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Enhancing Global Collaboration and Security:
The Plasser & Theurer Story
Plasser & Theurer, a global leading railway equipment manufacturer, partnered with HSO to modernize their IT infrastructure, enhancing global collaboration and security, and ensuring seamless operations as they expand their railway maintenance business.
Rail is on the rise.
In the last generation alone, the length of modernized track traversing through Europe has grown 31%, totaling an astounding 202.000 km network. Rail companies from Vienna to Tokyo are running at full steam to provide maintenance for existing and new track systems while maximizing safety and precision in this crucial mode of transportation.
Railway equipment manufacturer Plasser & Theurer is on the leading edge of this charge. But keeping up with explosive growth while delivering the highest standards of quality requires some maintenance of your own. In their search to stay ahead of the power curve, Plasser & Theurer struck a partnership with HSO, starting a journey that has risen above fragmented IT systems and cross-cultural challenges.
Now, with tenant units from around the world united under a centralized IT ecosystem, Plasser & Theurer is boosting collaboration and security, extending their impact as they grow with each meter of new track laid down.
Upholding a Commitment to Excellence
Plasser & Theurer has been manufacturing railway maintenance machinery for more than 70 years. Their equipment, renowned for precision and efficiency, is used worldwide by rail operators to ensure the safety and reliability of tracks. With products now in use in 110 countries, Plasser & Theurer operates a decentralized network of subsidiaries, providing localized support while maintaining global standards of excellence.
But with expansion comes complexity. Operating across continents, Plasser & Theurer faced challenges common to multinational enterprises: fragmented IT systems, communication silos, and challenges to maintain cybersecurity across regions. Their decentralized IT setup, with over 20 independent tenants, was not suited for a business requiring seamless global collaboration. Some of their workarounds, including maintaining duplicate calendars and managing data access issues, impacted many facets of daily operations.
Security was another critical concern. With their reputation built on producing specialized, high-value machinery, Plasser & Theurer needed to protect their intellectual property against potential breaches. Yet, their decentralized setup only allowed them to provide guidelines that were unevenly implemented and made complicated enforcing consistent security protocols across subsidiaries.
These inefficiencies impacted IT management as well. Maintaining multiple tenants required significant resources, and the lack of centralization limited their ability to deploy innovative tools to optimize their operations. Plasser & Theurer realized that addressing these problems wasn’t just a technical necessity—it was a business imperative to stay competitive and execute their ethos of trendsetting by tradition.
Recognizing the need for modernization, Plasser & Theurer sought a partner capable of streamlining their IT infrastructure while understanding their unique operational challenges.
“HSO provided global benefits, fast. They used their expertise to overcome the chicken and egg problem in business analysis. We didn’t have to spend time and resources doing research because they could already very accurately predict what we needed.”
Making Short Work of a Mammoth Transition
Plasser & Theurer’s collaboration with HSO began in Japan, where a need for a new ERP system drove the search for implementation partners. As talks expanded to tenant migration, it became clear that HSO’s expertise in global implementations across Microsoft Azure’s entire cloud services stack aligned perfectly with Plasser & Theurer’s needs. After demonstrating their capability in early implementations, HSO was selected to become their global partner for Microsoft projects.
The Global Roll-out
Plasser & Theurer launched the tenant migration project in late 2023, starting with the largest and most complex business units to ensure maximum impact and make a definitive decision on whether the partnership would work. With the pressure of a tight, resource-constrained window, HSO knew this would take a lot more than technological acumen.
Starting in Germany...
Starting in Germany, the HSO team adapted to dynamic business needs and leveraged their experience in different regions to quickly develop a template that accurately addressed migration and security concerns. But it was truly the project management that kept the implementation on-time and on-budget: HSO ensured issues were solved at the lowest level while keeping the entire enterprise informed. This early success set the tone for the partnership.
“By this point in the implementation, the relationship reached the level of collaboration and trust of friends. We are having fun together while reaching our goals efficiently.”
Building a Sustainable Growth Roadmap with HSO
With the tenant migration well underway, Plasser & Theurer is already reaping the benefits of a unified IT infrastructure. Collaboration across borders has become simpler and more efficient, and security protocols are now better standardized, protecting their valuable intellectual property.
Looking ahead, Plasser & Theurer’s partnership with HSO is poised to drive further innovation. Possibilities on the horizon include adopting AI to enhance productivity, leveraging the Power Platform for custom business applications, and implementing a Fabric data platform for advanced analytics.
These initiatives will build on the strong foundation laid by the migration and harmonization of their decentralized tenants, enabling Plasser & Theurer to confidently incorporate cutting-edge technologies that extend the impact of their business.
This long-term collaboration reflects a shared vision: to equip Plasser & Theurer with the tools they need to remain an industry leader in a vastly growing industry.
“For the first time, tenant units are collaborating on an operational level, sharing ideas and best practices across culturally- and geographically-separated regions.”
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