A pinch of IT – Bechtle spices up Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG’s workplace.

Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG has be minding salt for over 125 years, counting brands such as Bad Reichenhaller in its portfolio. The company extracts up to five million tonnes of salt annually from western-Europe’s largest mine—a process that is rife with complexity. “Traditional salt extraction requires extensive planning. IT, management and technology have to constantly communicate both above and below ground,” explains Markus Müller, Head of IT Infrastructure, Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG. Previously the company used a video conferencing system based on a traditional on-prem infrastructure that could only be used by individual employees.

The objective for the future was virtual meetings for all staff, decentralised data sharing through a uniform platform plus a social intranet that replaced classic noticeboards. Markus Müller: “We defined the technical foundations in close collaboration with Bechtle IT business architects. Their extensive technical knowledge was precisely what we needed to feel that we were progressing in the right direction. The Bechtle Neckarsulm experts utilised current New Work concepts as a blueprint for the company’s transformation and also rethought the entire IT security infrastructure.

All staff were equipped with Microsoft Surface Pro laptops and PCs, which Bechtle installed via cloud-based Autopilot deployment. Field staff were also provided with high-quality professional headsets- “Thanks to Teams, the employees can now take part in virtual meetings and leverage cloud-based services even 200 metres underground,” explains Markus Gutbrod, Head of Sales, Bechtle Neckarsulm. Meeting rooms and containers have been equipped with 22 Teams Rooms systems and Microsoft Surface whiteboards and Bechtle’s Service Desk is on hand every day in the event of any queries or issues related to IT operations.

“The quick roll out of Microsoft products and the smooth migration from Skype to Teams were just two of my personal project highlights,” reports Markus Müller. To facilitate the switch to a flexible world of work, Bechtle’s subsidiary, HanseVision, put together some training videos on tools including Teams, Outlook, Office and OneDrive.

Thanks to excellent communication, our Modern Workplace environment is a big hit for everyone and brings real added value for our business.

Markus Müller, Head of IT Infrastructure, Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG

Champions’ Community share their expertise.

In addition, a Champions’ Community has been formed made up of digital experts trained in the new technologies, who are happy to share their knowledge with all employees. Bechtle also works with them to break down old work processes and transform them into new, digital workflows. “The smooth collaboration between IT, the specialist departments and the Champions’ Community was a critical factor for the project’s success. After all, we need the acceptance of every user to make the transformation to a Modern Workplace an unbridled success,” says Markus Bohn, Head of IT, Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG.

Portfolio: Modern Workplace Solutions