Business success is dependent on recruiting and retaining the best available talent, regardless of the market or industry in which an organization operates. This means that a company’s HR team, the processes that support it, and the employee experience it provides are all critical to long-term success. As such, they must be kept up to date with modern technology and a suited approach.

So, when a major global pharmaceutical company identified that its HR systems were not fulfilling employee expectations, the business knew that it would have to take action. The organization reviewed the situation and discovered that the multi-faceted processes intended to provide support for a diverse set of circumstance had become confusing and difficult to navigate. In addition, this had led to repetitive loops, redundant work, and more manual effort than desired, all while limiting the time available for user interaction and continuous improvement.

Uninterested in taking half measures, the pharmaceutical company launched a global transformation project that would reimagine its HR processes, forge stronger bonds between various working groups, and increase the speed with which innovation could take place. All of this depended on changing the way the organization developed and introduced new technology and services. As a result, the company set out to implement an agile iterative approach to product development and engaged ��ѻ��ý as its partner to gain access to extensive technical expertise and a rich background of transformation success.

Educational effort supports Agile development

Transitioning from existing strategies and ways of working to an Agile structure required learning and awareness, without which the various teams involved would lack the ability to keep pace with employee needs and expectations as well as the rate of innovation. To respond to this need, the company and ��ѻ��ý launched a flexible coaching campaign.

The partners established a team of expert coaches that could engage with different teams in order to educate and inform key stakeholders and team members on how to adapt to an Agile approach. This group engaged with product owners and project managers while also occasionally supporting entire teams. These coaches worked with the organization and its external suppliers to develop more effective project management techniques and apply more efficient working models. In this way, the company’s internal innovation leaders learned to more effectively manage and empower agility as they developed new tools or services and eventually rolled them out for wider use.

Through the coaching initiative, ��ѻ��ý experts enabled the company’s HR product owners and teams to adopt an iterative development approach that ensured more extensive testing while simultaneously accelerating the rate at which new solutions could be introduced for employee use. This ensured that the company could develop more value-oriented projects with shorter lead times.

Accelerating the development and release of new HR features

Following the educational campaign, the company introduced an incremental approach for product development organized into six-week program planning meetings and program reviews. Moreover, the project rapidly created and prepared new teams while providing a sustainable way of working that fosters innovation and collaboration. Collaboration is driven by a structure that ensures regular alignment between different teams by establishing clear priorities, enabling regular stakeholder feedback related to new features, and clarifying dependencies that required stable inter-team connections.

As a result, employees now report higher satisfaction with the organization’s various HR services and systems. Regular updates and a user-centric focus ensure that this will continue while the greater frequency of inter-team collaboration guarantees that this work can be performed at greater speed. More effective coordination within the company and its suppliers also ensures that the organization will be able to develop new products and applications faster while delivering greater value.

Using its new development approach, the company has since launched a large number of new products and achieved general cost savings related to HR processes. These solutions are available across the world to support a substantial number of workers. With faster updates, greater flexibility, and more effective HR support, the company is now more able to support its employees with user-friendly systems and a commitment to continuous improvement in the future.

Anglian Water redefines customer payments through digital innovation

Anglian Water, the largest water and water recycling company in England and Wales by geographic area, serves nearly seven million customers. With an increasing number of customers preferring digital payment methods, the company recognized the need to modernize its payment system to meet customer expectations.

Based on research that showed digital wallet options improve customer satisfaction substantially, Anglian Water decided to enable the use of Apple Pay and Google Pay when making payments. By doing so, the company would make paying bills faster, easier, and more secure, allowing customers to complete the process in just two clicks. In this way, Anglian Water would make the payment process more customer-friendly and position itself as a leader in digital innovation within the utilities sector.

Launching a streamlined digital payment experience

To achieve this goal, Anglian Water partnered with ��ѻ��ý, forming a team that could carefully plan and implement the new digital wallet payment options. Operating as a single, unified team, the partners established an iterative delivery approach that ensured rigorous testing and feedback could guide development by quickly identifying technical issues to be fixed.

