Last year, INNOV8iON, together with our sister company iQibt, implemented a new business management system for the Shared Services organization of the Government Agency for the Caribbean Netherlands (RCN). In this article, we briefly share our experiences working with this unique client.
New business management system based on SAP Cloud technology
As described above, RCN needed a new system to manage its financial and procurement processes. Since this is, of course, a significant investment, it was very important that the new system meet all of its future needs. After an extensive evaluation process, the decision was made to implement SAP S/4HANA Cloud in combination with SAP Ariba and the SAP Fiori user interface. Fun fact: This makes RCN the first Dutch government agency to switch to a cloud solution from SAP.
Our project team spent just under a year setting up the new system. But how did the entire implementation process go? In the initial phase of the project, we worked with RCN to map out the various business processes. We then discussed the capabilities of SAP and how we could best tailor the system to their needs.
As standard as possible
An important part of this phase was exploring the available Fiori applications. Thanks to the vast selection of standard Fiori applications, we were able to minimize the amount of customization as much as possible. If a particular feature was missing from a standard Fiori application, we explored options for extending the app or fell back on the classic SAP transactions (thanks to the WebGUI, it’s actually very easy to create new Fiori tiles for these classic transactions). One example of an extension we implemented is the ability to calculate an SHA256 hash of a payment file within the corresponding Fiori application.
After the implementation phase, we were finally able to travel to Bonaire with a large part of the project team for the first time in November 2021. It was really nice to finally see the team in person. It’s just different when you’re physically together, rather than having a screen between you. During our stay, we provided training to RCN employees (including on the use of SAP Fiori). We also supported RCN in testing all their business processes in the new system and were busy with the data migration. For the data migration, we relied heavily on the new SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit.
Live within a year
In January 2022, we were invited back to the tropical island to provide additional support during the system’s go-live. Fortunately, the go-live went off without a hitch.
RCN successfully migrated all of its processes into a single system. Thanks to Fiori, not only do these processes operate intuitively and according to a single, consistent workflow, but the procurement and financial processes also integrate seamlessly. Additionally, because the system is offered as a SaaS cloud solution, RCN doesn’t have to spend any time maintaining it. Updates are automatically provided by SAP. In other words, the customer is happy. And of course, that makes us happy too.
Want to know more?
Would you like to learn more about the capabilities of Fiori, SaaS Cloud, integration, or specifically the lessons learned from this project? Feel free to contact us with any questions. We’re happy to share our knowledge!
