Off the back of a report by The Hackett Group: 2024 Finance Key Issues 鈥� January 2024, The CFO Agenda by Shawn Fitzgerald, Jim O鈥機onnor and Tom Willman. Looking at the top three priorities I provided practical advice based on existing capabilities that organizations may be unaware of and could implement today.听 Below is a summary:听

The top 3 finance priorities for 2024 are hardly unexpected, with organisations continuing to focus on managing costs, gaining access to insights to support informed decisions making and securing听 working capital to execute plans. The key insights that I derived from the report are:听

1. Cost Management and Optimisation

• Finance increase workload will continue to create productivity and efficiency gaps 鈥� in other words we need to find a way to do more with less.听

• Finance are counting on technology to fill the gaps 鈥� currently high levels of dissatisfaction as not necessarily seeing expected benefits.听

• Wise to explore as part of a deliberate and sustainable cost reduction approach 鈥� expected over next five to seven years result in a 40% reduction in SG&A costs and staff

2. Cash Flow Performance, Liquidity and Working Capital听

• Cost of Working Capital is on the rise, with liquidity coming at a cost premium听

• Finance must optimize working capital 鈥� by focusing on strengthening supplier terms, inventory management and collections management.听

3. Data (Timeliness, Completeness, Reliability), Insights and Actionable Analytics听

• Organisations are not fully deploying data-related technologies听

• Staff need to be trained and upskilled on using tools听

• Need greater access to self-service and data discovery tools听

• Need to implement advanced analytics tools听

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With S/4HANA you have a technology that is designed to improve productivity and efficiency and drive automation it is important that you leverage the underlying technology and the functional capabilities so you don鈥檛 fall into a trap of not seeing the benefits of your investment. Below is a snapshot of the practical advice I shared:听

• Cost Centre Budget Availability Controls 鈥� new in S/4HANA is the ability to activate Budget Availability Controls on the Cost Centre. Once enabled this allows you to fully leverage the Cost Centre Budget Report.听

Fig 1 鈥� Cost Center Budget Report听

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• Situation Handling 鈥� proactively alerts users to exception events that require attention, proposing resolutions or automating the resolution process driving efficiency. You can see this in action based on a Goods Receipt/Invoice Receipt example: 听

听

• Business AI 鈥� Joule is 麻豆原创s AI Copilot which is powered by Generative AI and designed to empower users in executing everyday tasks more efficiently. Launching this year, you can see an example here: 听

听

• Cash Flow Analyzer 鈥� provides a clear cash position insights with visibility of future cash flows supporting the ability to make decisions.听

听

听

• Embedded Analytics 鈥� with S/4HANA there are over 250 analytical apps that enable real-time reporting via self-service approach driving insights to action. We looked at the different styles of embedded analytics from Smart Business KPIS, Overview Pages, Analytical List pages, Multi dimensional Reports and Dashboards.听

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Fig 2 鈥� Example of Multi-dimensional report 鈥� Trial Balance听

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• Advanced Analytics 鈥� On top of the embedded analytics within S/4HANA introducing opens the opportunity to:听

• Use Just Ask 鈥� ability to ask questions in natural language and get answers using .听

• Predictive Planning 鈥� combining the planning with predictive forecasting to accelerate the planning cycle.听

• Time series Forecasting 鈥� predict future values of a series based on historical data.听

• Smart Predict 鈥� the ability to build trusted and actionable predictions without the need to be a data scientist.听

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For more information on these Advanced Analytics topics take a look at .听

听

In conclusion, let’s break the mould and not be one of the companies in the survey that have invested in technology yet did not realise the expected benefits, instead let’s cultivate curiosity and explore the realm of possibilities. While I have imparted a few tips, they merely scratch the surface of what can be achieved. I encourage you to take the following steps:听

听

• Take time to review the Fiori Application Library for Analytical Apps applicable to your organisation or role. 听听

• Explore the integrated Automations & Business AI that are currently available. 听

• Identify manual tasks and consider employing 麻豆原创 Build for automation.听

听

By embracing curiosity and investigation, you’re one step closer to streamlining your finance processes and focusing on driving your business forward.听

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The Office of the CFO, since the early 2000鈥檚, has been challenged to transform and do our bit to stretch each dollar further. For many companies this has resulted in the optimisation of the finance workforce and outsourcing commodity functions of the finance department. The foundations of 鈥榳hy transform?鈥� has not really changed. These are:

• Reduce the cost of finance
• Improve compliance
• Become more agile
• Provide better experiences for customers and employees

What has changed is the:

• Cost of compliance continues to increase
• Finance is focused on moving from a back-office function to being a strategic business partner that helps to drive the business forward

For finance, the dilemma is how to make 鈥極ne plus One = Three鈥� as headcount investment remains flat, however the expectations of finance continue to increase.