Over a six-month period, Anglian Water and ��ѻ��ý used a combination of structured planning and adaptive methods to build a secure and flexible eCommerce Payment application. Recognizing a need for additional knowledge, the project team underwent additional training that would enable more effective end-to-end ownership of the project and engagement with third parties.

Throughout this project, the partners followed a microservices architecture hosted on the Azure Platform as a Service. This payment application is comprised of API Manager, Function Apps, MVC Web App, Orchestrator Function App, Event Grid, Logic App, and Azure SQL, all of which support Apple Pay and Google Pay. These new payment options were designed to work across all devices and were compatible with both Android and iOS platforms.

Reaping the benefits and setting future goals

Since the launch of the new payment options in October 2023, Anglian Water has seen a significant shift in customer behavior. Quicker, easier payment processes improved customer satisfaction, resulting in 35 percent of payments now being made through digital wallets instead of traditional debit and credit cards. The project not only improved the overall payment experience but also reinforced Anglian Water’s position as an industry digital innovation leader.

Looking ahead, Anglian Water is committed to continuing its digital transformation. The company plans to explore more digital services that can further enhance customer satisfaction, while its ongoing partnership with ��ѻ��ý will remain central to driving future innovations. As Anglian Water expands its digital offerings and streamlines operations, the focus will remain on delivering the best possible service to its customers, ensuring that they stay at the heart of every decision.

A new property tax law for Baden-Württemberg

The Ministry of Finance of Baden-Württemberg is responsible for the state’s financial policy, budget, taxes, state holdings and real estate. When the state parliament passed the property tax law in 2020, the ministry faced a challenge: starting on 1 January 2025, a new legal basis for property tax was to come into effect in Baden-Württemberg that would guarantee municipalities 12% of their tax revenue, or 1.8 billion euros annually.

The tax offices in Baden-Württemberg are therefore obliged to revalue all local properties according to the land value model as of 1 January 2022. This required the development of a new IT property tax procedure – a project that the Ministry of Finance entrusted to the Regional Finance Office in Karlsruhe as the intermediate authority. ��ѻ��ý was selected as the development partner for the ‘Grundsteuer-Neu’ (New Property Tax) software solution as part of a tendering process based on technical expertise, the ability to ensure a timely delivery within 18 months, and delivering user-centricity and quality assurance throughout the project.

Iteration and synchronization ensure efficient project management

In view of the tight schedule, the Ministry of Finance and ��ѻ��ý agreed to adopt an iterative project approach with parallel processes. Among other things, this meant that individual project phases (e.g. conception or implementation) would be carried out multiple times and overlap during the project. This made it possible to easily and simply adjust the approach as needed, enabling the project partners to strategically react to unforeseen circumstances.

Other advantages of this approach included the visibility of progress for all project participants and stakeholders, early testing during development, and immediate feedback as part of the integration tests. From the outset of the project, the team recorded the requirements with a focus on the technical aspects and possible process optimizations. The interfaces were designed by the ��ѻ��ý User Design Teams together with users from the tax offices, conceived as a user journey and then implemented.

An innovative solution with potential for future transformation

After the complete development and go-live of the basic version 18 months after the project start, the project received extensive positive feedback and transitioned seamlessly into operation in the second half of 2022.

The process, developed in close collaboration with business stakeholders, offers time-saving and valuable functionalities that have been broadly accepted by end users. Since then, ��ѻ��ý has been working with the ministry on further developments to continuously deliver additional value-adding functionalities. Regular joint meetings – which take the form of project workshops on technical requirements, management jour fixes, technical architect meetings and service status meetings – ensure the future success of the project. The jointly developed Grundsteuer-Neu solution has achieved all project goals and even exceeded expectations.

Now, up to 1,000 employees in 60 tax offices benefit from the modern dialogue interface, user-friendly settings and accessibility. The Grundsteuer-Neu solution guarantees the revaluation of 4.6 million properties for the tax offices despite limited resources and tight deadlines. Because the application is reliable and stable, the highest standards are ensured as part of a service, and continuously improved with a focus on customer benefit.

