VfB Stuttgart and STACKIT
CASE STUDY
Digital independence, security and future viability for VfB Stuttgart
As the largest sports club in Baden-Württemberg, VfB Stuttgart takes social responsibility and was therefore looking for a technological solution that meets European standards, complies with data protection regulations and does not result in a vendor lock-in. The club opted for the sovereign STACKIT Cloud because it offers all this and independence on an economic, technological and political level. VfB Stuttgart is focusing on innovation and artificial intelligence in order to position itself sustainably as one of the most ambitious Bundesliga soccer clubs.
VfB Stuttgart as a digital pioneer in professional sport
As one of the most renowned soccer clubs in Germany, VfB Stuttgart combines tradition with ambition and a drive for innovation. It has set itself the goal of becoming a digital pioneer in professional sport – throughout Europe. To achieve this, the club is also investing in modern technology, infrastructure and artificial intelligence.
The challenge: security, scalability and digital sovereignty
As a sports club, you also face technological change with its opportunities and challenges. With the MHP Arena, VfB Stuttgart has one of the most modern stadiums in Europe. In order to provide fans with a memorable home match experience, the systems in the stadium itself are constantly being put to the test. The increasing complexity of the digital environment has made it necessary for VfB Stuttgart to look for a reliable partner that offers technological excellence and at the same time a deep understanding of the special requirements of a sports organization with social responsibility.
Security
The number and variety of interconnected components and systems is constantly growing. Every new interface and every new device represents a potential security risk. This leads to increasingly complex management, a larger attack surface for cybercrime and a lack of transparency about the system and the dependencies within it.
Scalability
The demand for computing power fluctuates greatly in professional sport. Whether it’s peak loads on match days, the run on the online store when new jerseys are released or advance ticket sales for the season finale – the requirements are highly dynamic.
Sovereignty
For a German club with social responsibility, compliance with the GDPR and safeguarding data sovereignty is a top priority. Independence from non-European providers or individual platforms is just as important.
The solution: a sovereign partnership as equals
As part of Schwarz Digits, STACKIT is an important component of the partnership with VfB Stuttgart. Schwarz Digits’ technological expertise and strong regional roots convinced VfB Stuttgart to join forces. With its sovereign cloud, STACKIT provides the basis for the digital, scalable and future-proof infrastructure. Based on open source technologies, STACKIT’s cloud solution offers VfB Stuttgart full control over its data, high availability and guarantees digital sovereignty through exclusively European data centers.
Selecting the right cloud services
A team of consultants from MHP Management- und IT-Beratung GmbH and the experts from STACKIT and Schwarz Digits are supporting VfB Stuttgart throughout the entire migration process and are available for the design, implementation and ongoing operation. Following a detailed analysis of the existing systems, a combination of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products was used to create a fully comprehensive cloud environment:
An automatically scaling Kubernetes cluster is provided for the dynamic, containerized applications, such as the merchandising store.
This highly available object storage is used for the asset publishing of media files and the storage of large, unstructured data volumes, such as for photo and moving image platforms as well as in the context of video analysis of games.
This ensures a lightning-fast and efficient full-text search in the online store.
These two STACKIT services are used for the intelligent routing of data traffic and the distribution of the load to the various services.
STACKIT Observability was implemented for transparent monitoring of the entire infrastructure, applications and data flows. This ensures that performance bottlenecks are detected at an early stage.
For the new architecture, the infrastructure components were no longer configured manually, but stored as code. This enables automated deployment processes, allowing new software versions to be provided quickly, reliably and without errors. Applications such as the web store and the user database were provided on the SKE and the CMS was redeveloped to be cloud-native in order to take full advantage of the cloud. In addition to the STACKIT Cloud, VfB Stuttgart also uses solutions from our ecosystem partner XM Cyber. These enable the club to identify potential security risks at an early stage and take targeted countermeasures.
“For us, digital sovereignty means independence, security and sustainability. We use systems that reflect European standards, comply with data protection regulations, have potential and do not make us dependent on individual platforms or providers. We specifically rely on regional partners who share our values. Through projects with IPAI or the use of our own AI models, we show how technological independence works in the sports environment.”
Chairman of the board of VfB Stuttgart
The result: a home venue as an innovation platform for digital and AI-supported applications
Thanks to the newly created digital infrastructure, VfB Stuttgart now has the flexibility and efficiency it needs to drive forward its holistic digitalization. With the services and solutions used, VfB Stuttgart can identify risks in good time, make informed decisions and remain competitive in the long term. The MHP Arena will thus become an innovation platform for digital and AI-supported applications. VfB Stuttgart uses digitalization not only as an end in itself and to further develop internal processes, but above all to make the home match experience even better for the fans.
The successful migration was just the first step. The scalable basis in the sovereign STACKIT Cloud opens up new opportunities for digital innovation for the club. Together with VfB Stuttgart, Schwarz Digits and XM Cyber, we at STACKIT are taking responsibility for a sovereign digital future.
Further references
