How Red Hat and Microsoft helped Andreani Logistics Group address rapid increase in demand

By any measure, 2020 was a challenging year for most organizations. For businesses that specialize in logistics, like the Andreani Logistics Group, the COVID-19 crisis also brought a rapid increase in demand that posed additional challenges. To address the needs of its customers, Andreani turned to Red Hat and Microsoft to deliver systems that could rise to the challenge.

Andreani Logistics Group and digital transformation

Andreani Logistics Group is a leading logistics company operating in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. It manages logistics and e-commerce solutions for industries with high added value. For example, Andreani works with more than 2,500 client companies in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, technology, financial services and telecommunications industries, to name only a few. 

After COVID-19 hit in March 2020, Andreani was looking at a 35% increase in demand in a matter of weeks -- a volume it had anticipated reaching sometime in 2023. At the same time, the organization was faced with mandatory quarantine restrictions that impacted its ability to carry out operations. 

While not fully ready for the challenges of COVID-19, Andreani had been working towards more flexible operations already. The company had already started its digital transformation process in 2018, with a strategy of modernizing its applications through containers and microservices on Red Hat OpenShift and embracing hybrid cloud with Microsoft Azure. 

To accelerate the process, Andreani looked for a solution that would help them scale what they were already building more quickly. The answer wasn't far away -- Andreani turned to Red Hat and Microsoft to help speed up its implementation. 

Why Andreani chose a joint solution from Red Hat and Microsoft

Andreani Logistics Group had to find a fast and efficient way to expand its operating and processing capacity to meet demand. The company had to meet its contractual obligations to avoid financial penalties and sustain its reputation and customer satisfaction. And it needed to do all of this quickly and with security in mind. 

Andreani had worked with Microsoft and Red Hat separately for years. They had chosen Red Hat OpenShift, in part, to provide an abstraction layer to manage their containers and microservices independently of the underlying cloud implementation. 

Separately, Andreani had already been working with Microsoft on a hybrid cloud strategy with Microsoft Azure, with an eye towards reducing on-premises infrastructure. 

To keep up with demand, Andreani turned to Red Hat and Microsoft to deliver a solution that would scale using Azure Red Hat OpenShift. 

Proof-of-concept (POC) to implementation

Azure Red Hat OpenShift is jointly designed, operated and supported by Red Hat and Microsoft. The companies work together to manage the infrastructure, which lets Andreani's teams focus on developing and delivering their solutions on top of OpenShift. Since Andreani uses OpenShift across its public and private cloud infrastructure, it has a layer of abstraction to move its services from one instance to another. 

After consulting with Red Hat and Microsoft, Andreani moved to a POC to move workloads dynamically from its on-premises OpenShift to Azure Red Hat OpenShift. It took Andreani about one month to ready its POC to test out the implementation. 

Results

Thanks to Azure Red Hat OpenShift, Adreani maintained its commitments and met increased demand during a crucial period. Without Azure Red Hat OpenShift, Andreani expects that implementing a new OpenShift cluster to handle demand would take three to four weeks.

Red Hat and Microsoft were able to spin up the Azure Red Hat OpenShift cluster for Andreani to run workloads in about an hour. Andreani considered the implementation a success because of the speed and the way that the collaboration came together as a single team comprising members from Andreani, Red Hat and Microsoft. 

"It is remarkable how both vendors worked together to create this solution," says Sebastián Sarasate, Infrastructure Manager, Andreani Logistics Group. "Seeing the union between Microsoft and Red Hat with ARO, we reaffirm our decision to choose them. We are sure that this technology will continue to accompany the growth of cloud loads that we have been experiencing."