USU: Delivering fast, cost-effective IT and customer service solutions worldwide powered by Google Cloud
About USU
As one of Europe's largest providers of IT and knowledge management software, USU helps businesses adapt to the demands of the digital workplace, leveraging a diverse set of solutions spanning software asset management to IT self-service.
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About Cloudwürdig
A multi-certified Google Cloud Premier Partner, Cloudwürdig enables businesses to make the most of their cloud infrastructure.
When USU’s local data center could no longer meet the demands of its global customers, it turned to Google Cloud to help automate its services and further international growth, while cutting costs.
Google Cloud results
- Cuts cloud costs by 30% by replacing local data center with Compute Engine and VMs
- Accelerates company growth by enabling automated deployments of infrastructure around the world
- Improves the customer experience, making solutions three to five times faster after migration to Google Cloud
- Fulfills data security demands of customers in sensitive industries by meeting TISAX, ISO 27001 compliance standards out of the box
- Operating team can now provide new servers for demos or customers in two days, rather than two weeks
Reducing time to market from weeks to days or even hours
What does it take to meet the demands of today’s digital world? To keep up with evolving customer and employee needs, businesses must build smarter IT solutions and improve the user experience along the entire service journey. With a suite of enterprise applications, USU helps companies transform their IT services for everyone’s benefit—end customers, employees, or B2B clients.
As one of Europe's largest providers of IT and knowledge management software, USU enables businesses to simplify their workflows and improve efficiency, while cutting costs and reducing risk. The company’s service portfolio is extensive: it includes a scalable IT service management suite that helps businesses to plan, deliver, and manage IT services from a centralized platform, and a software asset management solution that simplifies the administration of software contracts and licenses. USU also helps businesses improve customer experience with self-service solutions and chatbots.
USU was founded in Germany, but its solutions have traveled the world and are now used in more than 185 countries. “We provide the fundamental IT solutions that businesses need to deliver services to their customers,” says Sven Kolb, Managing Director at USU. “Wherever services need to be delivered, we’re here to supply the software for them.”
“We weren’t satisfied with response times and pricing, but the main drawback of our local data center was the lack of delivery abroad. We have customers everywhere, from the U.S. to Australia. We need to deploy our services quickly on a global scale. That’s why we chose Google Cloud.”
—Sven Kolb, Managing Director, USUUnlocking the power of global delivery
USU’s customer base is varied and extensive. It includes numerous industries and verticals, from FinTech and automotive to government services. Even in more conservative sectors, USU’s customers increasingly prefer software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions over in-house or on-premises software models. That’s why USU decided to extend its on-premises network into the cloud, originally via a local data center near Stuttgart.
But USU is a global company, and its international demands soon tested the limits of the local data center. “We weren’t satisfied with response times and pricing, but the main drawback of our local data center was the lack of delivery abroad. We have customers everywhere, from the U.S. to Australia. We need to deploy our services quickly on a global scale. That’s why we chose Google Cloud,” explains Kolb.
Close support for a big impact
USU’s search for the right cloud vendor led them to Cloudwürdig, one of Germany’s leading cloud service providers and a multi-certified Google Cloud Premier Partner. When choosing between the different cloud vendors, the level of operational support from Cloudwürdig was crucial, Kolb says. “When you commit to such a big change, which has a huge potential impact on your business, you need someone you can work with closely. Paired with the global delivery capabilities, performance, and pricing of Google Cloud, this sealed our decision. And we’ve been really happy with it.”
Together with Cloudwürdig, Kolb and his team set aside six months for the migration. Because USU’s services, such as its knowledge bases, are in constant use, downtimes had to be planned strategically. “With support from Cloudwürdig, we got a grip on the tech aspect quickly,” says Kolb. “Combined with our detailed migration calendar, and coordinated project teams, our migration went smoothly and at a solid pace.”
“With Compute Engine, we can scale up and down as needed. In the past, setting up a new server could take several weeks. Today, it takes hours in countries where we already operate, and at most a few days elsewhere.”
—Sven Kolb, Managing Director, USUDelivering faster, with a 30% lower cloud spend
Today, USU runs its cloud services on Compute Engine and virtual machines. Once dependent on its local data center, USU can use its Google Cloud setup to deploy infrastructure for its customers, fully automated, around the world. Businesses can access USU’s SaaS offering from anywhere, and when customers need dedicated servers, whether in Japan or Saudi Arabia, the USU team can provide them within days.
For Kolb, scalability is key to USU’s future success: “With Compute Engine, we can scale up and down as needed. In the past, setting up a new server could take several weeks. Today, it takes hours in countries where we already operate, and at most a few days elsewhere.“ And USU’s cloud services aren’t just faster, they’re also cheaper: “We’ve achieved a level of scalability with Google Cloud that wouldn’t have been possible in the past, all while reducing our cloud spend by 30%,” adds Kolb.
International growth with strong compliance
With strong roots in Germany, USU has raised its profile all over the world, and much of its future growth potential lies abroad. In the past, growth was limited by the company’s ability to deliver infrastructure quickly. The scalability of Google Cloud has removed these growth barriers, setting USU up for further expansion. “Google Cloud has removed the pressure of delivery,” says Kolb. “We don’t need to worry about our IT capacities. If we sign a customer in Australia tomorrow, we’ll have the server ready tomorrow. That really helps our growth.“
Not all businesses are ready to leverage the cloud, but there’s a clear trend: while around 45% of USU’s customers still use on-premises installations, an increasing number favors USU’s cloud services. Security is a primary concern for businesses in verticals, such as FinTech, and Google Cloud gives USU an edge with industry-leading protection and compliance certifications. “When we bid for new contracts, some companies give us long lists of IT security demands, including compliance certifications, such as TISAX for automotive clients, or ISO 27 001. With Google Cloud, it’s a huge advantage that we’re compliant with most demands, out of the box,” says Kolb.
Faster services, happier customers
Since the move to Google Cloud, USU’s services have experienced a significant performance boost. “No matter how well built your software is, if your infrastructure can’t handle the data streams, it’s going to be slow, and customers don’t care whose fault it is. Since moving to Google Cloud, our services are three to four times faster than in the past, and five times faster in China. For people using our services, that can make a real difference in efficiency.”
“Now that we can deliver our services faster and more efficiently, we’re focused on further expanding internationally, including in the U.S. It offers almost limitless potential for growth, as long as you have the infrastructure to match. That’s why Google Cloud is the foundation of our international growth.”
—Sven Kolb, Managing Director, USUPushing the barriers of growth
Today, there are more than 2.2 million users of USU’s software solutions globally. With the ability to deploy infrastructure automatically, Kolb and his team have removed past barriers of growth, bringing USU services to even more businesses. Kolb concludes: “Now that we can deliver our services faster and more efficiently, we’re focused on further expanding internationally, including in the U.S. It offers almost limitless potential for growth, as long as you have the infrastructure to match. That’s why Google Cloud is the foundation of our international growth.”
Tell us your challenge. We're here to help.
Contact us
About USU
As one of Europe's largest providers of IT and knowledge management software, USU helps businesses adapt to the demands of the digital workplace, leveraging a diverse set of solutions spanning software asset management to IT self-service.
About Cloudwürdig
A multi-certified Google Cloud Premier Partner, Cloudwürdig enables businesses to make the most of their cloud infrastructure.