To enable this, organisations are looking to emerging technologies to drive automation. A study back in July 2019 by the HacketGroup predicted 鈥淏y 2025, 15.1% cost improvements are expected from organisational and process redesign鈥� and 鈥淭hrough automation, the labour-induced process costing Finance will be further reduced by 19.2%鈥�

The acceleration of technologies and innovations in the market has increased considerably over the last four years since the report was written. As such, the potential opportunities to drive savings and efficiencies within organisations are plentiful.

So, how do we go about achieving 鈥極ne plus One = Three?鈥� We need to free up our most important asset the people to focus on the activities that drive the most value for the organization. To do this the answer actually looks more like People plus Technology plus AI equals Three Plus Plus.

For a long time, the objectives of finance transformation often felt just out of reach. For the first time however not only is it within reach, but we are also being challenged to think how we can apply these new technologies and innovations to help drive the business forward. The barrier now is the speed with which an organisation can adopt.

At 麻豆原创 we are focused on how we can help businesses 鈥楻un Better鈥�. With 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud we have the latest technology platform and AI capabilities to help our customers achieve their finance transformations. In fact, over the last 10 years, 麻豆原创 has been focused on:

• New modern user experiences
• Redesigning business processes (eg. Continuous Close)
• Providing real-time analytics
• Embedded automation into business processes (e.g. Goods Receipt/Invoice Receipt (GR/IR), Accruals Management)
• Introduce Predictive capabilities.

In addition to the extensive capabilities 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud offers customers, we are also investing in a Generative AI assistant to partner with our modern ERP. Recently, we launched a natural-language, generative AI copilot called Joule. Joule enables employees to ask a question in plain language and receive intelligent answers drawn from the wealth of data across a business for quick assistance.

Technological improvements are not standing still, nor are compliance requirements and 麻豆原创 is constantly looking for new areas to innovate and support our customers. We believe that the next evolution of the finance department is the partnering of People plus Technology Plus Artificial Intelligence to deliver a result that is greater than the sum of its parts.

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This blog will cover the Services available from a technical architecture and infrastructure perspective for a brownfield conversion.

For those just starting with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA transformation, brownfield is where you decide to convert / upgrade and migrate (if source is non-HANA database) your 麻豆原创 ERP to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA.

To start your journey, 麻豆原创 recommends using the听听which entails various phases in your project lifecycle. 麻豆原创 Services and Support can help guide you through each of these phases. A look at the graphic below will guide you with the services available from the Platform and Infrastructure space.

Phases with Technical and Infrastructure 麻豆原创 Services

Let鈥檚 begin with the DISCOVER phase

DISCOVER

• Architecture Point of View

With the architecture point of view (APoV), customers can get support in an early phase of their project on how to approach their long-term transformation needs. The service contains components for various topics like the analysis of solution-specific transformation routes, or initial evaluation of adopting 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, initial guidance in the analytics and data management area, specific solution and technology focused topics, or a deep-dive into 麻豆原创鈥檚 enterprise architecture and road mapping approach.听These services require architects from different solution area and is not delivered by just one consultant.

• Target Architecture Assessment

When starting digital transformations, 麻豆原创 customers need to define the target architecture and the roadmap to layout how to get there. The target architecture assessment focuses on existing artifacts that the project team has produced and reviews them against the industry reference architecture and the 麻豆原创 road map. As a result, the necessary adjustments to the target application architecture and transition plans are jointly evaluated.

• Instance Strategy

This service component helps you consolidate and simplify the system landscape of your enterprise with a new instance strategy, looking at business strategy, deployment, operations, and technology. We discuss pros and cons of architecture options in the context of your enterprise transformation. With a qualitative and quantitative assessment, we rate the best options against a catalog of 麻豆原创鈥檚 best practice criteria.

After the handover from the DISCOVER phase, we support the customers Journey from PREPARE to DEPLOY to RUN Phase. The results from previous services are used as inputs for the next steps. Example: Target Architecture Assessment provides a viewpoint for the Services team in which areas the customer has agreed upon and which areas to focus on.

The main services in the PREPARE phase are as per the graphic below:

Prepare Phase

• Readiness Check for 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Service

The starting point for any 麻豆原创 S/4HANA journey, this service component provides support in implementing and executing 麻豆原创 Readiness Check when a customer requires support with the otherwise self-service tool set. This service component is only available in conjunction with the scheduling and delivery of a value and implementation strategy service or a migration and upgrade planning workshop.