Risk management is supported by a configurable “rule and decision engine” for automated case review. The use of tax authority data for validating, correcting, and supplementing tax-relevant data in the process ensures high-quality results. Finally, Grundsteuer-Neu offers a classically designed IT architecture, operated in a local data center, that is ready for future-proof transformation, such as through container technology and microservices.

ABN AMRO, the third-largest bank in the Netherlands, supports more than five million retail and 365,000 commercial clients. To do so, the organization enables its clients to access premium advisory services and first-class solutions at their convenience.

The high technical requirements associated with this convenience and the substantial expectations it creates among the bank’s customers requires ABN AMRO to continuously pursue innovation in all forms. When the organization transitioned its strategy to become a personal bank in a digital age, it established three key focus areas: building a future-proof bank, supporting its customers’ transition to sustainability, and reinventing the customer experience.

As part of this effort, ABN AMRO decided to implement a fresh digital service model that would draw upon the most modern and client-friendly technology available. In order to identify its options and define a pathway to achieve its vision, the bank engaged ��ѻ��ý as its innovation partner for conversational AI products. This engagement launched a collaborative project that would lead to an industry-defining customer experience.

End-to-end collaboration drives Gen AI innovation

The partnership between ABN AMRO and ��ѻ��ý began with inspirational sessions that drew upon expertise from both companies to define a future vision for the bank. This event brought stakeholders from both partners to review the bank’s existing customer services strategy and imagine the possibilities for its future.

Based on the insights achieved during the inspirational sessions, ABN AMRO and ��ѻ��ý proceeded to shape a strategy and roadmap that would help achieve the organization’s desired future vision. Leading stakeholders from both partners committed to a bank-wide and highly digital three-layer service model that would naturally lead customers along an experience journey that would service their needs conveniently and at speed.

Central to this structure was the pursuit of new Gen AI solutions. However, successfully implementing these technologies required a transition from ABN AMRO’s existing system to Microsoft Copilot. This would enable the bank to introduce Large Language Models and a variety of other solutions that would support Generative AI more effectively.

However, any architecture implementation would need to deliver safety, security, and privacy. In order to accelerate the pace at which it could produce new solutions, the project team established proper security guardrails in advance, ensuring that the introduction of Copilot and all ensuing solutions would meet these essential requirements. ABN AMRO, ��ѻ��ý and Microsoft jointly detailed out the future proof architecture further in workshops prior to the start of the implementation.

Working together, ABN AMRO, ��ѻ��ý, and Microsoft completed a smooth transition that fulfilled operational expectations. In doing so, the project team laid the foundation for numerous future developments as part of a new Gen AI factory approach that bring more natural interactions between the bank and its international customer base.

Guiding customers through a smoother support experience

As part of a new three-layer service model, the partners introduced “Rikkie”, a Gen AI-infused chatbot to provide a more natural one-on-one digital interaction. Tikkie, ABN AMRO’s app that enables users to make payment requests and track group expenses, was selected as the first customer facing Gen AI solution to learn both from the implementation process itself, but also how end-customers experience Gen AI. Based on these learnings Gen AI is being introduced to a wider client base in the banks’ Conversational Platform.

ABN AMRO now stands at the beginning of a Gen AI-powered innovation journey. Solutions built on the Copilot platform promise an expansion of personalized self-service opportunities for users as well as more effective and customized support when human interaction becomes necessary. This project has established a new foundation for ABN AMRO to develop additional agentic solutions that will serve users effectively while maintaining essential security measures.

By laying the groundwork for innovation with Gen AI technology, ABN AMRO has once again demonstrated its commitment to delivering an industry-leading customer experience.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is the UK’s tax, payments, and customs authority and ensures the correct tax is paid to support public services while helping families and individuals with targeted financial support.

The department’s vision is to be a modern, trusted tax and customs authority. To achieve this goal, HMRC set out to harness technology that enhances the user experience for its customers. When the department saw an opportunity to use its Open Banking infrastructure to improve security, reduce costs, and improve the user experience for millions receiving tax refunds each year, it partnered with ��ѻ��ý and its Open Banking partner, Ecospend, to develop a groundbreaking Account Information Service (AIS)-based solution.

Reducing the need for millions of printed checks each year

HMRC customers receive a tax calculation letter, known as a P800, if they are due to receive a refund (or have underpaid).

