Link Copied

Client Profile

Lwart Environmental Solutions is a global leader in oil re-refining, converting millions of liters of used oil per year into reusable products that power a more sustainable world.

Industry

Energy & Utilities

Geography

Brazil

Technology Platforms

VMware, SAP Business Suite, SAP ECC, SAP Business Objects, SAP Sybase

For Lwart Environmental Solutions, when you change the oil in your car, the story does not end there. That moment is the beginning of a carefully engineered process that protects the planet and gives finite resources a second life.

Founded in 1975 by four brothers whose initials form the company’s name (L for Luiz, W for Wilson, A for Alberto, R for Renato and T for the family name Trecenti), Lwart has grown into the first and only Latin American re-refinery to produce Group II base oil. Each year, the company has the capacity to process 240 million liters of used oil a year across more than half of Brazil’s municipalities, guided by a circular economy model rooted in environmental responsibility, innovation and long-term thinking.

Jefferson Andriotti, Head of IT and Procurement at Lwart Environmental Solutions, described the next chapter of that story: “We pick up oil from 21 collection centers throughout Brazil using a fleet of approximately 650 heavy-duty vehicles and transport it to Lençóis Paulista, where we re-refine it into Group II base oil. Today, we are one of the world’s leading companies in re-refining and refining productivity.”

Jefferson Andriotti
Head of IT and Procurement, Lwart Environmental Solutions
Street Smart Brazil

Overheating economy leads to a search for better SAP support value

Lwart relies on SAP ECC as the operational foundation for nearly all business functions. Any disruption would ripple nationwide, affecting approximately 1,100 users, including up to 540 truck drivers who depend on mobile connectivity to conduct daily oil collection. “If SAP stops working, the whole oil collection process around the country comes to a halt,” Andriotti declared.

In 2017, as Brazil faced economic turbulence, Lwart’s leadership began re-evaluating how to reduce IT costs without compromising reliability. After engaging with Rimini Street at a Gartner event, Andriotti discovered Rimini Support™ for SAP.

Rimini Street’s reputation for supporting SAP, including customizations, compliance updates and 24/7/365 availability, offered Lwart a significant opportunity for cost reduction while maintaining enterprise-grade support and full control of its software licensing. After a detailed evaluation, Rimini Street met all of Lwart’s benchmarks, and Andriotti made the move.

Benefits of Rimini Support™ for SAP include:

• Dedicated Primary Support Engineer (PSE) with 20+ years of experience, backed by a global team of SAP experts
• Guaranteed 10-minute response time for priority cases, delivered on average in less than 2 minutes, with a frequent cadence of communications
• Guaranteed 4-hour resolution for priority 1 cases
• ISO-certified global tax, legal and regulatory updates for 160+ countries with fastest Legislature-to-Live™ update cycle in the industry
• Customization support included at no additional costs

“We’ve had nothing but good experiences since we moved our support for SAP to Rimini Street,” Andriotti observed. “With my SAP ECC 6 stabilized, secured and performing optimally with Rimini Support, I no longer have to worry about constantly upgrading or migrating to a new version of SAP ERP as some of my peers do. Rimini Street makes it possible for me to focus my team’s attention on the needs of our customers, partners and the future of Lwart instead of unnecessary disruption.”

Maintaining VMware stability amid Broadcom’s price pressure

As the relationship developed, Lwart faced a dilemma with its VMware systems. Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware introduced a licensing model that would have tripled Lwart’s costs, leaving Andriotti with a big decision to make. “Either we would need to absorb a massive increase in licensing costs with Broadcom or pursue alternate paths,” Andriotti said. “We looked at moving to Nutanix or Citrix, but because Rimini Street had done so well with our SAP support, we thought, why not use them for VMware too?”

Building on the trust established through supporting its SAP, Lwart expanded the relationship to Rimini Support™ for VMware, delivered under the Rimini Custom™ umbrella, which provides third-party software and managed services for a broader range of enterprise software, including end-of-life systems.

A differentiator of Rimini Street’s support for VMware offerings against other hypervisor service vendors is its security-focused approach. Rimini Street is the only VMware support provider to include an integrated, zero-day, proactive hypervisor security solution with Rimini Protect™ Advanced Hypervisor Security, powered by Vali Cyber®. In addition to comprehensive security, Rimini Street’s support for VMware provides Lwart with:

• An Assigned Primary Support Engineer and an Assigned Engagement Manager for case management and optimization
• Direct access to Application Architects and Infrastructure Specialists
• Guaranteed 10-minute response time for priority cases, delivered on average in less than 2 minutes, with a frequent cadence of communications
• Guaranteed 4-hour resolution for priority 1 cases
• Root cause analysis to help prevent future issues
• Full availability of perpetual licenses without required upgrades or migrations

“When we migrated to Rimini Support for SAP in 2021, I said, ‘Wow, we should have done this sooner,’” Andriotti reflected. “When Rimini Support™ for VMware launched, we were among the first to sign up. Our VMware is stable, so why would I risk it or sign a contract out of fear? It was the right decision, and we’re reaping positive results.”

The most important result for Andriotti is Rimini Street’s comprehensive support model. “We currently have two licenses, one with Broadcom and one with Rimini Street for VMware,” he said. “When we need to use Broadcom support, it takes a long time to solve an issue. They barrage us with questions but rarely give us the answers that we need. It’s a bad experience for our users. But just like with SAP, my team loves this partnership with the Rimini Street VMware team. They always respond fast and seek to solve the problem.”

Shifting focus from system maintenance to business process improvements

Rimini Street reduced Lwart’s annuals vendor support costs for SAP by 50% while maintaining enterprise-grade stability, giving Lwart more bandwidth for innovation. “With Rimini Street, we don’t have any issues with SAP or VMware, so we have more time to spend improving business processes and working with our innovation team,” Andriotti said.

That focus has translated into tangible outcomes across the oil collection network. “In the past, our truck drivers would have to go to the bank every day to withdraw money for fuel and truck maintenance,” he recalled. “Today, we’ve integrated smartphones so that drivers can pay automatically. They no longer have to go to the bank or carry money. That means we can better track spending, and the drivers are safer because they aren’t carrying large sums of cash with them.”

Strategic partnership keeps Lwart ready for what’s next

“I need the best people, systems and equipment, but I also need the best partners to support where the business needs to go,” he said. “You might think that because we’re paying less, we’re getting less, but with Rimini Street, we pay less and get more value. We’re delighted.”

By consolidating support for SAP and VMware with a trusted provider, Lwart also reduces vendor management and accountability by having one partner to call for multiple IT needs.

As Lwart invests R$1 billion to expand its re-refinery and scale its environmental impact, its IT foundation remains steady, refined and built for the long term. Like the oil it re-refines every day, Lwart’s technology strategy proves that with the right strategic partner, what already exists can be transformed into something stronger, cleaner and ready for the future.

“Some of my colleagues were skeptical at first when I selected Rimini Street for SAP and VMware. After seeing my results, those same colleagues are reaching out for more information about how Rimini Street can help them too,” Andriotti shared. “With Rimini Street, our SAP and VMware environments simply work,” Andriotti said. “That reliability gives us time to improve business processes and collaborate more closely with our innovation teams. We’ve found a partner we trust to keep our core systems running while we focus on where the business needs to go next.”