HERMA – Modern and remote working with Microsoft 365

HERMA – Modern and remote working—flexible and efficient with Microsoft 365.

When it comes to labels, labellers and self-adhesive material, HERMA provides adhesives expertise, paper and foil processing and printing and mechanical engineering from a single source. Founded in Filderstadt, Southern Germany, in 1906, the family-run company is an internationally leading specialist for packaging and labelling systems, producing them in a modern and flexible manner. In order to further boost productivity and collaboration within the company, Bechtle introduced Microsoft 365. This efficient solutions bundles all services and is optimally oriented towards modern, remote work.

Project details.

Services

Modern Workplace
Cloud

Industry

Manufacturing

Manufacturer

Microsoft

Company size

250 – 1,500 employees

Challenge.

HERMA has been producing labels, labellers and self-adhesive material for home and industry since 1906. HERMA, with its expertise on self-adhesive technology, is a company that is known even outside of Europe as an innovation-savvy expert for product and packaging labelling. Everyday, over 1,100 employees bring new ideas to fruition. The family-run SME is value-oriented, innovative and sustainable with unique and technologically advanced headquarters in Filderstadt near Stuttgart. It’s at this location, and six other international ones, where all fully-automated production steps leading up to labels being dispatched . For the purpose of efficient collaboration between the locations, HERMA wanted to bundle all services and applications, with a preference for a flexible and efficient solution that is suited to modern and remote working. The aim was to prepare the company for the cloud and harmonise the selection of apps. For this purpose, Bechtle—a long-term IT partner—recommended Microsoft 365 and introduced the vision of a modern workplace and efficient collaboration to HERMA in the context of a workshop. The decision was made quickly in favour of innovative Microsoft Office applications, secure Microsoft Cloud services and Microsoft online meeting tools. It was HERMA’s wish that the transition to the new software went over quietly, so that the employees hardly notice. At the same time, the employees needed to be able to work confidently with the new environment and use the tools intensively. This required the right training. And not forgetting data protection and compliance. In this regard, the security mechanisms integrated into Microsoft 365 convinced HERMA that the solution was the right one.

The transition to Microsoft 365 was a challenging project, but Bechtle managed it in no time. Our very own HERMA IT and Bechtle really pulled together on this project to upgrade the HERMA Group to a future-proof Modern Workplace. Bechtle made sure to onboard the HERMA IT team right from the start and all HERMA employees received training where we learned how to use the tools efficiently. Our Executive Management and I were very pleased with the HERMA IT and Bechtle teams’ work and the smooth, hassle-free rollout.

Dominik Bräuchle MBA, CIO, HERMA GmbH

Solution.

A project team consisting of HERMA and Bechtle employees dedicated themselves to implementing the Microsoft communication and collaboration tools by . For the transition from the existing environment to the Microsoft environment, Bechtle validated the HERMA domains, prepared the Azure tenant and adjusted it to Microsoft 365 in line with best practices. In terms of applications, HERMA opted for Microsoft Office 365 Software as a Service (SaaS) and Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise. Direct communication between employees across departments and locations is now possible by means of the Microsoft 365 solutions provided. Microsoft Intune is the new mobile device management system for HERMA, and both replaces the old system and will in future centrally manage the mobile devices used in the Group. For hybrid meetings, HERMA will now use the Microsoft Teams Rooms meeting solution. Data exchange between locations now takes place centrally via SharePoint and OneDrive.

Bechtle’s role in all of this was not limited to implementing a new complete solution. Bechtle also acted as a technical consultant, providing crucial know-how to HERMA at every step of the way. Bechtle also kept an overview of the technical architecture and the components implemented while Microsoft 365 was introduced, kept the parties connected and was always there to provide consultation. In conjunction with HERMA’s IT this led to a renewal of all pillars of the technical infrastructure for all company locations without obstructing daily business—with everything secure and stable in the cloud.

Via Hanse-Vision, a Bechtle subsidiary, and their training centre, HERMA were ,matched with a suitable instructor who provided staggered training. The training for employees (on-site and online), training material and the answering of requests by Bechtle enabled HERMA to quickly gain a solid understanding of the new communication infrastructure.

Business benefits.

Thanks to the modern and flexible IT infrastructure introduced by Bechtle and HERMA, HERMA is now ready for the cloud. The new hybrid on-premise server and Azure operation provides employees with e-mail and collaboration tools such as Microsoft Intune in the cloud—and can be scaled up at any time. This makes the solution future-proof, as HERMA can easily expand its IT infrastructure. The centrally accessible applications increase productivity for IT and make it easier to select the right programs. All locations now work with the same solutions and can communicate efficiently. The employees are agile and can be just as productive when working from home as they are in the office or anywhere else.