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Implementing SASE to accelerate cloud adoption

Kramp's growth over the recent years resulted in a situation where the company had to maintain and manage multiple WAN and security solutions and technologies. In response, Kramp would go on to select Expereo to do the actual roll-out and management of the SASE solution, including the Internet connectivity underlay. 

Kramp operates across Europe, with offices in many countries from Russia to the United Kingdom and from the Nordics to Italy, as well as a purchasing office in China.  

Jos Nieuwenhuis, Enterprise Architect at Kramp stated: “In our WAN landscape, several branch offices were connected via outsourced MPLS connections and other branch offices via VPN connections in combination with Internet connectivity which we managed in-house. At some locations, we used Internet connections that were sourced locally which made it even more difficult to communicate with the provider.” 

Kramp has undergone strong growth in recent years, both organically and through several acquisitions. This resulted in a situation where the company had to maintain and manage multiple, different WAN and security solutions and technologies, which was highly inefficient in terms of cost and labor. 

At that point in time, the company had no control, no clear performance indicators, and lacked overall insight into the network and its true cost. Kramp decided to standardize to improve efficiency, performance and manageability. 

When it comes to digitization within the sector, Kramp wished to take and retain the lead. Therefore, the company embraced the cloud and continues to work on further development of its webshop, the Kramp app and other technologies.  

One of the things the Kramp team asked themselves with during this digital transformation initiative was which parts of their IT environment they needed to keep in-house, and which not. 

Jos Nieuwenhuis: “WAN technology has become more of a commodity over the past few years. We realized that if we could source this as a service the people within our organization could focus on processes and functional management. With this approach, our IT staff have more of a business consultancy role.” 

Jos Nieuwenhuis evaluated several options and vendors in the market against Kramp’s key requirements:  

Jos Nieuwenhuis: “Cato Networks’ SASE solution was one of the solutions we investigated. SASE stands for Secure Access Service Edge, a uniform global network and security platform for all connectivity requirements, governed by one global policy. We concluded this was the solution we were looking for. Cato really is a true cloud solution, not a legacy technology which was ‘rebuilt’ to become cloud enabled. And the fact that connectivity and security are combined within one single solution will help us drive down cost and improve our internal customers’ experience.” 

Kramp selected Expereo to do the actual rollout and management of the SASE solution, including the internet connectivity underlay.  

Jos Nieuwenhuis: “There are a number of reasons why we chose Expereo. First, we needed a stable and reliable partner for Kramp, who can deliver the personal attention we need. We were looking for a partner who thinks along with us, and that is exactly what we found. The people at Expereo have a lot of knowledge and experience and the collaboration is highly transparent, on the commercial side as well as the technical side. This gave us the confidence to partner with Expereo for our next gen WAN.” 

The roll-out of the SASE network started in February 2020, with the objective to migrate more than 20 Kramp subsidiaries before the end of the year.  

Jos Nieuwenhuis: “The roll-out is proceeding fast, we expect that all locations will be live in November. Last year we acquired a company in Spain which we want to migrate onto Kramp IT standards. The fact that the schedule is proceeding fast, allowed us to also migrate these nine subsidiaries to Expereo managed SASE before the end of the year.” 

Jos Nieuwenhuis: “Expereo managed to keep customer service at a high level. Our engineers also experienced very good cooperation with the people at Expereo. What I appreciate is the transparency and the open conversations we have with them. With Expereo, you know where you stand.” 

Kramp how has many benefits from the managed SASE solution from Expereo.  

Jos Nieuwenhuis: “What I particularly like about the solution is the flexibility and speed which also help us to speed up other projects. 

We have also achieved major cost efficiencies. Phasing out our MPLS connections leads to a very positive return on investment. Replacing MPLS with Internet connections – which are very stable and reliable in Western Europe – was a big driver for the cost reductions we wanted to achieve. Traffic optimization within the managed SASE network ensures that we need less bandwidth than before. This built-in efficiency allows us to minimize the costs of our WAN without sacrificing performance. 

Kramp started out in 1951 as a small, one-man operation. Today, it is one of the largest, fastest growing technical wholesalers of parts and accessories for Europe’s agricultural sector.

As a one-stop supplier, Kramp stands out by offering added value as a technical specialist and strategic partner. Since its foundation, the company has consistently pursued a single goal: to make work as easy and efficient as possible for its customers. Kramp has 2,600 dedicated employees who always go the extra mile to support their customers, ensuring they never experience downtime. 

Legacy solutions are not designed to handle traffic destined for the cloud and lack the flexibility and efficiency that a modern enterprise requires. 

With Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) from Expereo, you can unleash the full potential of the cloud, bringing together the best of network and security into one, simplified cloud solution.  

Get in touch today to discuss your needs.