Historically, if those due a refund did not respond or were unable to access their HMRC online tax account, a check would be generated automatically and sent via post. On average, more than four million checks would be dispatched each year. For customers themselves, those qualifying for a refund could wait up to six weeks for a check to arrive.

HMRC asked ��ѻ��ý and Ecospend to develop a simple and secure online service to encourage and enable more customers to process refunds directly into their bank accounts. To accommodate the wide-ranging customer base and maintain a focus on accessibility, it was vital that the option to receive a printed check was also maintained, for those who prefer this.

Fast, secure, and direct

Getting the design right and building trust with customers was key. ��ѻ��ý conducted a thorough research and user testing program to ensure that the needs of all taxpaying customers were considered in the solution design.

Sessions were held with those who already used digital services confidently and those requiring more support and reassurance to move online comfortably. Their collective feedback informed fine tuning of the new service’s features and functionality to ensure it was accessible, easy to use, and secure.

The online solution, built using HMRC’s world-leading Open Banking integration, provides a series of easy-to-follow screens that offer customers options to complete the refund process without needing to log in to an HMRC account.

For those selecting the bank transfer option, customers securely enter their unique customer information, and an API checks this data is correct and matches.

The customer then selects their preferred bank and is directed to the online banking journey, where, following completion of additional automated security checks, the refund is processed. The customer will then see a confirmation page on the HMRC website.

��ѻ��ý partnered with Ecospend and multiple HMRC teams, including Payments, Cybersecurity and IT, to build Account Information Service (AIS) functionality into the streamlined solution, a first for the department. AIS instantly and confidentially supports the verification of the customer’s identity through synergistic and interdependent processes, performing background security checks before approving the direct transfer of the refund into the recipient account.

Transformational results

The result was an award-winning simple, secure, and cost-effective online service that features live data verification and enables customers to embrace digital technology to process tax refunds directly into their bank accounts. By making it easier to select preferences and shift from checks to secure bank transfers, the service has helped to significantly speed up the process for customers and mitigate the need to manually print thousands of checks.

The new tax refund service has delivered remarkable results, with checks no longer automatically dispatched, unless proactively requested. In the first eight months of use:

• Bank transfers significantly increased the speed of payments to the customer, reducing the wait from up to six weeks to completion within five days
• 85% of customers said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the online service

AIS offers a more streamlined customer experience that supports HMRC’s commitment to making interactions with the department easier. As the first implementation of AIS Open Banking in HMRC, this successful collaboration paves the way for broader application across other services in the future.

This project was also a double winner at the HMRC People Awards 2024, receiving accolades for ‘Innovation of the year’ as well as the ‘Permanent Secretaries’ Award’ as chosen by the First and Second Permanent Secretaries respectively, namely Jim Harra (Chief Executive of HMRC) and Angela MacDonald (Deputy Chief Executive of HMRC).

As the organizations continue their collaboration, ��ѻ��ý will support HMRC’s transformational journey as the department strives to become a world-leader in making tax digital.

Leaving legacy apps behind

While serving 18 million customers across 24 markets in Asia and Africa, a leading APAC insurer identified an opportunity to enhance efficiency by integrating and automating its systems. However, doing so would require modernizing the organization’s Singaporean operations.

The insurer’s legacy business process management system forced employees to navigate multiple applications for essential tasks. This included viewing allocated tasks, accessing medical and non-medical documents in content manager, and reviewing underwriting decisions in their existing tool. In addition, users had to track case statuses and histories, including audit trails, in a separate policy administration system. The company envisioned a one-stop solution to simplify key activities like risk assessment, policy issuance, and claims management and eliminate inefficiencies.

To realize this vision, the insurer partnered with ��ѻ��ý, leveraging its extensive experience in similar transformations and its technical expertise to deliver a seamless solution.

Building a new workflow application

��ѻ��ý and the insurer collaborated through a series of workshops spread out over three months which provided an opportunity to analyze key processes, such as new business, policy servicing, and claims, and identify where automation could most effectively support additional efficiency.

