SAP sucess stories

SAP Success Story -INFOSYS


Global Power and Automation Major

Infosys' SAP Revitalization Program enables SOX compliant SAP enhancements, process standardization, and de-risked SAP upgrade


The Client

The client is a multinational corporation headquartered in Switzerland, operating mainly in the power and automation technology areas. It is one of the world's largest engineering companies with operations in around 100 countries and approximately 110,000 employees.


Business Need

The client was looking for an implementation partner to completely enhance its SAP environment in order to achieve a robust system compliant with the requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), and to retire custom objects and replace them with standard SAP functionality. The client wanted to implement business process changes, identify process key controls in SAP and implement the authorization framework mandated by SOX. It wanted the upgraded and enhanced system to be delivered within timelines of the compliance calendar.


Challenges

The key business challenges included multiple reporting units and fragmentation of business with process uniqueness. Some other business challenges involved:

    * Complex process of Group Reporting with long closing cycles and manual reconciliation process
    * Challenges in achieving Sarbanes-Oxley compliance with a high number of processes and key controls to be made compliant
    * Inadequate support for process improvement and compliance from the SAP platform
    * Alignment of IT strategy and operations with business requirements


The key IT challenges identified were

    * Modification to standard SAP solution, and custom objects with Support patches being applied at intermittent timings
    * Inadequate internal resources availability - in terms of numbers and skill - to manage the planned projects
    * Service levels of the IS organization with support functions were not well established


Our Solution

The Infosys solution was focused on revitalization of the client's SAP landscape and involved the following components:

    * Innovative approach of combined execution of technical upgrade and functional enhancements, thereby allowing the client to meet its statutory commitments on time
    * Implement SOX functional enhancements and other functional enhancements involving Business Process Changes
    * Technical upgrade from R/3 4.0B to R/3 4.7 Enterprise
    * Custom objects retirements and replacement with standard features


Infosys started off with a two-week System Assessment to identify upgrade effort and key compliance requirements. We embarked on parallel execution of Technical Upgrade and Functional Enhancements, instead of the conventional and less risky sequential or staggered approach, to reduce cost and meet time targets. We followed a Program approach to contain business continuity and compliance risks. We de-risked delivery by tailoring ValueSAP Upgrade Roadmap to mesh in functionality changes. A matrix organization was created for the project team to achieve seamless knowledge sharing and optimum resource utilization. The highlights of the Infosys Upgrade Solution were:

    * Usage of Infosys upgrade toolset INSUIT for accelerated technical upgrade and quality assurance
    * Object-level impact analysis and Change Management to control parallel change from upgrade and enhancements


Benefits

All the key milestones of the SAP Revitalization Program were achieved on schedule and within budget. Some of the business benefits delivered to the client were:

    * A stable ERP platform with 25% of custom functionality reduced because of the comprehensive upgrade and process standardization
    * Project and Application Support procedure conforming to SOX relevant IT controls was set up with automatic and IT dependent key controls for business processes delivered in SAP
    * Operational improvements in performance of the Finance   Accounting Shared Service Center delivered through implementation of Profit Center Accounting and training of the client's team
    * A role-based training for the entire SAP end-user community of the client
    * Improved SAP Application Support operations with a three-level support organization set up during transition and creation of a Service Level concept for service delivery


DaimlerChrysler - One more sucess story (Infosys)

Infosys developed a single, comprehensive SAP based solution that merged DaimlerChrysler's disparate processes and IT systems for greater efficiency, offering flexibility to manage global and regional changes in the business process.


The Client

DaimlerChrysler is a global leader in the luxury automobiles industry with reputed brands like Mercedes-Benz and Maybach.


Business Need

The supply chain between the DaimlerChrysler factories and their customers is fairly complex. The company had implemented processes across the value chain - including its factories, wholesale centers, retail outlets and service centers - that had been fined-tuned to the point where it could deliver vehicles to the exact specifications of customers anywhere in the world, on time. With markets being autonomous and having disparate systems, integrating them and managing logistics was getting increasingly difficult.


DaimlerChrysler needed to merge processes and disparate IT systems into a single solution across geographies and markets.


Challenges

The business blueprint had to encompass all the common processes while incorporating global best practices. Flexibility had to be built into the model with respect to possible global and regional changes in the business processes.


It was equally important for the model to be a comprehensive fit into the business solution.


 Solution

Working closely with DaimlerChrysler in the Asia Pacific & Africa regions, Infosys prepared the business blueprint. The template based solution using SAP that Infosys offered was implemented across the region, including Japan, Australia, South Korea, Thailand and China (ongoing) among others. The project's success in the Asia Pacific & Africa was a catalyst to take the Infosys engagement with DC to a higher platform. As a result, similar template solution methodologies are being adopted in Europe.


The Europe template, developed on the basis of the pilot implementation in The Netherlands, was subsequently deployed to Denmark and Sweden and will soon cover other European nations.


To allow rapid business changes and reusability, Infosys developed several tools and processes to manage the rollout program. Focus was on synchronization to keep the templates consistent.


With the success of the Europe template Infosys is now rolling out the Finance template across Europe.


Benefits

The template solution for DaimlerChrysler enables dealers to select options and fittings and calculate vehicle prices at the preliminary order level. This change brought a new dimension to the vehicle ordering value chain. The solution, which provides comprehensive tracking of vehicles, is tightly integrated with factory master data supply and dealer orders are checked online and updated in the factory system.


Specific country regulatory requirements are complied with -- e.g. European Commission rules, Australian compliance plate regulation, and customs regulations of various countries.


With diverse experience across cultures, languages and time-zones, Infosys has established itself as a strategic vendor for mission-critical projects at DaimlerChrysler.