• Migration Planning Workshop

This service component supports you planning the conversion to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA of an existing 麻豆原创 ERP system and clarifying the functional and technical scope and project management setup of the conversion project. The target system can be on premise or on an infrastructure provider of choice.

• Minimized Downtime Services

During the MPW service, we often realize that customers would like to reduce their technical downtime. To understand the different options available, we have the Minimized Downtime Service. Minimized Downtime Service is designed for customers considering a 麻豆原创 S/4HANA conversion in minimum downtime to ensure business continuity as much as possible. The focus is on the additional activities and requirements on top of a standard 麻豆原创 S/4HANA conversion project to achieve this.

• Technical Architecture and Infrastructure

This service component supports you in the technical design of a scalable, flexible, and maintainable 麻豆原创 solution that fits your specific requirements. This is especially relevant when you plan to migrate or transition to 麻豆原创 ERP on 麻豆原创 S/4HANA.
Major focus is on 麻豆原创 solutions deployed on private cloud, hosted private cloud and hyperscaler (IaaS).

• Scoping Workshop for Prototyping 鈥� ON Prem Only

This service component enables customers to evaluate the implementation of 麻豆原创 products on premise in a short period with their real business scenarios using their data, enabling them to quickly validate the value addition and identify and mitigate risks. The goals and uses cases are defined or validated as in scope of the project. The customer and 麻豆原创 define and agree on a project plan as well as the tasks and responsibilities in the project.

PREARE is the pathway to EXPLORE with main services as below

• Mandatory Preparation for Conversion

This service component prepares, executes, and supports all activities required to meet the functional prerequisites for a system conversion from 麻豆原创 ERP 6.0 to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA. The focus is on mandatory changes only. In addition, all steps required to perform the technical conversion of application data are prepared, executed, and monitored.

• Advanced Sizing Planning Workshop

This service component sharpens the initial sizing in the planning phase. Sizing turns new business requirements into technical requirements for all type of 麻豆原创 solutions like 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform, 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, Embedded Analytics, applications based on 麻豆原创 Fiori, and so on. By projecting the main (new) volume drivers, sizing is an important exercise prior to planning performance tuning and optimization. Sizing helps to reliably plan infrastructure costs.

• Platform Execution Enablement

This service component allows the customer to choose between different types of coaching for the platform enablement.听The goal is to enable the customer to understand and run platform execution tasks under his own guidance and responsibility. Based on the 麻豆原创 Activate methodology, the component provides high-quality service and predictable results with minimum impact to business.

• Technical Design Evaluation

This service component provides a proactive quality assurance review of the design of the 麻豆原创 solution that is being implemented. We conduct an analysis of all aspects of the solution design across all relevant design perspectives that can lead to early detection of potential solution risks and offers actionable risk mitigation recommendation.

• Business Downtime Optimization

This service components helps minimize business downtime. Experts analyze each business step and its dependencies within the affected system landscape to support efficient downtime planning and reduce the business impact during cutover. They provide guidance selecting the most appropriate tools and methods to optimize the cutover plan and to reduce the impact on the availability of production-critical processes.

• Technical Feasibility Check

This service component supports the customer鈥檚 project team at the early stage of the 麻豆原创 solution implementation, after the business blueprint and the technical design are complete. It focuses on the technical feasibility of the planned 麻豆原创 solution in terms of infrastructure, sizing, integration requirements, and so on for identified core business processes. 麻豆原创 checks that the proposed design is technically realistic, robust, maintainable, and supportable.

• Technical Platform Definition

This service component supports the selection and definition of an IT infrastructure for a 麻豆原创 solution connected to 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform. The focus is on 麻豆原创 solutions deployed on private cloud, private hosted cloud and/or IaaS. The workshop can define a detailed design, but also verify an existing architecture to prepare the installation of the landscape.

• Result of Prototyping Workshop (On Prem only)

This service component supports the customer leverage the learning and documentation from the prototyping service project to realize the value during project implementation for production use. 麻豆原创 and the customer evaluate the project results based on the measured success criteria and create a list of recommendations for an implementation project, and a proposal for a service plan for continued 麻豆原创 engagement.

By the end of EXPLORE phase you are now ready for REALIZE phase, under REALIZE there are fewer but critical services as below:

• HA/DR Landscape Verification and Testing Support

Customers running their 麻豆原创 solutions on premise or on private hosted cloud with hyperscalers have defined service level agreements. To identify potential gaps in the landscape design and minimize unplanned downtime, extensive testing is essential. This service component supports customers with the review of their implemented landscape as well as with testing activities and thereby helps to maximize their system鈥檚 uptime. Customers benefit from our expertise and experience to keep their 麻豆原创 systems on and enable their business to operate properly.

