How to deal with legacy systems and where to put the data
The situation is all too familiar: IT systems grow and thrive, and users become hunters and gatherers of data. Sooner or later, you inevitably must...
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When AMAG Group AG acquired a division of Bouygues E&S InTec Schweiz AG, the technical side of the transaction required moving data. The acquired business unit had to be removed from the existing Bouygues IT system and merged into AMAG Group’s SAP S/4HANA system - a task perfectly fit for the experts at Natuvion.
In 2022 the AMAG Group AG, a Swiss company known for its automobile dealership business, pursued its strategy of diversification and expansion of mobility services with the takeover of Helion, a specialist in the areas of solar, heat pumps, and electromobility. With Helion, a division of Bouygues E&S InTec Schweiz AG, 450 employees and contractually specified business data switched ownership. The newly set up division AMAG Energy & Mobility would become the new home of people and data. For a comprehensive corporate view, a full integration of all relevant data from current IT systems into the existing SAP S/4HANA system at AMAG was necessary. Planning of such a separation had to take into consideration a given tight timeline. The official date of the takeover sets the deadline for changes in the systems, which leaves the team with eight months to get the job done. Due to the timeline, AMAG relied on external support and brought in Natuvion and its expertise in transformation projects, including its intelligent software tool Natuvion DCS.
Before the Carve-in, there is a Carve-out
At project start, Natuvion turned their attention to the Bouygues IT system. The objective was to separate relevant data before that data could be transferred and integrated into the system at AMAG in subsequent steps. The scope specified a company code with select profit centers including the complete history. AMAG specified the criteria according to which documents had to be selected from the company code in scope and then transferred to the new company code. Besides identifying relevant data, at that time Natuvion made data adjustments, performed renaming activities, and cleaned up postings. Upon successful completion of these tasks, the data export concluded the carve-out phase. Now, all eyes were on AMAG’s SAP S/4HANA system, and the carve-in process could begin.
Ready, Steady, Go – Data’s three steps to SAP S/4HANA
The data migration plan included a total of three migration test cycles, a dress rehearsal, and the system go-live. Test migrations are a necessity to detect errors at an early stage. Particularly in the beginning, the interdependencies of SAP modules and data consistency, and the link between archived documents and active transfer documents, made for a real challenge. The carve-in team took advantage of the SAP BAPI (Business Application Programming Interface) capabilities. Data and processes are made available as SAP Business Objects, allowing the business area to be migrated and to be broken down into smaller separate units. This in turn helped with structuring and reducing migration complexity.
To ensure a smooth carve-out and carve-in project execution, the Natuvion experts rely on the Natuvion Data Conversion Server (DCS). This ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) platform extracts data from the source system, transforms data to correspond to the new structures, and finally imports data into the target system. In addition to the fundamental ETL process capabilities, Natuvion DCS supports the analysis of data at the very beginning of the process and the data validation as the last step of the migration. While data accuracy is key, Natuvion DCS accelerates and automates process steps. At AMAG those features were not considered a bonus, but rather a requirement to proceed with a time-critical project.
Natuvion DCS: one solution, countless possibilities
New business goes live on AMAG’s SAP S/4HANA system
This acquisition might have come with its own IT challenges from day one, but ultimately the Helion business division was successfully merged into AMAG’s existing SAP S/4HANA. The demanding timeline was met, and this business unit is now represented in the system as a separate AG. The exceptional collaboration between AMAG and Natuvion was particularly crucial to the success of the project. Felix Arnold, Head of SAP Finance & Controlling AMAG, confirms: “Both parties were always ready to go the extra mile. We were driven by the desire to reach our common goal together. Trust and transparency were key elements in our day-to-day work that allowed us to immediately address and resolve critical issues as one team. With a pragmatic, goal-oriented collaborative mindset we kept the project on track, stayed on schedule, and met management expectations.“
What’s next: as part of a landscape consolidation initiative, an existing SAP ECC system is to be merged into the SAP S/4HANA system.
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