Five years ago, Superunie members decided to jointly invest in network and bandwidth. Management of the network with 1,100 shops has recently been in the hands of Simac. In the coming months, the member supermarket chains will experience the benefits. ICT manager Arjen van Dam: "Everyone gets more freedom to set up the network as they see fit."
From weighing scales to packaging machines and from dry-cleaning service to parcel point, almost every device or service in the supermarket is connected to the network. That makes managing that network challenging and complex. What IT manager dares to trust that all devices and services provided by external partners are intrinsically secure? "The number of devices and services is only increasing. And with it the complexity. Without the right people and the right tools, it is almost impossible to manage the network properly and ensure security," argues Arjen van Dam, ICT manager at Superunie.
All supermarkets affiliated to purchasing organisation Superunie need to be able to roll out new services and functionalities quickly.
"We want to create an environment where supermarkets can quite easily connect new devices and services securely. This requires a good foundation or security infrastructure. That way, we can create an IT environment in which supermarkets can do business and we can facilitate that."
Fibreglass
The network in a supermarket must not only meet the highest security standards, but also offer more and more bandwidth. It is estimated that the required bandwidth doubles once every four years. About five years ago, Arjen saw that the existing copper connections would no longer suffice for long. A switch to fibre-optic connections was inevitable.
"We had to get moving. That is why we decided with the Superunie members to collectively provide all supermarkets in the Netherlands with fibre optics. For this, we entered into a long-term contract with KPN, so that we could spread the investments over several years." This was not a foregone conclusion. Superunie is primarily a purchasing organisation for supermarket products. It also only cooperates in areas such as energy purchasing and PIN transactions.
"Buying fibre connections and bandwidth collectively not only offers financial benefits, but also the opportunity to share knowledge. By joining forces, we can benefit from central knowledge in network design and security. In the latter area in particular, the challenges for supermarket chains are increasing. They don't always have sufficient knowledge, expertise and capacity to ensure security themselves. They are happy to leave that to Superunie."
Welkoop customer story
Welkoop is investing not only in a new formula and shops, but also in IT. Simac manages the network and hardware and plays a crucial role in the conversion of the shops.
Fortinet
The collective decided to invest not only in fibre-optic connections, but also in new network equipment. The choice fell on Fortinet's system. "That is the best choice for us," states Arjen, who refers to reports by market analysts such as Gartner. These show that Fortinet has scored best on security for some time. In addition, Fortinet has also recently established a clear lead in the field of software defined WAN (SD-WAN), a concept that uses software to manage a widespread computer network.
This ensures lower costs, better performance and enhanced security capabilities, among other things. "In addition, Fortinet offers scalability and cost advantages. Given the bandwidth we need, we quickly end up in a higher price range with another supplier. This is important because Superunie members include discount and full service formulas. That means we need a solution that is affordable for all members."
Priority
Management of the network has recently been in the hands of Simac. Arjen was looking for an IT service provider with a nationwide network of service engineers.
"I know Simac from the past and know they do good work for a number of Superunie members. And they have a feel for retail. They understand that a failure with the pinter terminals on a Saturday afternoon is priority number one. Not everyone is given that. With other IT service providers, the breakdown ends up in a big bin with other reports and you just have to wait and see which priority it gets."
What also played a role is the fact that Simac and Fortinet are already partners. And that Simac is a no-nonsense party that does not run after every new hype. "We don't want a partner who is constantly trying out all kinds of new things only to discover a few months later that they don't work. We did look at other parties, but it was pretty soon clear that the choice would fall on Simac."
Auping brings configurator to the shop floor
Thanks to a large touchscreen, this digital bed configurator is now available in over 200 shops. Simac takes care of the installation, maintenance and management of these screens.
Decentralised hubs
In 2022, the cooperation between Superunie and Simac was put on paper. Immediately afterwards, a team from Veldhoven started the first phase of the project: taking over the management of the network including all configured devices in all 1100 shops. Part of this included installing Fortinet equipment in the last 150 shops that were still working with outdated network equipment. "That was a condition from Simac to take over the management. Around the summer, this first phase was completed entirely on schedule and in accordance with all agreements," Arjen knows.
Meanwhile, Simac has started the second phase: optimisation of the network and installation of the latest software updates. "Most important part of this phase concerns adapting the design of the network. Until now, all Superunie members were considered one entity with a central hub from which the network was controlled. In the new design, each supermarket chain has its own decentralised hub, effectively splitting the network per supermarket chain."
More freedom
The new design offers major advantages. Because it has been greatly simplified, Simac can fix any problems faster and keep costs down. More importantly, Simac can respond much better than before to the individual needs and requirements of a Superunie member without affecting other members. "All members are autonomous and want to maintain their uniqueness. With this design, each member gets more freedom to set up the network as they wish.
Each member now has its own contract and can add services or agree different response times. Simac is in talks with all members to flesh out their wishes and requirements," Arjen knows. So far, Arjen is extremely satisfied with the progress. "The project is going according to plan and the members are also satisfied. What shows that? That they don't call me with problems. No news is good news."