• Volume Test Optimization

This service component helps reassure customers that the results of volume testing for implementation projects, upgrade projects, or major rollouts are reliable. With reliable test results, customers can determine with confidence whether hardware resources are sufficient and the system configuration is suitable for a go-live.

• Technical Performance Optimization

This service component supports the customer configure the solution in an optimal way. The identification and elimination of costly performance bottlenecks help optimize the response times and throughput of the 麻豆原创 solution.

During the DEPLOY phase when you are ready for the Cutover and Go-live, we can help you with our Going Live Support Services.

• Going-Live Support

This service component provides support during production cutover and hypercare to stabilize and optimize the customer鈥檚 solution. It considers support for issue resolution, system monitoring, and optimization.

The Services mentioned here are very specific to Technical Architecture and Instructure and during execution of an 麻豆原创 S/4HANA project there are other areas to consider such Project Management, Solution Adoption, Application Design and Configuration, Data Management, Extensibility, Integration, Analytics, Testing, Operation and Support. Thus, depending on your requirements, we can tailor a plan with the Services that map your specific needs. Reach out to your 麻豆原创 TQM or 麻豆原创 AE to engage with us in your journey to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA.

NOTE: These 麻豆原创 Services are valid as on 13^th听September 2023

The post How to Kick Start your 麻豆原创 S/4HANA journey with 麻豆原创 Services appeared first on 麻豆原创 Australia & New Zealand News Center.

Sydney, Australia 鈥� 17 January 2023 – (NYSE: 麻豆原创) announced today that Origin Energy has achieved significant business and employee experience benefits through implementing a new suite of 麻豆原创 ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solutions, and modernising its payroll, time, and attendance platforms.

Origin Energy, one of Australia’s leading energy retailers, needed to bring its complex business processes into a single, consolidated view, to ensure continuous and effective service of its customers around Australia. With DXC Technology acting as the implementation partner, Origin Energy integrated multiple 麻豆原创 solutions onto its system, including: 麻豆原创 S/4 HANA, 麻豆原创 Ariba, 麻豆原创 Concur, 麻豆原创 Asset Manager, 麻豆原创 Analytics Cloud, OpenText VIM and xECM.

Adopting a two-stage release strategy, the first release went live in April 2021, with the second in July 2021. Despite the impact of the pandemic and much of the team working remotely, Origin Energy was able to successfully migrate existing data and integrate with non-麻豆原创 systems. Since implementation, Origin Energy has seen a reduction in reconciliations of over 90 per cent compared to the previous ERP and can now make decisions more rapidly and confidently based on increased visibility and control over data.

鈥淐onsolidating and upgrading our system to 麻豆原创 means we鈥檙e now able to see the complete picture, remove risk from our asset management practices and realise significant savings out to the end of FY24. There鈥檚 been high impact since implementation across the business; for example, Origin can now plan maintenance activities more effectively because all our data is in one system 鈥� creating visibility across our entire Generation portfolio. Increased speed and efficiency are pivotal to ensuring Origin has a greater focus on getting energy right for our customers,鈥� said Glenn Joseph, Head of ERP, Planning & Reporting Systems, Origin Energy.

As part of a broader initiative to adopt a digital first strategy, Origin also took the opportunity to modernise systems within its P&C (People & Culture) function. As part of this, the organisation implemented 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll to replace its previous payroll platform. In parallel, a new time management application was also introduced to automate complex award entitlements. Through the use of 麻豆原创 Cloud Platform Integration (CPI), Origin was able to leverage pre-built integrations to seamlessly integrate its core P&C systems. Following the new P&C system implementations, Origin has streamlined processes, with 90 per cent of employees now paid fortnightly with standardised pay cycles, alongside a huge culture shift for the team on how they record time and apply employment awards.

To further progress the digital journey, Origin Energy develop a customised self-serve HR portal, to host all policies, procedures and employee-facing content in one place to simplify and improve the employee experience. This has resulted in an over 50 per cent reduction in volume of inbound employee tickets raised with HR, delivering a more positive and empowering employee experience across the business.

鈥淭he energy market is undergoing a significant transition, and having the right technology in place can go a long way in helping organisations drive efficiency and save costs. By supporting Origin Energy鈥檚 ERP upgrade, 麻豆原创 has helped it gain greater visibility over its assets, meaning it can deliver more accurate energy to its customers,鈥� said Damien Bueno, President and Managing Director, 麻豆原创 Australia and New Zealand.

鈥淲e鈥檙e also proud of the work we鈥檝e done to modernise Origin Energy鈥檚 people and culture function, making payroll and timekeeping simpler so that teams can focus more of their time, energy and resource on performing higher value tasks,鈥� continued Bueno.

