Initial situation

The ERP core system of our customer was approaching the end of support and it was necessary to prepare the decision for a future group-wide ERP system. The project assignment was to develop the strategic requirements for the ERP landscape of the future.

A broad participation of all relevant central departments as well as the most important group companies was desired. The responsible IT department had already started thinking about a new ERP system without involving other departments.

The special challenge for the project consisted in the large number of functional business units to be included as well as in the technical heterogeneity and diversity of the respective areas of responsibility across several business units involved.

Due to COVID-19, the challenge arose to plan and carry out the project in a safe manner with a large number of participants, mainly online and without physical workshops.

 

GP+S Services

  • Development of a blueprint for the Capability Map
    A blueprint for a municipal utility Capability Map developed by GP+S depicted the essential capabilities of a typical integrated municipal utility group and served as a starting point for processing and individual adjustments in the customer workshops.
  • Extraction of corporate strategies and strategic goals
    The overarching strategic goals were extracted from the documents on the corporate strategy and the business area strategies, the strategic success factors were derived and, on this basis, fields of action for the future management of the group of companies were identified. These fields of action formed the basic structure for the cross-company and cross-functional capability map.
  • Development of a cross-company and cross-functional Capability Map
    Based on the previously developed blueprint and the identified fields of action, the future necessary business skills were gradually described in 15 online workshops with all functional areas and all participating group companies and transferred to an overarching capability map and approved. This provided a shared picture of the business capabilities required for future economic activity.
  • Deriving strategic requirements for the ERP landscape of the future
    In a group of IT architects from the entire group, the strategic requirements for the future ERP landscape were derived from the cross-company and cross-functional capability map. These requirements provide a binding orientation for the definition of mandatory common vs. business unit-specific elements of the future ERP landscape and the basic premises to be observed.

 

Results

  • For the first time, there was a consolidated presentation of the strategic goals and fields of action of all important companies for the entire Stadtwerke Group and its various business units (network companies, sales, generation, transport, broadband, holding functions).
  • A Capability Map uses a uniform descriptive logic to show the business capabilities required for future management for the entire group and has since served as a central reference point for IT planning.
  • A catalog of strategic requirements for the ERP landscape of the future, which is consistently derived from future business needs and clearly described, has since set the guidelines and decision-making framework for IT architecture and is an essential component of the tender decision for the future ERP system.
  • There is agreement across all functional areas and group companies about the project results and the necessary measures, since all areas were involved in the project to a large extent.