Panaya Sap in Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz Takes a Smooth Ride to ERP 6.0
Company
Mercedes-Benz USA, headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey, is a subsidiary of Daimler AG. Globally, Daimler AG runs more than 160 SAP applications worldwide. As an automotive wholesaler that sold more than 225,000 vehicles in 2008, Mercedes-Benz USA relies on SAP to power its core financials and logistics systems, as well as its financial services division.
The Challenge
As the manager for SAP Regional Support for Mercedes-Benz USA, Sanjeev Sharma’s team was at a crossroads. If they stayed on 4.6C, they would soon fall behind on SAP maintenance. Their application environment had grown increasingly complex – something they could simplify once they were on SAP’s ERP 6.0 NetWeaver architecture. “We wanted to be completely webenabled instead of using the old ITS infrastructure, “says Sharma. “With the 4.5/4.6C versions of SAP, we had so many applications around SAP that it made for a complex application environment.” But unlike previous upgrades that utilized outside service providers, there was a new challenge this time: Sharma planned to handle this upgrade totally in-house. There was no margin for error: he needed to ensure an efficient upgrade process to avoid overtaxing either his development or functional team members.
Project Synopsis
Mercedes-Benz USA: subsidiary of Daimler AG Upgrade from 4.6C to ERP 6.0 Modules upgraded: FI, SD, MM, CO, AM
Project Benefits
50% less testing, development, and planning 90% fewer issues to resolve Reduced testing cycles from 3 to 1 Significant project management time savings On time and on budget Go live with zero issues
The Solution
When Sharma found out about Panaya, it looked like a perfect fit, perhaps too perfect: Panaya seemed to address all the key pain points his team had grappled with during previous upgrades. “When I saw the first demo of what Panaya had to offer, it was hard to believe, I will tell you that for sure,” says Sharma. “It did seem too good to be
Company
Mercedes-Benz USA, headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey, is a subsidiary of Daimler AG. Globally, Daimler AG runs more than 160 SAP applications worldwide. As an automotive wholesaler that sold more than 225,000 vehicles in 2008, Mercedes-Benz USA relies on SAP to power its core financials and logistics systems, as well as its financial services division.
The Challenge
As the manager for SAP Regional Support for Mercedes-Benz USA, Sanjeev Sharma’s team was at a crossroads. If they stayed on 4.6C, they would soon fall behind on SAP maintenance. Their application environment had grown increasingly complex – something they could simplify once they were on SAP’s ERP 6.0 NetWeaver architecture. “We wanted to be completely webenabled instead of using the old ITS infrastructure, “says Sharma. “With the 4.5/4.6C versions of SAP, we had so many applications around SAP that it made for a complex application environment.” But unlike previous upgrades that utilized outside service providers, there was a new challenge this time: Sharma planned to handle this upgrade totally in-house. There was no margin for error: he needed to ensure an efficient upgrade process to avoid overtaxing either his development or functional team members.
Project Synopsis
Mercedes-Benz USA: subsidiary of Daimler AG Upgrade from 4.6C to ERP 6.0 Modules upgraded: FI, SD, MM, CO, AM
Project Benefits
50% less testing, development, and planning 90% fewer issues to resolve Reduced testing cycles from 3 to 1 Significant project management time savings On time and on budget Go live with zero issues
The Solution
When Sharma found out about Panaya, it looked like a perfect fit, perhaps too perfect: Panaya seemed to address all the key pain points his team had grappled with during previous upgrades. “When I saw the first demo of what Panaya had to offer, it was hard to believe, I will tell you that for sure,” says Sharma. “It did seem too good to be