Visit the 麻豆原创 News Center. Follow 麻豆原创 on Twitter at .

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麻豆原创 NEWSBYTE 鈥� 14 November 2022 鈥� (NYSE: 麻豆原创) today announced that Zespri, the world鈥檚 biggest marketer of kiwifruit, has gone live with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud, private edition. The move will support Zespri鈥檚 ability to deliver the highest quality fruit to market and sustain strong returns to growers.

The go-live of this new technology, which took place on 1 November 2022, is the first phase in Zespri鈥檚 ambitious, multi-year Horizon transformation programme. The aim of the programme is to standardise and automate Zespri鈥檚 processes, increase its operational efficiency, and provide a platform for growth and innovation.

As a result of the implementation, Zespri hope to deliver kiwifruit to customers more effectively. Ultimately a more robust, transparent and reliable process will support its entire product delivery system, from the receipt of a sales order, to payments for product, through to distribution. Zespri鈥檚 quality management solutions will include proof that the product has been grown and handled in accordance with regulatory, customer specifications and consumer expectations.

With a focus on creating global consistency, almost 1000 full-time employees and contractors across offices in 17 countries will benefit from the implementation, with Zespri also undertaking its biggest-ever training programme.

As well as the move to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud, private edition, 麻豆原创 Integrated Business Planning (IBP) has been implemented to provide a more efficient end to end demand and supply planning capability.

Zespri will also take advantage of capabilities, including , 麻豆原创 Integration Suite, the 麻豆原创 Extension Suite, and 麻豆原创-endorsed partner solutions from OpenText, Tricentis, and Celonis.

The 麻豆原创 Analytics Cloud (SAC) platform combines business intelligence, analytics, and planning, using best-of-breed data visualisations and dashboarding for analytics and insights. Fiori applications will generate real-time operational reporting right at the point of transaction capture. This will enable Zespri to turn data into intelligence that will help it gain business advantage, make better decisions, improve business performance and mitigate risk. Improved reporting will support informed, strategic and timely decision-making.

麻豆原创鈥檚 Cloud Success Services worked with Deloitte in collaboration with Accenture, to use the 麻豆原创 Delivery Framework to establish a premium engagements service focused on mitigating the technology risk for the program, supporting the partner with the initial design, technology safeguarding, and go-live support.

Commenting on the successful go-live of this first phase, Dave Scullin, Zespri鈥檚 Chief Digital Officer, said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e known for a long time that our legacy systems were no longer scalable and fit for purpose. We underinvested in them for many years, to a point where they would hold us back, reduce our efficiency and effectiveness, and create real risk for the business. We had to change.

鈥淲e鈥檝e selected the latest generation 麻豆原创 applications as our core enterprise platform, but to view this simply as a digital project would be wrong. The Horizon Programme aims for transformational change, supporting a truly integrated end-to-end business.鈥�

Paul Marriott, President, 麻豆原创 Asia Pacific Japan, said: 鈥淶espri is one of our most forward-looking customers and their ambitious and proactive way of embracing their business transformation means they鈥檙e experience the benefits of RISE with 麻豆原创 across their entire business. We鈥檝e been working with Zespri for many years, and I look forward to the next phase of our journey, as Zespri continue to grow, deliver, and delight customers, while also sustaining returns to the industry and growers.鈥�

With the foundations now firmly in place and phase one complete, Zespri is looking forward to further developments, focusing on grower enablement and solutions for extended supply chain and quality management, integrated business planning and sales.

Visit the 麻豆原创 News Centre. Follow 麻豆原创 on Twitter at .

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Auckland, New Zealand 鈥� 20 September 2022 鈥� New Zealand farmer-owned co-operative Ballance Agri-Nutrients (Ballance) has successfully completed the first phase of a multi-year cloud program, migrating to 麻豆原创 cloud solutions, 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud and 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform on Amazon Web Services (AWS), to deliver greater business value to its farmers.

The migration was achieved in just five months, to avoid running into peak farming season and prevent delays to Ballance鈥檚 customer facing geospatial initiatives, and went live over a single weekend in March 2022.

By moving to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud private edition and 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform onto AWS in the first phase of its transformation, Ballance has established a stabilised core and solid foundation in the AWS cloud to drive and support future strategic deliveries, where it looks to further leverage the 麻豆原创 and AWS platforms to enhance its overall customer experience and digital offerings.

Ballance decision to engage 麻豆原创 and Amazon Web Services (AWS), and to partner with 麻豆原创鈥檚 Cloud Success Services to manage the availability, performance and maintenance of its cloud infrastructure has allowed Ballance to reduce demand on internal resources by 10 per cent, shifting its focus from delivering operational support and maintenance to driving value through on-farm digital services for its customers.