The solution involved developing a low-code/no-code cloud-based workflow application to streamline operations and reduce reliance on legacy systems. Leveraging its partnership with IBM, ��ѻ��ý implemented a BPM workflow with a customized UX/UI aligned to the insurer’s enterprise architecture. A laser focus on change management ensured a smooth transition, while a flowchart-style rules engine and automation tools enhanced decision-making and operational efficiency overall.

Scalable efficiency

The scalable platform, with key features like case segregation based on underwriting (UW) and straight-through processing (STP) decisions, and automatic allocation to user groups based on customer segments, UW decisions, and plan types, were developed during this transformation. This has significantly reduced policy issuance timelines. A unified dashboard set up, now consolidates all relevant information, ensuring a seamless user experience and supporting further digital transformation.

To significantly reduce reliance on multiple applications and cutting turnaround times, the system also introduced the auto distribution feature, which enabled load balancing while accounting for employees’ availability and defined case parameters. This allows the processing of hundreds of policies daily.

The transformation enabled a 60% increase in end-to-end straight-through processing for new business by integrating multi-channel application submissions, automated data extraction, classification, and a unified UW workbench. For policy servicing, it automated simple transactions, eliminated back-office dependencies, updated core systems for renewals, and streamlined standard non-financial services.

Additionally, claims operations benefited from the introduction of STP with electronic submissions, rule-based assignments, and skill-based workflows. This enabled a data-driven and automated workflow approach, now improving processes across new business, policy servicing, and claims, improving efficiency and operational outcomes.

��ѻ��ý continues to maintain the application, with plans to scale the transformation further. As a next step, the insurer is set to roll out these solutions in other Asian regions, extending the benefits of the initiative. As the partnership evolves, ��ѻ��ý remains committed to supporting the insurer’s efforts to optimize services and claims processes.

With ConnectedDrive, a collection of driving services available for subscription, the BMW Group offers a wide range of products and services relying on data connections between vehicles and backend services. These include updates for navigation, online entertainment, software, functions activated over-the-air, remote diagnostics, and car sharing. With new generations of vehicles, the portfolio and importance of ConnectedDrive services will only increase, making the program a key element in BMW’s strategy for gaining new digital savvy customers.

The BMW Group vehicle connectivity platform, which is the technical basis for ConnectedDrive, is responsible for the communication of vehicles and backend applications, a scalable and reliable communications infrastructure, and 24/7 seamless operations for connected services. To prepare for the impending increase in demand, the BMW Group decided to transform the vehicle connectivity platform and provide a top-range technological and operational standard that could support growth and innovation while providing a seamless digital customer experience.

Recognizing the critical nature of the project and the need for extensive expertise, the BMW Group teamed up with ��ѻ��ý.

Launching a long-term partnership

��ѻ��ý and the BMW Group started with a rigorous examination of the company’s existing systems and objectives. During this process, the partners identified that the vehicle connectivity platform had become overly monolithic, which prevented the degree of scalability needed to support further demand. In addition, although the BMW Group had developed a new solution based on modern Internet of Things (IoT) technology, it had not been fully implemented and still needed to be rolled out for production in three global hubs. Finally, these platforms were all maintained on-premises, which presented additional limitations.

Based on the conclusions of this review, ��ѻ��ý and the BMW Group are working together in transitioning the vehicle connectivity platform to AWS Cloud and the adoption of a DevOps approach. As part of this process, the partners also decided to simplify the pre-existing operating model by installing ��ѻ��ý as the single supplier for both development and operations.

The project team used established frameworks and tools to perform a service transition for eight mission-critical applications. Shortly afterwards, ��ѻ��ý and the BMW Group completed a rollout of a new MQTT-based communications platform, which included four applications handling messaging, file exchange, and remote wakeup of electronic vehicle control units. Throughout this process, the project team stabilized the applications and delivered operational improvements that helped ensure a smooth ramp-up for a new generation of vehicles.

Transitioning to DevOps and the cloud

With the project firmly underway, ��ѻ��ý and the BMW Group committed to the implementation of a new DevOps operating model. Based on the established objectives and best practices, the project team designed a fresh working model for the vehicle connectivity platform. Doing so further solidified the cooperation between development and operations, ensuring that the teams shared joint responsibility for developing, maintaining, and operating the applications with a strict SLA framework. Moreover, the collaborative approach ensured that the teams shared a common set of tools and knowledge.

