This article was brought to you by ASUG and EPI-USE. For more insights from ASUG and EPI-USE, attend the SAP for Utilities conference this fall.
In today’s dynamic business landscape, managing costs while enhancing operational efficiency is essential for organizations across industries. Digital transformation represents a seismic shift in how businesses operate, compete, and thrive. Migrating critical systems like SAP to cloud environments is a cornerstone of this transformation, offering improved agility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. However, achieving these goals requires a strategic approach, especially when dealing with complex in-memory database platforms like SAP HANA and business suites like SAP S/4HANA.
Digital transformation encompasses a range of technologies and methodologies designed to streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and foster innovation. For organizations leveraging SAP systems, the transition to SAP HANA and S/4 is crucial. These platforms offer powerful capabilities for real-time analytics, improved data processing, and streamlined business processes. The complexity and scale of these migrations necessitate meticulous planning and execution.
Exelon Corporation’s Transformation Journey with EPI-USE Labs
EPI-USE Labs, a global leader in SAP landscape management and data solutions, provides innovative tools and services to help organizations optimize their SAP environments. With a deep understanding of SAP systems and a commitment to continuous innovation, EPI-USE Labs empowers businesses to achieve their digital transformation goals efficiently and effectively.
Exelon Corporation, a leading North American utility provider, offers a compelling case study on how to navigate the intricacies of SAP transformation while optimizing costs and performance. With millions of customers and a vast infrastructure, Exelon’s operational efficiency directly impacts its service delivery and bottom line. EPI-USE Labs assisted Exelon with landscape management post-migration, ensuring that the new SAP S/4HANA environment operated efficiently and cost-effectively.
Exelon’s journey began with a clear understanding of its existing challenges and a vision for the future. The company aimed to modernize its IT landscape, reduce costs, and enhance service delivery. This required a holistic approach, encompassing technology, process, and people.
Understanding Exelon’s Business Challenges
Exelon faced a multitude of challenges in managing a large SAP landscape, including:
High Operational Expenditure
With a substantial database footprint and decentralized systems, Exelon encountered escalating operational costs. Maintaining disparate systems was not only costly but also inefficient, requiring significant resources for maintenance, upgrades, and support. The traditional on-premises infrastructure posed limitations in scalability and flexibility, hindering Exelon’s ability to adapt to changing business needs.
Complex Integration Issues
Multiple SAP systems led to data latency and integration complexities, impacting operational efficiency. The lack of seamless data flow between systems resulted in delays, inaccuracies, and inefficiencies. Integrating various modules and ensuring data consistency was a persistent challenge, affecting decision-making and operational effectiveness.
Customer Satisfaction Concerns
Issues like call handling time, data replication, and meter read accuracy posed challenges to customer service and satisfaction. Inefficient processes and data discrepancies led to delays in service delivery, billing errors, and customer dissatisfaction. Improving customer experience became a critical objective for Exelon’s transformation journey.
The Transformation
Exelon embarked on a comprehensive transformation journey, focusing on three key pillars:
Setting the Foundation
The initial phase involved laying the groundwork for S/4HANA transformation, including data footprint reduction and cloud readiness assessment. This step was crucial to ensure that the migration would proceed smoothly, minimizing risks and disruptions. Key activities included:
- Data Footprint Reduction: Executing archiving on data older than two years and targeting high-volume archive objects to reduce the database footprint significantly.
- Readiness for Cloud Journey: Assessing the existing infrastructure and making necessary adjustments to prepare for the cloud migration.
- Improved Process Compliance: Implementing measures to enhance process compliance and resolve initial pain points identified during the assessment phase.
SAP S/4HANA Transformation
Leveraging innovative solutions and methodologies, Exelon executed a seamless conversion to SAP S/4HANA, addressing custom code remediation and enhancing system performance. This phase included:
- SAP S/4HANA Assessment and Conversion: Utilizing Accenture tools such as the Smart S/4 Sizer and S/4 Profiler to ensure a thorough assessment and effective conversion process.
