Secure journey to the cloud: PANTAENIUS relies on Azure.

The PANTAENIUS Group is a global underwriting agent and insurance broker specializing in yacht and boat insurance as well as insurance brokerage for medium-sized companies. With over 100,000 customers worldwide, the company offers customized insurance solutions for water sports enthusiasts, developed by skippers for skippers. The 18-person IT department of PANTAENIUS is centrally organized in a holding company and provides various services to the branches, which requires a high degree of complexity and flexibility.

PANTAENIUS, traditionally operating in an on-premise environment, recognized the need to fundamentally overhaul its web presence and make it future-proof. The existing infrastructure was reaching its limits, particularly in terms of security and operational load. It also became apparent that the company could no longer cope with the constantly changing technological requirements on its own for capacity reasons. The need to retain control over the technology used while ensuring operational security led to the decision to consider migrating the web servers used to the cloud.

In collaboration with PCG, PANTAENIUS migrated the web servers responsible for the company‘s main sales channel to the Azure Cloud. This migration enabled PANTAENIUS to benefit from the numerous advantages of cloud technology, such as increased security, better availability, greater scalability and optimized costs. In addition, internal IT resources were significantly relieved. PCG then took over the operation of the web servers in the Azure cloud and ensured that they were always kept up to date with the latest technology, met the requirements of the various markets and optimized performance and monitoring. In addition, PCG continuously provided impetus for innovation, supported problem-solving and enabled PANTAENIUS to play an active role in shaping the project by involving the company in decision-making processes and giving it the freedom to intervene in the cloud environment itself.

“The possibilities of the Azure Cloud are a quantum leap compared to on-premise operation. Initially, we were concerned that we would only be able to run our complex website infrastructure in the cloud with compromises. It quickly became clear that not only were all the solution components available, but that we also had completely new options for improving security and performance. The easy accessibility of the Azure platform combined with a well-thought-out, coherent solution architecture allows us to take on typical operational tasks ourselves, while at the same time we can count on the continuous support of PCG‘s experts. This collaboration at eye level is a true partnership for us.“

-Manuel Schlief
Head of IT, Pantaenius Holding GmbH

The partnership between PANTAENIUS and PCG is characterized by close and successful cooperation. PCG not only offers technical solutions, but also acts as a strategic partner that supports PANTAENIUS in the further development and adaptation of its IT infrastructure. The managed cloud operations that PCG implements for PANTAENIUS allow the company to focus on its core competencies while PCG masters the technical challenges. PCG‘s pragmatic and solution-oriented approach, which is characterized by a hands-on mentality and partnership-based cooperation at eye level, is particularly appreciated.

Outlook for the future

The successful migration to Microsoft Azure and the ongoing collaboration with PCG have not only brought PANTAENIUS a significant increase in security but also maximized operational efficiency. A key goal for the future is to upgrade the infrastructure even further in terms of security. There are also plans to make more intensive use of Microsoft 365. One exciting project that is still at the idea stage is the development of a fully redundant operational infrastructure in the cloud that can act as a backup for on-premise operations. The basic idea: the high standby costs of a redundant data center should be able to be reduced more effectively in a cloud scenario than would be possible in an on-premise operation.

Public Cloud Group (PCG) supports companies in their digital transformation through the use of public cloud solutions.

With a product portfolio designed to accompany organisations of all sizes in their cloud journey and competence that is a synonym for highly qualified staff that clients and partners like to work with, PCG is positioned as a reliable and trustworthy partner for the hyperscalers, relevant and with repeatedly validated competence and credibility.

We have the highest partnership status with the three relevant hyperscalers: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, and Microsoft. As experienced providers, we advise our customers independently with cloud implementation, application development, and managed services.