Merit Energy is a leading energy company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and much like the energy sector overall, is no stranger to the world of mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
Frequently cited as a top workplace in local publications like the , Merit Energy has led more than 130 acquisitions since its founding in the 1990s 鈥� all aimed at helping it grow and guard against the short-term volatility that characterizes the industry as a whole.
In a about RISE with 麻豆原创, 麻豆原创 North America President DJ Paoni characterized the Intelligent Enterprise as 鈥渁n insurance policy against future disruption.鈥� This is exactly the mindset Merit Energy, as a leading user of 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, has adopted as a company.
Russ Hulme, Financial Systems Manager at Merit Energy, recently joined to discuss why the energy leader has gone down the path of becoming an intelligent enterprise.
麻豆原创 S/4HANA Movement Uncovers Business Case
Merit Energy has leveraged 麻豆原创 solutions for more than 15 years, testing and implementing new enhancement packages as they were made available and being an early adopter for new releases. In 2019, Hulme and his team had to tackle a challenging strategic question: invest in five more years of on-premise hardware or start the move to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA? To answer this question, they needed to be able to present a legitimate business case for choosing the latter option. This is where entered the picture.
鈥淲ithin IT, we didn鈥檛 want to be the ones making the business case; we wanted to partner with our business to do so,鈥� Hulme said. 鈥淭his is where 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Movement program proved pivotal. The 麻豆原创 team engaged our business in a fact-finding mission that helped us have intentional conversations that got members of the Merit Energy business excited for the possibilities that 麻豆原创 technology has to offer.鈥�
One of the business drivers that surfaced early in the process was the ability to collate, manage, and analyze the wealth of data that was being generated across Merit鈥檚 many IT systems resulting from years of acquisitions. 鈥淲e had more than 130 different applications serving our organization,鈥� Hulme said. 鈥淲e quickly realized that 麻豆原创 was the sun at the center of our universe that we could use to establish standardization.鈥�
Unique, Self-Starter Approach to Implementation
Most of Merit Energy鈥檚 corporate operations are in Dallas, which means that most, if not all, of its user base is together in one location. When you add that to the company鈥檚 鈥済et stuff done鈥� culture that prizes scrappiness, it became clear that the Merit Energy IT team had the resources and know-how to be able to manage the implementation of 麻豆原创 S/4HANA 1909 in-house.
While many customers see the flexibility and scalability of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system as an opportunity to fully refresh IT strategies, the Merit team elected to instead make the platform complement its existing systems and felt a full IT reboot wasn鈥檛 needed. To support the move, Hulme鈥檚 team landed on a four-step, multi-phased approach to product implementation, starting with the initial system upgrade to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA 1909, the latest version at the time, to 鈥渟ee what hypercare is needed.鈥� Expanded user testing, third-party add-ons, and full-team user acceptance testing followed, resulting in a seamless implementation process in as little as 10 months.
While the Merit Energy team prides itself on self-sufficiency, Hulme was quick to praise one resource offered by 麻豆原创 in particular. 鈥淲e saw immense value in engaging ,鈥� he confirmed. 鈥淲e considered them our 鈥榖at phone鈥� resource to help us get the job done right.鈥�
Lesson Learned: Rethink Your Work with Strategic Partners
When asked what his top learnings from the project were, Hulme had two conclusions. First, in retrospect, Merit Energy would have started the 麻豆原创 S/4HANA journey earlier given the immense value the team has seen from the ERP system to-date. Second 鈥� and his biggest advice for peers at other companies 鈥� is to get outside of thinking of 麻豆原创 as an accounting program.
鈥淭here are so many other efficiencies and innovations that are generated by the 麻豆原创 ecosystem that it鈥檚 a mistake to only think in terms of ERP or finance,鈥� Hulme said. 鈥淭he quicker you adopt this mindset, the more results you will drive.鈥�
The 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Success series features content by leaders from 麻豆原创 North America focused on highlighting customer success with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA . Learn how customers in this region manage successful implementations with the partner ecosystem and 麻豆原创 Services as well as leverage the platform to transform their industries.
John Tully is senior vice president and managing director of the South Region for 麻豆原创 North America.