David Healy, Chief Digital Officer at Ballance, said, 鈥淲e selected 麻豆原创 and AWS as partners because of their deep knowledge and history of migrating existing 麻豆原创 environments into the cloud and their focus and alignment to enabling Ballance鈥檚 future geospatial and on-farm application initiatives. They understood the urgency and importance of this phase and created a seamless and rapid transition for us.鈥�

鈥淲e had initial concerns around performance, shifting from architecture hosted in New Zealand to the cloud hosted in Australia, however the performance is much more consistent and stable, and more importantly we now have the ability to scale when required during our seasonal peaks which is critical for us. Knowing that there is a team dedicated to looking after the environment, managing security, availability and maintenance has really allowed us to focus on delivering value to our customers.鈥�

Ballance has been running 麻豆原创 since 2009 and saw an opportunity to use the technology more effectively.

鈥淭he way I put it, is we had a Rolls Royce in the garage, but we were not servicing and maintaining it. Everything was just in time, and we were always lagging on updates and as a result other work and deliverables. The service and maintenance alone have been a huge improvement, especially for security, stability and time for us, the stats speak for themselves 鈥� 10 per cent reduction in FTE managing their core 麻豆原创 environment, 20 per cent reduction in 麻豆原创 support and maintenance, 70 per cent reduction in workload managing hardware and resource upgrades and 99.9 per cent availability of 麻豆原创 production environment鈥�. said David.

Key to the success of the project has been Ballance鈥檚 partnership with 麻豆原创 from the executive level through to the project team, which created an open, transparent environment for problem solving. It became a joint project dedicated to ensuring a smooth transition. The deep product knowledge of the 麻豆原创 team resulted in faster resolution of any technical issues.

Phil听Cameron, Chief Operating Officer, 麻豆原创 Australia and New Zealand, said,听鈥淏allance听Agri-Nutrients鈥� migration to 麻豆原创 cloud solutions, achieved in just five months, is evidence of the value RISE with 麻豆原创 is delivering to customers. By moving to the cloud,听Ballance听is able to spend more time and resource on driving greater value for its customers, rather than on keeping its systems running. We鈥檙e incredibly proud of our partnership and of how 麻豆原创 technology is supporting听Ballance听to achieve its ambition of helping farmers work more productively, profitably, and sustainably鈥�.

Scene set for Phase II

The second phase of the program started in June 22 and focusses on enhancing Ballance’s existing 麻豆原创 Customer Experience Solutions, which power its farmer platform, MyBallance. The customer-facing platform will be moved to 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud, which will enable Ballance to deliver more personalised geospatial experiences, products, and services to New Zealand farmers.

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鈥淚t was a one-size-fits-all solution that had been developed ten years earlier, when McGrathNicol was primarily an insolvency firm,鈥� says Tanner. 鈥淚t had since grown into being a multidisciplinary practice but there had been next to no changes made to the ERP.鈥�

As a fresh set of eyes with solid experience in systems, Tanner put forward a successful case for change. However, he recalls beginning the project with a certain amount of trepidation.

鈥淚鈥檇 run projects before, but nothing of this size,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he S/4HANA public cloud version was very new and there were only a couple of organisations in ANZ who were using it. There wasn鈥檛 a lot of reference checks available and implementation partner knowledge was quite slim.鈥�

Brendan Tanner oversaw the implementation of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system 麻豆原创 S/4HANA at a time when few organisations in the region had done so. He shares his learnings about the major undertaking with CFO Magazine. Read more at CFO Magazine

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SYDNEY 鈥� 02 February, 2022 鈥� (NYSE: 麻豆原创) today announced leading clean energy business Hydro Tasmania has achieved significant benefits after migrating from 麻豆原创 ERP Central Component (ECC) to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA in September 2020.

As Australia鈥檚 largest producer of renewable energy, Hydro Tasmania employs more than 1,100 staff to manage its large asset footprint including 30 power stations and 50 major dams. After several years of leveraging 麻豆原创 ECC to manage financial operations, Hydro Tasmania migrated to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA to eliminate manual accounting processes, building an intelligent, data-driven foundation for future innovation.

Hydro Tasmania undertook a remote, 10-month implementation process with 麻豆原创 partner against the challenging backdrop of a pandemic. In the year since the project completed, it has seen significant business benefits from the conversion and subsequent projects, including improved customer experience and increased systems speed, which reduced IT frustrations and allowed staff to focus on value-add process improvements and functional changes.

鈥淲e were looking for an innovative, reliable technology partner to streamline current finance processes and lay the foundation for broader digital transformation,鈥� said Tristan Coleman, Manager IT Solutions, Hydro Tasmania.

