Vinícola Salton
Multi-Year Enterprise IT Transformation
Overview
Served as strategic IT partner for Vinícola Salton, one of Brazil's leading wineries, over a 10-year engagement. Led comprehensive IT transformation spanning infrastructure modernization, ERP migrations, cloud architecture, and 24/7 managed IT services. Delivered five critical infrastructure projects while maintaining continuous operational support for business-critical systems.
Client Context
Vinícola Salton represents a unique challenge in enterprise IT:
- Agribusiness + Manufacturing: Complex IT requirements spanning vineyard operations, production facilities, distribution, and corporate systems
- Mission-Critical ERP: Protheus ERP managing end-to-end business operations from grape harvesting to wine distribution
- Legacy Infrastructure: Oracle databases, aging VMware environments, and complex integrations requiring careful modernization
- Zero-Downtime Requirements: Peak production seasons (harvest, bottling) cannot tolerate system outages
The IRIS Integrated IT Management Platform
Challenge: Fragmented IT Operations
Before IRIS, Salton's IT operations were scattered across multiple disconnected tools: monitoring alerts via email, tickets in spreadsheets, passwords in shared documents, and no visibility into infrastructure health or project status.
Solution: Architected and implemented IRIS, a comprehensive integrated IT management platform consolidating monitoring, ITIL service desk, project management, knowledge base, credential vault, and survey tools into a unified interface.
IRIS Platform Architecture
Key Modules:
- Watch Module (24x7 Monitoring):
- • Zabbix 3.0 integration for infrastructure monitoring
- • Real-time alerting via Telegram and phone calls
- • Automated threshold-based escalation
- • Custom dashboards for executive visibility
- ITIL-Based Service Desk (OTRS 5.0):
- • Incident, problem, and change management workflows
- • SLA tracking and compliance reporting
- • Automated ticket creation from monitoring alerts
- • Email integration for seamless ticket submission
- Project Portfolio Management:
- • Centralized project tracking and resource allocation
- • Gantt charts and milestone tracking
- • Budget vs. actual cost analysis
- Knowledge Base (Wiki):
- • Technical documentation repository
- • Runbooks for common operational procedures
- • Architecture diagrams and system documentation
- Credential Vault:
- • Encrypted password management
- • Role-based access control
- • Audit logging for compliance
Impact
- • Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR): Reduced from 4+ hours to 45 minutes through automated alerting and centralized ticketing
- • SLA Compliance: Improved from 72% to 98% through systematic incident tracking
- • Operational Visibility: Executive dashboards providing real-time infrastructure health status
- • Knowledge Retention: 200+ documented procedures reducing dependency on individual team members
Five Critical Infrastructure Projects
1. Oracle Cloud to On-Premise Migration
Challenge: Oracle Cloud costs exceeded budget by 180%. Need to repatriate critical workloads while maintaining 99.9% availability.
Approach:
- • Architected Hyper-V hyperconverged cluster (3 nodes) for high availability
- • Implemented Storage Spaces Direct for shared storage across cluster
- • Designed staged migration: non-critical systems → databases → ERP frontend
- • Created automated failback procedures in case of issues
- • Maintained hybrid cloud period (30 days) for validation
Result: 75% cost reduction while improving performance. Zero data loss. 4-hour migration window (executed overnight).
2. ERP Database Migration: Oracle → SQL Server 2019
Challenge: Protheus ERP running on expensive Oracle licenses. Need to migrate 500GB database to SQL Server without breaking application compatibility.
Technical Complexity:
- • Oracle-specific SQL syntax in stored procedures and views
- • Data type mapping challenges (CLOB → VARCHAR(MAX), NUMBER → DECIMAL)
- • Custom code adaptations in Protheus ADVPL language
- • Index strategy redesign for SQL Server query optimizer
Migration Strategy:
- 1. Schema conversion using custom Python scripts (not SQL Server Migration Assistant due to Protheus-specific schema)
- 2. Data migration via BCP utility with validation checksums
- 3. ADVPL code adaptation (converted Oracle-specific functions to SQL Server equivalents)
- 4. Performance tuning: query plan analysis, index optimization
- 5. Parallel testing environment running for 60 days before cutover
Result: 60% reduction in database licensing costs. 30% query performance improvement. 8-hour migration window (executed over weekend).
3. Protheus ERP Upgrade (12.1.15 → 12.1.25)
Challenge: Running unsupported ERP version with critical security vulnerabilities. Upgrade required compatibility testing across 50+ custom modules.
Approach:
- • Comprehensive custom code audit (200+ ADVPL programs)
- • Parallel test environment with production data copy
- • Automated regression testing for critical business processes
- • Phased rollout: back-office → production → sales/distribution
Result: Zero business disruption. 40+ security vulnerabilities patched. Enabled compatibility with latest fiscal requirements.
4. Network Security Transformation
Challenge: MikroTik routers struggling with VPN load. No deep packet inspection. Growing security compliance requirements.
Solution:
- • Replaced MikroTik with Fortigate 60F firewall (UTM bundle)
- • Redesigned VPN infrastructure: site-to-site IPSec tunnels for branch offices
- • Implemented VLAN segmentation: production network isolated from office/guest
- • Enabled IPS/IDS, application control, web filtering
- • Configured high-availability pair for critical locations
Result: 95% reduction in security incidents. VPN throughput increased 3x. Compliance with industry security standards.
5. Protheus Data Dictionary Migration
Challenge: Protheus ERP data dictionary stored in proprietary CTree format (file-based). Performance degradation under concurrent access. No ACID guarantees.
Technical Decision:
- • Migrated data dictionary from CTree to SQL Server relational tables
- • Benefit: Transactional consistency for metadata operations
- • Challenge: Protheus application expects CTree file structure
- • Solution: Configured Protheus ODBC drivers for dictionary access
Result: Eliminated data dictionary corruption issues. 10x faster concurrent access during peak usage.
Ongoing Managed IT Support
Beyond project delivery, provided continuous managed services:
- Infrastructure Support: Proactive monitoring, capacity planning, patch management
- Database Administration: Performance tuning, backup validation, disaster recovery testing
- ERP Maintenance: Protheus updates, custom module development, integration troubleshooting
- 24x7 Emergency Response: On-call support for production incidents with 30-minute response SLA
Technical Stack
Impact & Results
Key Lessons Learned
- Long-term Partnerships Beat One-Off Projects: 10 years of trust enabled bold architectural decisions. Deep business context understanding made every project smoother.
- Integrated Platforms > Point Solutions: IRIS platform consolidation dramatically improved operational efficiency vs. maintaining 5+ disconnected tools.
- Hybrid Cloud Periods Are Worth The Cost: Running parallel environments during migrations (Oracle Cloud + on-prem, Oracle DB + SQL Server) de-risked every major transition.
- ERP Migrations Are 80% Business Process, 20% Technology: Custom code audits and regression testing prevented business disruption. Technical migration was straightforward compared to validating 50+ custom workflows.
- Observability Pays For Itself: IRIS Watch module's automated alerting caught issues before users noticed, dramatically improving perceived reliability.
Why This Matters
This engagement demonstrates capabilities critical for senior infrastructure roles:
- Strategic Thinking: Designed multi-year transformation roadmap aligned with business growth
- Risk Management: Zero data loss across five major migrations through careful planning and hybrid approaches
- Business Continuity: Maintained operations during complex transformations (ERP upgrades, database migrations)
- Cost Optimization: 70% total infrastructure cost reduction while improving performance and security
- Cross-Functional Leadership: Coordinated with vineyard operations, production, finance, and executive teams