Building up a sustainable SAP process landscape
thyssenkrupp group advances digitalization and introduces new processes with SAP S/4HANA. Learn more in this Q&A with Dr. Michael Nöcker, Head of Solutions Center SAP Applications at thyssenkrupp Information Management GmbH, and Ute Hoffmeister-Huber, Account Director at Atos Information Technology GmbH.
Q: What was the initial challenge?
Nöcker: Ten years ago, we had a historically grown, heterogeneous scope within thyssenkrupp and wanted to introduce new processes within the framework of a harmonized financial control environment, and of course also implement them in a correspondingly modern IT.
Q: What approach did you choose?
Hoffmeister-Huber: From our point of view, a template approach in the SAP ERP area and the mapping of the central functions and processes in the group systems were decisive for this.
Why did we do this? On the one hand, we wanted to be flexible with technical innovations such as Business Suite on SAP HANA or now SAP S/4HANA. And on the other hand, to be able to map organizational changes during the project.
Nöcker: We were convinced by this reference that you had and the know-how of the relevant business processes at the time, which resulted in a concept that convinced us from both the business and technical components.
And that´s how our journey together began.
Q: Which delivery model did Atos choose for this?
Hoffmeister-Huber: I would like to emphasize three things.
- We selected consultants who have process know-how as well as IT know-how.
- We utilized a mix of onsite colleagues here in Essen, Germany, near-shore colleagues in Europe, and offshore colleagues from India and China.
- And we established a very flexible delivery model. That means we reviewed a rolling plan weekly to see how the requirements were changing and how we had to react.
Nöcker: In my opinion, this concept has worked. This is also evident now, as our IT, even thyssenkrupp as a whole, is in an upheaval process. We are evolving to a group of companies. We are currently reorganizing our IT so that this can be used as the basis for the challenges we are now facing.
Q: What are the most important elements for the IT of a future-proof group of companies?
Hoffmeister-Huber: Firstly, delivering the SAP template into the decentralized units. And secondly, the transfer of the central processes from the group systems to jointly used platforms.
Nöcker: These jointly developed solutions help us as IT of the thyssenkrupp group to advance digitalization, one of the elements essential to aligning ourselves in a resource-saving, sustainable manner. And I think that we will be able to continue pursuing this topic in a close partnership in the years to come.
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