Once the teams were properly unified with a DevOps-based approach, ��ѻ��ý and the BMW Group focused on transitioning its infrastructure and all applications to the public cloud. Key stakeholders worked with the project team to develop a migration strategy that minimized risk as well as impact on end customers.

Following a smooth transition, the products became cloud-native while using features such as containerized applications, autoscaling, and data streams. As a result, the company was able to provide more stable services while improving the cost efficiency and scalability of the vehicle communications platform.

Laying the foundation for the digital experience

��ѻ��ý and the BMW Group have continuously enhanced the vehicle communications platform, which has significantly improved service continuity while reducing response times to customer service requests. Due to the greater scalability achieved by migrating to the public cloud, the BMW Group has improved its capacity to manage data intense products, such as simultaneous mass software updates for millions of vehicles and autonomous driving.

These results and ��ѻ��ý’s DevOps delivery model provide the BMW Group with a solid foundation for improving the digital experience for millions of ConnectedDrive customers across present and future vehicle generations. Together, the organizations will continue this engagement in pursuit of additional enhancements to vehicle communication in support of a more effective customer experience.

A leader in the aviation industry

MTU Aero Engines is Germany’s leading engine manufacturer and an expert in the development, production, and maintenance of civil and military engines. Its innovative engine solutions have been shaping the aviation industry for more than 85 years.

A model-based way of working will be crucial for MTU’s entire value chain in the long term. Starting from their own development and production, it is expected to be the standard for collaboration with partners and suppliers in future aerospace programs.

Shifting to a model-based value chain

Like most of today’s manufacturers, MTU was facing major challenges regarding rising product and program complexity, shorter development times and costs, and increasing collaboration with partners and suppliers. At the same time, the rising number of IT enterprise systems on the one hand and manual processes on the other hand caused a high amount of system and media breaks as well as data redundancies, which affect overall efficiency and costs.

To reduce this complexity and accelerate product development, it was crucial for MTU to build up a unique, authoritative, and consistent stream of information running across their product life cycle – a model-based value chain.

From use case selection to implementation

Together with ��ѻ��ý Invent, MTU identified the model-based value chain as the first step towards a digital twin. As part of this approach, the company implemented a 3D digital master, also known as model-based definition (MBD), as a single source of truth with digitally connectable data throughout the entire value chain.

The project started by selecting a reference product for which to develop the first MBD. The analysis of legacy, end-to-end processes of the reference product involved internal stakeholders and experts who identified media breaks in the value chain. With support from Siemens Digital Industries Software and BCT Technology as software providers, multiple model-based use cases were verified for technical feasibility. In parallel, business cases were calculated in close cooperation with management.

After a successful validation with both internal stakeholders as well as partners and suppliers, the productive implementation is currently ongoing within MTU’s PLM transformation program INTEGRATE. Using a scaled agile framework, the prioritized use cases are translated into features and functionalities that are continuously delivered in 3-month cycles.

The new way of working is a comprehensive paradigm shift for MTU. To guarantee its acceptance, a fundamental change management concept has also been elaborated. In combination with regular reviews from end users and management, a core team of experts has been selected to function as multipliers of the technology in the organization.

Optimized communication and high-quality data

MTU has already achieved major milestones to enable a model-based value chain. The company expects its overall process chain to become more efficient as it implements validated and prioritized use cases. Once created in the design phase, data and specifications defining the MBD can be reused downstream in all processes without requiring duplicates. This has already enabled MTU to improve internal and external collaboration and communication, avoid data transfer errors, and introduce automation to process machine-readable information.

The partners created MBD within MTU’s established CAD system NX from Siemens. Together with product and manufacturing information (PMI), the MBD is directly synchronized with Teamcenter, the PLM backbone system. Within Teamcenter, PMIs are directly linked to and visible in the MBD. At the same time, this information is assigned an independent lifecycle and can be consumed in downstream processes and workflows to ensure information consistency and avoid data redundancy.

