SA Power Networks focuses on sustainability with SUSE

“We’re completing four full patching cycles a year with very few issues thanks to the reliability of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.” Pino Lascala, Server Technical Engineer (Unix), SA Power Networks.

We’re all looking for ways to limit our environmental impact – whether that’s replacing petrol and diesel cars with more environmentally-friendly, electric ones or opting for smarter, energy-efficient appliances. With sustainability a top priority, shrewd energy providers like Australia’s SA Power Networks have transformed their technology architectures to smooth and hasten the transition to a greener future.

A leader in the Australian energy sector, SA Power Networks could only undertake a transformation of this magnitude with an adaptable and highly reliable infrastructure. This was the main reason for selecting SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) for SAP Applications to run the mission-critical SAP HANA databases that support its ERP landscape, and a slew of crucial business operations. Historically, the team ran SAP applications and Oracle databases on Solaris. When SAP decided to standardize on its SAP HANA database, however, the team followed its lead and choose SLES for SAP Applications.

Rock-solid business support and seamless cloud migration

SA Power Networks is migrating its SAP landscape to the Microsoft Azure cloud, where its SAP HANA databases will run on SLES for SAP Applications. SA Power Networks is now able to buy and manage all its SLES servers in the same way thanks to SUSE’s Bring Your Own Subscription model. This ensures consistency in patching and allows the team to consolidate existing licenses under a single SUSE Premium Support contract, reducing supplier management and administration overhead.

SA Power Networks uses SUSE Manager to centralize and standardize quarterly patching for its Linux servers giving the IT team a single view of the entire landscape, whether on-premises or in the cloud.

Although SUSE Manager has significantly reduced the time and effort involved for the team, the patching process was still disruptive. SA Power Networks deployed SUSE Linux Enterprise (SLE) Live Patching to reduce this by mitigating the need for planned outages. SLE Live Patching has been responsible for a 50% reduction in time and effort spent on quarterly patching. This has also lowered costs by 50%, as this work was previously undertaken by a managed services partner.

SA Power Networks not only enjoys high availability for its mission-critical SAP applications but also benefits from skilled technical staff being freed from low-value support activities, leaving them available to support vital business innovation.

This has been backed by a highly responsive level of service provided by SUSE Premium Support. Whenever a major upgrade is on the horizon, the team reviews its plans with SUSE who make sure best practices are followed and provide support in refining how best to utilize Live Patching.

Click here to find out more about how the SA Power Networks IT team has driven innovation and supported the business by providing efficient, reliable, flexible and sustainable services.