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Customer Story

RH Marine Dives into the Future with Innovative Overhaul

Leader in marine systems automation upgrades IT architecture for a faster, more integrated approach
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Related services
Azure DevOps, Server Migration 

Industry
Transport, Trade and Logistics

Company
Xebia

Started in 1860, RH Marine began when Dutch sailor Jan Jacob van Rieschoten set up shop providing equipment for ships. He later teamed up with engineer Willem Houwens and together they formed Van Rietschoten and Houwens. Since then, RH Marine has become the premier provider of electrical and systems automation for ships and yachts, specializing in tailormade solutions. The company also offers project management, system design, engineering, training, installation, and site support. With its main headquarters in the Netherlands, the company also has locations in Miami and Barcelona.
Why
Allow for better functionality and upgraded features
What
Migrate its software for easier testing and automation
How
Upgrade software and deploy new hardware

Water-Tight Migration

Maintaining ships to fit maritime standards involves a high degree of complexity. Each ship is unique with different requirements. For RH Marine, managing each ship often required a custom solution with different software and testing, much of it manually. As software engineer Chris Werkmeester put it: “The effort involved in version management and testing is huge.” To remedy this, RH Marine decided to upgrade its Team Foundation Server (FTS) and migrate to Azure DevOps. The migration would be an intricate process involving many new features including migrating hardware. When RH Marine approached Xebia with the task, the company knew it was a good fit. Xebia had the right leadership and experience to guide RH Marine throughout the migration process.

A Smooth Transition

RH Marine was faced with a complex environment and needed the support to migrate its software and hardware efficiently without any hiccups. Xebia sent in a consultant whose experience in handling migration allowed RH Marine to streamline the process. Developer Chris Werkmeester noted: “The consultant made clear how our software had to be prepared, and which precautions had to be taken by our product teams to curtail any risky elements. And it worked even better than planned! The migration proceeded faster than expected.”

“The variety in the maritime market is practically unlimited. Ships are like living beings. Each ship is unique and imposes specific automation and integration requirements. Moreover, maritime legislation and regulations demand certified solutions which require meticulous testing.”
RH Marine
Chris Werkmeester Developer and Engineer

Supporting Future Success

Automating testing was of prime importance for RH Marine. Not only would it reduce the challenges of manual testing but it allowed for faster, integrated solutions improving on service as a whole. The first step was to have all teams on board, engaged with each part of the journey. Xebia guided each team on best practices for migrating and syncing apps and tools to their new home. This included software and hardware. With the new upgrade, version control, testing and release management, as well as project management were all easily automated. This scalable architecture achieved better performance and ultimately enhanced client connectivity.

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