鈥淚n the year since we converted to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, the platform has continued to enhance the user experience for staff and streamline business processes. Our employees have faster, more transparent data visibility, which is helping them to work more efficiently and collaboratively with integrated cloud solutions such as SuccessFactors. They have mobile access to the platform anytime and anywhere, even if we have someone located remotely in the field with poor mobile reception.鈥�

Improving user experience is a key benefit of Hydro Tasmania鈥檚 transformation. 麻豆原创 S/4HANA provides greater visibility into accounting processes and the conversion also enables more efficient access to data analytics. For example, the enhanced search functionality and organisation of data now available simplifies accounting processes that were previously run manually off a spreadsheet.

Damien Bueno, President and Managing Director, 麻豆原创 Australia and New Zealand said: 鈥淪ince converting its ERP solution to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA just over 12 months ago, Hydro Tasmania has reaped the benefits of building intelligence into the core of its organisation. Its employees are empowered to work more collaboratively and with greater visibility of the organisation鈥檚 operations, with time and resource delivered back into the business. This is more important than ever in Australia鈥檚 renewable energy sector, which is becoming increasingly competitive and focused on cost-saving. Hydro Tasmania鈥檚 transformation also acts as a launch pad for greater business benefits to be achieved in 2022 and beyond”.

Nick Mulcahy, CEO, Zag part of Accenture said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e proud to be selected as a strategic partner to support Hydro Tasmania on its 麻豆原创 S/4HANA journey. Despite delivering the project remotely during COIVD-19 lockdowns, it鈥檚 fantastic to see how the conversion to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA continues to positively impact employees and wider business operations.鈥�

As part of its broader innovation program, Hydro Tasmania is planning to deploy 麻豆原创 solutions across its spatial data, finance, assets and HR teams.

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When Tauranga City Council members at the helm of this fastest growing city in New Zealand decided to modernize a 20-year old ERP system, they were fully aware of the challenges they faced in meeting the evolving needs of a burgeoning community. With a population of about 155,000 people and counting, Tauranga is the fifth largest city in the country.

鈥淭auranga is growing quickly and we need to think differently about how and where we live, and how we manage the existing and increased housing and infrastructure requirements of our growing city,鈥� said Scott Oehm, head of digital delivery at Tauranga City Council. 鈥淓qually important is the need to increase community engagement, getting the community more involved in the decisions that affect their daily lives.鈥�

Modular strategy makes digital journey easier

At the heart of Tauranga鈥檚 ambitious digital journey is , which has fostered greater collaboration, transparency, data reliability, and change management across administrative operations. As the local authority responsible for the administration of property rates 鈭� otherwise known as taxes 鈭� as well as charges for water use, along with managing recreational spaces, plus other license and regulations, the Council opted for a phased-in system update, beginning with .

鈥淗aving a modular strategy to upgrade our legacy ERP systems is making the transformation much more manageable,鈥� said Oehm. 鈥淲ith this initial roll-out across finance, people in each business unit and the larger community we serve are receiving the benefits of greater collaboration and transparency.鈥�

Measurable results prove value of digitalisation

Already the impact of the new system is palpable. People on the financial team have become more strategic working alongside other business units to improve budgeting, offer valuable financial insights, and increase internal collaboration.

Oehm said that with greater visibility into more reliable data from automated processes, the council can better meet community expectations for transparency and accountability from local authorities. What鈥檚 more, the financial team has significantly sped up monthly and year-end processes and project reporting. Automation reduced manual processing tasks for financial analysts by 25 percent, and time spent on capital project reporting by 30 percent.

Going digital also brought more rigor to processes like . Now people are required to obtain up front approval for any expenditures, simplifying procurement while meeting financial standards.

鈥淭his project has been very much business-driven, allowing managers and administrators to focus on and drive the results they want to achieve,鈥� said Oehm. 鈥淏ecause the system touches nearly all business groups within the organization, everyone had some input. Working together, the team has realized huge efficiency gains.鈥�

Digital sparks cross-team collaboration for continuous learning

In an unexpected bonus, the 鈥渃hampions鈥�, subject matter experts, and user groups originally created as part of the 麻豆原创 S/4HANA finance project have morphed into de facto change management teams. Some still meet regularly, not necessarily to talk about 麻豆原创 solutions, but how they can help each other create further efficiencies.

鈥淚n sharing what’s worked and what hasn’t worked, people are continuously learning from each other,鈥� said Oehm. 鈥淭hese aren鈥檛 just managers. We鈥檝e empowered administrative staff to work together to find the best outcomes for the organization. People can problem-solve themselves, and also be a source of ideas for IT to make improvements over time.鈥�

Connected ERP platform is strong foundation for growth

Oehm saw 麻豆原创 S/4HANA as the foundation supporting the city鈥檚 growth beyond the finance team to include property ratings and community relations. He said that property ratings constituted the bulk of the city鈥檚 revenues, and community relations were integral to multi-cultural relationship building.

