsch.
What’s next for itesys?
Today, many SAP customers are embracing a cloud-first strategy. At the same time, however, there is a growing awareness of digital sovereignty and control over critical data. itesys is well positioned to support both of these requirements. With SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, the managed service provider can implement hybrid scenarios — from the customer’s own data center to private cloud models to connections to hyperscalers. Customers can decide for themselves where their systems run, knowing that they can rely on a certified and future-proof platform.
Looking ahead, new SAP containerized workloads for SAP hybrid cloud deployments, like the SAP Edge Integration Cell, are a topic of growing importance. This component of the SAP Integration Suite enables the local execution of APIs and integration services for business processes. That technology needs a new kind of platform to be deployed and when running on SUSE Rancher for SAP applications, powered by SUSE technologies like SUSE Rancher Prime and SUSE Linux Micro, the Edge Integration Cell runs with high availability and security, whether in an on-premises data center or a private cloud.
“We see exciting opportunities, particularly in healthcare, manufacturing and the public sector,” says Dunsch. “The Edge Integration Cell lets customers build and run integrations using cloud principles while keeping data securely in their own environment. SUSE provides the robust Kubernetes infrastructure on which the SAP Edge Integration Cell runs as a container application.”