- Near Zero Downtime (NZDT) Approach: Employing NZDT to minimize downtime during the conversion and migration to the Azure cloud, ensuring business continuity.
- Custom Code Remediation: Addressing complex custom code issues with an 80% automation rate, significantly reducing manual efforts and errors.
Continuous Innovation
Post-migration, Exelon prioritized continuous innovation, introducing new tools, system upgrades, and infrastructure hardening measures to ensure long-term sustainability. Key initiatives included:
- Infrastructure Hardening: Encrypting data in transit, decommissioning outdated servers, and optimizing cloud infrastructure.
- New Tools and Upgrades: Implementing Fiori apps for improved user experience, upgrading BODs and Oracle Fusion, and automating meter reading processes.
- Business Process Improvements: Enhancing business processes through automation and introducing new functionalities like advanced dunning solutions and special billing enhancements.
Results & Achievements
Optimized Costs
Working with EPI-USE Labs, Exelon achieved significant cost savings by right-sizing their SAP estate, reducing operational expenditure and infrastructure maintenance costs. The move to the cloud also eliminated the need for costly on-premises hardware upgrades and support.
Refresh Process Optimization
The refresh process in S/4 IS-U was lengthy and costly, with a 10TB HANA instance on production. EPI-USE Labs introduced a more efficient process to address these challenges.
Customized Solution Implementation
Given the heavily customized nature of Exelon’s solution, especially for asset management and sales order processing, any solution to slice data needed to be customized to match these processes. EPI-USE Labs brought in-built definitions of the IS-U data model, ensuring compatibility and efficiency.
EPI-USE Labs also completed a successful Proof of Concept (PoC) and moved to full implementation, achieving an 80% database reduction in sandboxes. This significant reduction optimized performance and reduced costs.
The implemented systems put in place were then handed over to Exelon for ongoing usage, ensuring they had the tools and processes needed to maintain and optimize their SAP environment continuously.
Improved Customer Experience
With enhanced data integrity, streamlined collections processes, and improved customer service interfaces, Exelon elevated their overall customer experience. The implementation of CRM and Fiori Apps, such as Customer 360, improved customer information accessibility, reducing call handling times and increasing satisfaction.
Key Takeaways
Exelon’s journey underscores the importance of strategic planning, collaboration, and innovation in SAP transformation initiatives. By prioritizing cost optimization, performance enhancement, and customer-centricity, organizations can unlock new levels of efficiency and competitiveness in today’s digital economy.
Strategic Planning and Collaboration
Successful SAP transformations require meticulous planning and strong collaboration between internal teams and external partners. Exelon’s partnership with Accenture and the use of advanced tools and methodologies played a crucial role in the project’s success.
Embracing Innovation
Continuous innovation is essential for maintaining a competitive edge in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. Exelon’s commitment to ongoing improvements and leveraging emerging technologies ensured long-term sustainability and operational excellence.
Customer-Centric Approach
Focusing on customer satisfaction and experience is critical for any business. Exelon’s efforts to streamline processes, enhance data accuracy, and improve service delivery resulted in significant customer experience improvements.
Conclusion
Managing costs and right-sizing SAP estates for HANA and S/4 is not just about technological prowess; it’s a strategic imperative that drives business agility, resilience, and growth in an increasingly competitive landscape. Exelon’s success story serves as a guiding beacon for organizations worldwide, illustrating the path to cost-effective, high-performance SAP ecosystems.
In conclusion, the right-sizing of SAP ISU estates for HANA and S/4 is a multifaceted endeavor that requires a balanced approach, combining technology, strategy, and innovation. By following Exelon’s example and adopting a holistic transformation strategy, organizations can unlock new opportunities, optimize costs, and enhance performance, ultimately driving success in the digital age.
Discover how EPI-USE Labs can help you optimize your SAP environment.
This article was brought to you by ASUG and EPI-USE. For more insights from ASUG and EPI-USE, attend the SAP for Utilities conference this fall. ASUG develops and publishes insights regularly in partnership with its members and customers. For more information on ASUG sponsored content, contact isaac.feldberg@asug.com.