鈥淲e now have an iterative system to track solid financials and ensure good processes without overwhelming our people,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can move at our own pace, evolving the system as city and organisational needs grow, supporting quality of life for an influx of people community-wide.鈥�

Explore more real-life success stories from 麻豆原创 ANZ customers that are digitally transforming their business.

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鈥淲e鈥檙e responsible for managing critical energy infrastructure nationwide, and need flexible technology in order to operate and respond to crises. As we expand and innovate through acquisitions and partnerships, we needed an integrated system with standardised technology and processes,鈥� said Shaun Code, general manager of enterprise technology at AGL Energy. 鈥淲ith a rich API layer, the 麻豆原创 S/4HANA ERP platform provides a core ecosystem with the ability to adapt and extend operations, directly supporting our business growth and differentiating innovation.鈥�

Tech boosts health and safety innovation

replaced over 50 disparate legacy ERP applications with , dramatically simplifying systems with consistent processes throughout the organisation. Teams are taking advantage of the integrated core platform to build extensions on top of critical business processes, such as health and safety requirements.

鈥淲e conduct walks to identify potential hazards in facilities or the field,鈥� said Code. 鈥淏uilding on top of the , we鈥檝e developed a mobile app that allows our people to capture and share incidents and hazardous conditions immediately. We can conduct more walks over a shorter time period, increasing our ability to meet health and safety commitments.鈥�

AGL Energy recently won an for its AGL One iOS app. Built on 麻豆原创 S/4 HANA with 麻豆原创 Integration Suite and 麻豆原创 Extension Suite, the mobile app provides employees with one seamless digital experience, allowing them to access the right tool at the right time from anywhere.

Digital platform minimizes plant downtime

As the largest electricity generator in Australia, plant maintenance for AGL Energy is not just about scheduling work orders and completing tasks in a timely manner. Integrating data from 麻豆原创 cloud solutions, including and , provides AGL Energy with visibility across systems, including procurement and its important contract workforce.

鈥淭he platform is a unifying hub for effective integration and automation that streamlines our end-to-end daily processes,鈥� said Code. 鈥淲e can make sure that we have the parts to maintain operations, the contingent workers to complete the job, and the speed to pay our suppliers efficiently.鈥�

Sixty percent time-savings from continuous innovation

AGL Energy has made a number of valuable process improvements on top of 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, notably an intuitive mobile app that reduced the number of steps in job site environmental analyses by 60 percent. Before work can be done on sites with hazards, teams need to have effective controls in place for people鈥檚 safety. Previously, teams used different processes and places to collect and store information.

鈥淲e鈥檝e sped up the process with automatically prepopulated data to complete forms, and unified approvals with consistent documentation across the company,鈥� said Code. 鈥淧eople now can spend less time navigating paperwork and more time ensuring their work is completed safely. With a continuous data loop feedback we are constantly improving processes that matter to our business.鈥�

Flexibility for resilient business

When AGL Energy鈥檚 employees switched to remote work at the height of the pandemic last year, the company鈥檚 automated system literally helped power business continuity. Employees in different locations were easily trained to step in as health and weather-related events unfolded.

鈥淗aving a well-designed cloud-based system meant we could quickly scale up to thousands of employees working from home,鈥� said Code. 鈥淚t also gave us greater planning control during a highly uncertain time, with the flexibility to shift operations between Australia and India in the wake of major disruptions, including a cyclone.鈥�

Cloud platform connects data and insights

Business results from centralising ERP systems on one platform have been palpable company-wide. Because leaders have a clear line of sight through inventory and procurement, work completion rates are faster with fewer instances of costly rescheduling. Sharing inventory data between warehouses at different generator sites saves time and reduces costs. The company can easily find and reuse available equipment, instead of ordering new parts from far flung suppliers. In procurement, teams can more easily source the right goods and services from the right suppliers at the best price. The impact on financial systems has also been profound, reducing the time spent on month-end closings from days to hours.

epitomises the evolving business opportunities from the collision between technology and the industry itself.

鈥淭here鈥檚 never been a more exciting time to be in the energy industry,鈥� said Code. 鈥淲e are committed to this digital transformation journey with our customers and partners. Whether customers are getting power from solar panels, charging battery-operated EVs and other devices, going online, or just staying comfortable and connected at any time, technology underpins our determination to make services more sustainable, reliable and affordable.鈥�

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