Page 209 - DCAP307_PLANNING_AND_MANAGING_IT_INFRASTRUCTURE

Unit 12: Business Intelligence

Meeting Strict Deadlines Notes
V-Guard established a tight six-month timeframe for the first stage of its SAP
implementation. In response, IBM Global Business Services prepared a plan for a fast-
track deployment based on the Ascendant SAP method.
Subsequently, V-Guard worked with IBM to design and configure a comprehensive SAP
solution that met the company’s requirements. The architecture is designed to enable V-
Guard to expand the solution by adding new SAP application components as the need
arises, based on a standardized, virtualized IT infrastructure.
To meet the challenge of tight project deadlines, and to reduce the overall risk exposure
during V-Guard’s sales season, IBM Global Business Services split the implementation
project into two phases. During the first phase, V-Guard worked with IBM to deploy SAP
ERP 6.0 and modules for Sales and Distribution, Materials Management, Production
Planning, Quality Management, and Finance and Controlling. Additional SAP ERP
modules, including Plant Maintenance and Human Capital Management, as well as SAP
BusinessObjects™ Business Intelligence and SAP NetWeaver® Business Warehouse, were
implemented over the course of two months during the second project phase.

The IBM Global Business Services team was confronted with a number of obstacles in
bringing the business on board with the transformation effort. V-Guard’s legacy systems
were strongly entrenched in the company’s operational culture, and moving from these
systems and aligning the business to standardized SAP processes without buy-in from
most users required a significant change management effort. It was also vital that the
project conformed to complex statutory and legal requirements.
IBM Global Business Services rose to these challenges, providing dedicated project
management and working closely with V-Guard to deliver the project a month ahead of
schedule.

“The entire implementation was brilliantly planned and executed: we kicked off in
September 2011 and the first project track went live in February 2012, beating our deadline
by almost a month,” says Robin Joy. “There were no delays, and timelines were rigorously
followed.”
Based on the excellent outcomes achieved with the SAP solution implementation, V-
Guard has awarded IBM with a three year Application Maintenance Services contract. IBM
Application Management Services will work closely with V-Guard to provide functional
and technical expertise, and enable system and process improvements, helping the company
to take its business to the next level.

Harmonizing Business Processes
V-Guard has successfully completed a major business transformation program,
consolidating a disjointed system landscape on to a single, centralized SAP ERP platform.

Important business processes have been integrated, creating a streamlined supply chain,
stretching from procurement and inventory management to sales and distribution, product
costing and financials. The company has cut complexity and introduced a high degree of
business process automation. It is possible for V-Guard to track products at every stage
from materials to final delivery, ensuring that when customers demand specific
information, V-Guard can meet the need rapidly and easily.
Improved Visibility at Every Level

The new solution provides V-Guard with much enhanced visibility into operations,
offering a real-time view of all its manufacturing locations and distribution centers.
Contd....

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 203