Case Study: Airbus Helicopters achieves 59% SharePoint content database reduction and centralizes legacy data with AvePoint DocAve

Airbus Helicopters Reduces Microsoft® SharePoint® Content Database by 59% and Centralizes Data from Legacy Systems with DocAve®

Airbus Helicopters, a global leader in rotorcraft with roughly 10,000 SharePoint users across multiple countries, needed to centralize collaboration and replace legacy systems like EMC Documentum eRoom. Administrators faced performance and cost issues because Microsoft SQL Server wasn’t designed to store large binary files (BLOBs) natively, and the company needed rule-driven storage optimization, fast migration of legacy content, simplified intra‑SharePoint site moves, and access to file‑share content through SharePoint.

Airbus implemented AvePoint’s DocAve platform (Storage Optimization, Migrator, Content Manager and File Share Navigator) to externalize BLOBs via RBS, automate migrations and manage site moves from a central console. The solution moved ~550 GB of BLOB data outside SQL Server and consolidated 40 GB of eRoom content into SharePoint, reducing the SQL Server content database by about 59% to 380 GB—improving performance, lowering storage costs, and centralizing access for end users.

Airbus Helicopters

Lothar Hanke

Head of Collaboration and Document Management