As an information logistics provider in the digital age, cargo-partner operates its daily processes on a colourful landscape of programs and applications. The “SPOT Visibility & Collaboration Platform”, which the company uses to manage all transportation and logistics processes and to provide full transparency to its customers, is just one piece of this puzzle. From documentation and quality management to accounting, the daily processes are based on countless, precisely coordinated gears and processes.
Most recently, the company moved the entirety of its application landscape to a new orchestration environment without a single business interruption. The platform brings a number of improvements and allows cargo-partner to provide “Near-Zero-Downtime Service” to customers. The previous, more static access was based on the fact that each server was assigned to a specific task.
The new orchestration platform uses replaceable servers, which means that each of the approximately 100 servers can handle any task. If one server fails, another takes over. This minimizes the risk of server downtime and resulting service disruptions. As the virtual servers are hosted on cargo-partner’s own private cloud, according to the company, maximum data security is guaranteed.
The new infrastructure of cargo-partner ensures that the system automatically provides additional resources when a larger number of users work on the platform. This enhanced scalability helps to avoid bottlenecks and ensures that consistently high speed and performance is maintained, regardless of how many users are currently online.
The new software environment enables rolling upgrades: that is, the system automatically detects when a service is not working and responds by loading the previous version of the program. Maintenance and upgrades can be carried out without interruptions for internal and external users.
Stefan Krauter, CEO of cargo-partner, explains the motivation behind this move to a more dynamic orchestration platform: “In our fast-paced and demanding business environment, we need to digitize, continuously improve, and adapt to new technologies without an alternative. Thanks to a well-thought-out, agile development process with clear communication lines, precise planning and intensive tests, cargo-partner now works on a reliable and future-oriented business application landscape. ”
As a next optimization step, cargo-partner’s IT teams are working on implementing a cloud-native data protection solution, moving all existing databases to the new orchestration platform. This is intended to provide improved hardware failure resistance and further increase the reliability and stability of cargo-partner IT systems for employees, customers and partners.
The name cargo-partner stands for a privately managed full-service information logistics provider with a broad portfolio of air, sea, land transport and logistics services. The company was founded in 1983, generated sales of just under EUR 700 million in 2017 and currently employs 3,000 people worldwide.
