Danish engineering conglomerate Danfoss has made a decisive move towards sustainability by choosing the HPE GreenLake for SAP S/4HANA Cloud within the RISE with SAP framework, to be deployed in its own data centers. This selection marks a significant step in Danfoss’s ongoing journey to a more sustainable cloud infrastructure.
Founded in 1933, Danfoss has long been at the forefront of engineering solutions that promote energy efficiency, reduce emissions, and drive electrification. As part of its efforts to uphold stringent standards of data sovereignty, reliability, and sustainability, the company faced the imperative to adapt its IT infrastructure to support expansive growth aligned with its environmental objectives.
In this transformative phase, Danfoss embarked on a modernization of its IT landscape back in 2016, targeting the integration of SAP S/4HANA. This suite of intelligent business applications was seen as crucial for supporting the company’s expansive and innovative operations, especially at the edge, using its modular data centers.
The latest move to adopt HPE GreenLake for SAP S/4HANA Cloud aligns with Danfoss’s strategic goals by leveraging a model that combines the flexibility of cloud services with the security and control of private data environments. This approach is designed to meet the company’s need for a solution that is flexible, scalable, and cost-efficient, while also being fundamentally sustainable.
The co-innovative solution from HPE and SAP allows Danfoss to maintain mission-critical SAP workloads in-house in an energy-efficient setup. This strategy not only ensures enhanced control over data and applications but also minimizes latency, which is crucial for faster processing and access, enhancing overall operational efficiency and security.
Sune Baastrup, Chief Information Officer at Danfoss, emphasized the dual benefits of this setup. “Selecting RISE with SAP and HPE GreenLake allows us to optimize our data center operations for energy consumption and carbon emissions without sacrificing other business priorities,” he explained. This setup would offer Danfoss the benefits of cloud computing, including scalability and efficiency, while keeping critical data within the proximity and protection of the company’s own facilities.
Mikkel Stavnsbo, Managing Director at SAP Denmark, highlighted the enduring partnership between Danfoss and SAP, which has now entered a new phase with this implementation. He remarked on the potential for digital transformation that the partnership holds, especially for a sustainability leader like Danfoss.
Carsten Regner Nielsen, Managing Director of the Nordic Cluster at HPE, also commented on the partnership’s significance, stating, “Our collaboration with Danfoss underscores our commitment to supporting global leaders in their transition to sustainable IT operations.”
Sustainable Approach: Reduce, Reuse, and Resource
Danfoss’s strategy for reducing its carbon footprint is centered around a three-pronged approach: reduce, reuse, and resource. This strategy involves deploying energy-efficient solutions to minimize consumption, reusing excess heat energy, and sourcing renewable energy as a replacement for fossil fuels.
In line with this strategy, Danfoss has been pioneering in heat reuse technologies at its headquarters in Nordborg, Denmark. The technology deployed allows excess heat from Danfoss’s data centers to contribute up to 25% of the heat supply for its extensive manufacturing site. Additionally, improvements in data center cooling technologies have halved the cooling requirements, further reducing the energy footprint.
A notable aspect of Danfoss’s sustainable IT journey includes its partnership with HPE to optimize IT asset lifecycle management through HPE Asset Upcycling Services. This service facilitates the responsible refurbishment and decommissioning of IT assets, adding a layer of economic recovery while enhancing environmental stewardship.
The adoption of the HPE GreenLake platform by Danfoss not only signifies its dedication to achieving its decarbonization goals but also serves as a blueprint for other companies looking to address their sustainability challenges through integrated, smart technology solutions. Reports indicate that infrastructure powered by HPE GreenLake can reduce energy consumption by as much as 53%, providing a compelling case for its effectiveness in sustainable IT deployment. This strategic move by Danfoss, therefore, would mark a significant milestone in the industry’s shift towards greener, more responsible technology practices.