Driving aerospace innovation together

The cooperation between MTU, ��ѻ��ý Invent, Siemens, and BCT Technology will continue as a part of the INTEGRATE program. Next, the partners will focus on identifying uses cases that will achieve the greatest positive impact, which will require the companies to leverage the closed loop manufacturing process and validate results with partners and suppliers.

The Dutch Ministry of Defence is modernizing its operations with the implementation of SAP S/4HANA. Thanks to a unique collaboration between three partners—��ѻ��ý, CGI, and Ordina—seven out of eight Lines of Business will have successfully migrated by the end of 2025.

This new ERP system enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of logistical and financial processes, supporting 17,000 users across 60 locations worldwide. As a result, the Ministry of Defence is better prepared for future missions and exercises.

The challenge

For many years, the Ministry of Defence has relied on SAP to support its logistical and financial operations. SAP ensures that the right supplies are procured, warehouses are stocked, and units are supplied. It enables maintenance on weapon systems and ensures timely and efficient transportation of goods to users. Additionally, SAP handles the complete financial accountability of the organization.

However, ERP systems like SAP must also evolve to keep pace with a world driven by digitalization. SAP S/4HANA is a modern ERP solution with a high level of user-friendliness, offering smart and innovative functionalities to enhance usability and information management. It is also ready for further development. This solution supports the Defence Vision 2035 and addresses the Ministry’s current challenges.

Since the Ministry’s operations depend heavily on SAP, a controlled approach was chosen for the transformation. The Ministry must be fully transitioned by the end of 2025, as SAP will discontinue support for the old platform by then. The risk of maintaining an unsupported system was deemed too great for operational continuity.

The solution

In July 2022, the Ministry of Defence decided to convert its on-premises SAP system to SAP S/4HANA. While the system was technically upgraded to S/4 HANA after the conversion, users continued to see familiar interfaces, ensuring minimal immediate impact. This transition approach will remain in place until the end of 2025, after which all users will fully operate on S/4HANA.

The transition period is being used to standardize, optimize, and implement business processes within S/4 HANA. The Ministry has divided the program into eight Lines of Business, each further subdivided into multiple sub-projects.

Recognizing the complexity of the project, the Ministry understood that no single market party could execute the entire transformation alone. Instead, it invited market players to form consortia capable of covering the full scope. It left the organization of these consortia to the suppliers.

��ѻ��ý, CGI, and Ordina formed a single team that proved to be the most successful. The major advantage of this collaboration is that all three partners have worked closely with the Ministry for many years and are trusted partners. By pooling their expertise, they strengthened their capabilities, always assembling the best possible team by combining talent from all three companies. This approach led to success, with seven out of the eight Lines of Business awarded to this consortium.

The collaboration is deeply integrated at all levels of the organization. The consortium works closely with both program management and various project teams, maintaining direct engagement with the Ministry’s IT department and end users. This ensures a better understanding of requirements and a smoother implementation process.

The benefits

The Ministry of Defence prescribed a project methodology known as Roger Activate based on the standard SAP methodology but tailored to the Ministry’s needs. Within this framework, the consortium is responsible for the entire process, from system architecture to implementation and post-go-live support (end-to-end delivery). The consortium provides all necessary expertise to ensure a seamless transition and takes full responsibility for the program’s success, including all integration challenges.

The impact

Although the Roger program is still ongoing, the results so far have been positive. Sub-projects are being delivered on time and to the full satisfaction of the Ministry of Defence. Users appreciate the new interfaces and optimized processes. The first large depots are now running on S/4HANA and report significant improvements in their operations.

With 17,000 users across 60 locations in five time zones, the S/4HANA implementation impacts everyone. This modernized ERP system enables processes to be carried out more efficiently and effectively. It allows the Ministry of Defence to plan, prepare, and execute missions and exercises more effectively. As State Secretary Christophe van der Maat noted in his feedback on the AcICT report, these improvements are particularly valuable in times of heightened security threats.

SAP S/4HANA also supports the strategic goals of the Ministry of Defence. The system contributes to a more data-driven operational model and improves interoperability with NATO partners. Additionally, by adopting more standardized processes and reducing the need for custom solutions, the platform allows for greater agility in adapting to future changes.

