GfK, the global market leader in data and analytics, has been supplying its customers with optimized decision input for over 85 years. Using scientific methodologies to link data together and combining that with a wealth of experience and the company’s in-house database – covering more than 15 million tracked products and over three million target group panels in 15 countries – GfK has become the partner of choice for numerous global players.
Data relevancy is pivotal to the efficient support GfK provides to its customers as they move toward digitalization. “We know that the right IT solution is essential if we want to give the market what it needs,” says Ismar Efendic, IT Infrastructure Manager at GfK. “In this fiercely competitive market, speed is everything: Fast results and applications are tremendously important – although good quality is equally critical.” So, can the company continue to consistently deliver ideal business decision input and grow by 20 percent per annum in data volume terms? With the right IT system, meeting this challenge is no problem. To get to where GfK is today and stay at the top, however, it first had to untangle an obsolete assortment of infrastructure silos and multiple cloud providers.
Lofty ambitions for optimal results: the hybrid cloud solution
Four years ago, GfK expanded its on-premise infrastructure by introducing VMware vRealize Automation, laying a solid foundation for a modern infrastructure. “Our value proposition to customers is ‘Growth through Knowledge’ based on our technical expertise,” Efendic explains. “Which means that we need to be efficient and right on the cutting edge.” The resultant self-service multi-cloud environment and self-service automation slashed the complexity of the IT landscape, putting in place an automation platform that would support development operations. “Our overriding goal was to create the scalability and stable provisioning afforded by a cloud infrastructure, especially for our on-premise applications,” Efendic continues. “That is why we have continually improved our VMware vRealize Automation suite in recent years.”
By moving up to VMware Cloud™ on AWS and VMware Cloud Foundation™, GfK is now establishing a secure infrastructure and more efficient operating processes in the private and public clouds. “One important and, above all, lucrative step involved migrating from multiple cloud providers to just a single one.” But what prompted GfK to choose VMware? Efendic’s argument is compellingly simple: “We have been partners for years, and we work together to develop the best solutions for what we need. VMware is also the market leader for on-premise and hybrid cloud solutions, so it was only logical to tackle the next project for the future together.”
Bottom line
Even in today’s fast-paced, data-driven age, relentlessly modernizing and adapting its business model enables the global market leader for data and analytics to defend its position. Resources and applications can now be extended quickly and easily from the private cloud into the public cloud – without modifying the nature of interaction with the environment. Such unique speed and flexibility gives the company greater agility and a sharper innovative edge – one example being gfknewron, its latest artificial intelligence (AI) assisted product based exclusively on public cloud technology.
Read the full success story to learn more about what GfK has achieved in this area and how customers and partners alike stand to benefit!
Fast, flexible and consistently #innovative – For @GfK, @VMware Cloud™ on AWS and VMware Cloud Foundation™ are an investment in the company’s own future and in valuable #business_decision_input for its customers.
