Inside a Rivella production facility

Rivella’s flavour is hard to put into words. “Unique is probably the best way to describe it,” says Patrick Felder, Head of ICT Infrastructure & Services at Rivella. For more than 70 years, Switzerland’s cult drink has been produced to a closely guarded secret recipe. Its unmistakable character comes not from constant change, but from consistency. And when it comes to its IT, the company relies on that same meticulous care and continuity.

In Rothrist, in the canton of Aargau, Rivella runs a fine-tuned, digital infrastructure that integrates production systems, machine data, analytics and operational planning. Any disruption can have immediate consequences for manufacturing. Every bottle of Rivella depends on it.

At a glance.

  • On‑prem strategy – Production‑critical data remains entirely within Rivella’s own data centres.
  • High availability – Two geographically separate data centres with synchronous data replication ensure failover in milliseconds
  • Modernisation during live operations – Storage migration completed without disrupting production.
  • Performance gains – Faster analytics and reporting for production‑related applications and SAP workloads.
  • Scalable architecture – Compute and storage resources can be expanded independently as required.
  • Security and control – End‑to‑end encryption and full data sovereignty through on‑premises operation.
Four Rivella bottles lined up next to each other

High‑availability IT infrastructure – Dual data centres power manufacturing.

Rivella operates a hybrid infrastructure with its less critical workloads running in the cloud. Data that is indispensable for production, on the other hand, is held to much higher requirements: it must be available at all times and remain fully under the company’s control, and is therefore hosted in two on‑premise data centres, located in separate buildings. All information is replicated in real time. If one data centre fails, it takes just milliseconds for the other to take over. “That’s never actually happened,” says Patrick Felder. “But we test the scenario regularly and the failover works.” However, Rivella’s existing storage solution – stable and well proven over many years – had reached the end of its lifecycle. It was time to modernise the landscape, not least because the manufacturing environment places steadily increasing demands on data processing, timely insights and continuous availability.

Cement plant in Leimen

Data migration during live operations.

Working closely with its long‑standing IT partner Bechtle, Patrick Felder evaluated a range of possible solutions. In the end, HPE Alletra MP block and file storage emerged as the clear choice – not only for its technological capabilities, but for a decisive advantage: the existing and new platforms can run in parallel, with data synchronised at block level. This made it possible to meet a key requirement for Rivella: carrying out the transition and data migration without any downtime, while operations continued as normal. “We produce every single day. Any work on the IT has to be carried out under full load, without disrupting operations,” explains Patrick Felder. When the migration was completed within just two weeks, Felder was relieved, though not surprised. “The migration went smoothly. That’s exactly what we’ve come to expect from Bechtle. What really impressed me, though, was how quickly the data was transferred.”

Image: Patrick Felder, Head of ICT Infrastructure & Services at Rivella

Rivella’s new IT infrastructure consists of two HPE Alletra MP storage systems deployed across the company’s two data centres. The setup is complemented by a compact, energy‑efficient HPE server that continuously monitors the environment, checking the health of both storage systems and identifying irregularities at an early stage. Together, the components ensure round‑the‑clock availability, security and stability.

Greater performance and scalability for production‑related applications.

With the new HPE Alletra MP storage solution, Rivella benefits from a modern, disaggregated platform that allows compute and storage resources to be expanded independently. “This gives us the flexibility to grow without having to operate an oversized system from day one – or face a complete replacement again in a few years’ time,” says Patrick Felder. Alletra MP also provides a significant boost in performance, accelerating data processing across the board. This is particularly important for production‑related applications, including the SAP HANA multi‑model database, the manufacturing execution system and planning workflows. Patrick Felder sums it up: “Analytics run more smoothly, reports are generated faster and data is available immediately. For production, that’s critical.”

Data sovereignty as a strategic principle.

Security was another key factor in Rivella’s decision for Alletra MP. All data is encrypted automatically, without the need for additional modules. In addition, Rivella uses HPE GreenLake technology, which is typically provided as a cloud service. In line with its principle of full data sovereignty, however, Rivella operates GreenLake on‑premises. This allows the company to take advantage of modern management and automation capabilities, while ensuring that all sensitive data remains entirely within its own data centre.

Choosing SAP on-premises.

Rivella has also taken a deliberate approach when it comes to SAP – going against the trend of moving ERP systems to the cloud. “If things start get laggy or the internet connection goes down, what do you do then?” asks Patrick Felder. “We feel the cloud creates too many dependencies for us. When the data sits on our own systems, we can respond much faster.” Consequently, Rivella’s new storage infrastructure is faster, more resilient and built to support Rivella’s long‑term operational needs. Updates, patches and support are handled by Bechtle, while Rivella retains full control over its systems. Even months after the new platform went live, Patrick Felder has no doubts: “It was the right decision, the right product and the right partner. Everything has been working exactly as it should.”

We feel the cloud creates too many dependencies for us. When the data sits on our own systems, we can respond much faster.

Patrick Felder, Head of ICT Infrastructure & Services at Rivella