This transformation program could not succeed without strong partners who are fully committed to achieving the Ministry’s objectives and timelines. While there is still work to be done, the project is well on its way to delivering a successful outcome and a promising future.

When it comes to success, innovation and adjustment is a necessity even for some of the most prominent businesses in the world. Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Inc. (CCBJI) is one of the world’s largest bottlers of Coca-Cola products and represents 90% of its parent company’s business in Japan. This involves the operation of around 700,000 vending machines, 340,000 outlets, 17 plants, and 11,000 trucks that distribute one of the most popular beverages to 125 million people. While such scale represents a remarkable achievement, it also presented the organization with substantial challenges.

Extensive operations of this sort resulted in incredible data-related demands. And while CCBJI was managing a massive, classical SAP datacenter environment of over 2,500 TB, the company wanted new capabilities that required a different approach to data management. In order to reduce downtime, improve its backup and disaster recovery processes, lower costs, and enable additional innovations such as the introduction of business intelligence (BI) and AI, CCBJI would need a new data platform. In reviewing its future goals, the company concluded that it would be best served by a migration to the cloud.

“We rely on data to run our business, to serve customers with products they want when and where they want them – it’s extremely important that data is stable and available in a timely manner to place big bets on product development and sustainability.”

Maki-Kado, Executive Officer and Chief Business Management & Sustainability Officer CCBJI

However, such a project would require the transition of a tremendous amount of data and had to avoid impacting the business during this process. In addition, CCBJI determined that it wanted to perform the migration within a six-month timeline to properly support its agenda. Such a substantial undertaking would require extensive expertise if it were to succeed, which led the company to engage ��ѻ��ý as its partner to perform a comprehensive data migration from a traditional datacenter to the Microsoft Azure platform.

Collaboration enables accelerated migration

In order to meet the tight deadline, ��ѻ��ý rapidly deployed a quick response team that was on the ground in Japan within weeks. This group of experts then coordinated with CCBJI stakeholders as well as teams from Microsoft and NetApp to plan out an executive a migration that would occur side-by-side with day-to-day business.

The partners began their collaboration with a series of workshops that focused on reviewing the bottling company’s existing SAP data systems and processes as well as its objectives. Moreover, the project team examined the specific challenges brought on by the need to work and migrate at pace and without any disruption to standard operations.

Based on this review, the partners then developed a mutually agreed-upon plan that would leverage Microsoft Azure technology and Azure NetApp Files to move 114 business-critical applications to the cloud system. Experts from all four organizations came together to manage and support a unified initiative that saw the project proceed at the pace needed to meet the timeline established by CCBJI. In doing so, the project team delivered a solution that provided the storage infrastructure and high-quality performance that would enable the bottling company to obtain greater insights from its data and pursue new innovations.

“��ѻ��ý, Microsoft, and NetApp each brough unique visions, capabilities and value propositions of having done this before – allowing us the flexibility and performance required to run our entire IT enterprise for the next 3 to 5 years.”

Harsh Kachhwaha, CIO CCBJI

A transition for the future

Following a rapid, high-intensity project, CCBJI, ��ѻ��ý, Microsoft, and NetApp completed a smooth migration that saw the bottler’s SAP data landscape migrated to the Azure cloud platform within five months. With this futureproof solution, the company saw its working speed and application response time improve by 30% while the time required for backing up the data fell by 50%. In addition, CCBJI gained access to a multi-tier backup approach that ensured the preservation of key data in the event of major disruptions and natural disasters.

With the successful migration of over 2,500 TB of data as well as 250 additional servers and virtual machines, the bottling company is also better prepared for the future. The Azure platform is better prepared to support the implementation of BI and AI solutions, enabling further innovation that will continue to improve the quality and speed of CCBJI’s services, which have already drastically accelerated as a result of the migration. This ensures that when the company takes additional action in the future, it will be able to rely on a stable technology and a reliable database.

With a lower cost of ownership and faster services, CCBJI is now better positioned than ever to support its customers at the right time, right place, and with the right product.