Initial situation: a manual data governance process

In its previously used SAP R/3 system, EnBW used SAP standard transactions and in-house developments to record and maintain customers and vendors without further technical support for quality and plausibility checks. With the introduction of the integrated business partner as part of a switch to SAP S/4HANA at EnBW and the integrated business partner, there was a need and an opportunity to raise the master data process of the integrated business partner to a new level of efficiency and data quality.

The logical consequence: a suitable duplicate check was to be implemented for the SAP landscape. ISO Professional Services defined various processes to systematically increase data quality - both in the creation and maintenance of master data. “Systematically” is the relevant keyword here, as there was previously no system in the company that automatically checked the plausibility and correctness of business partner data.

“Of course, a stand-alone solution for debtors and creditors was not the right approach for us in this context. Instead, we wanted to set up a holistic data governance process for our integrated business partners,” explains Heinrich Dold, Senior Manager, EnBW.
 

In search of a data quality management service provider

EnBW specifically searched the market for suitable S4/HANA-compatible solutions to support the integrated business partner's master data processes. The ISO Professional Services portfolio convinced EnBW: The decision was made in favor of the governance process with the integrated data quality tools Marlin Duplicate Check, Marlin Address Validation and Marlin Compliance Screening. Other important arguments in favor of ISO were the short implementation time of just four months and positive reference discussions with ISO customers such as TÜV Rheinland.

“The Marlin Governance Process is the most attractive package for us for the desired functions. Many points were taken into account in the evaluation, including the range of functions, technical architecture, reference experience, price and, last but not least, the relatively low implementation effort,” continues Heinrich Dold. Those responsible were also pleased with the sophisticated system with which ISO Professional Services set up the tools and the support during ongoing operation.
 

Requirements for the implementation of the data governance project

The solutions offered by ISO Professional Services work “out of the box”. This enabled the Nuremberg-based software company to fulfill another criterion, namely to make the products used available at short notice. In addition, important settings for the processes and solutions were clarified in workshops before the start of implementation in accordance with EnBW's requirements, which further shortened the implementation time.
 

Smooth integration of data quality management in the SAP S/4HANA environment

The implementation of the individual solutions Data Governance Business Partner, Duplicate Check and Address Validation of the Marlin Suite was carried out smoothly according to the best practice principle. Accordingly, the basic customizing was completed after just a few weeks. This was followed by various integration tests and key user training. The ISO managers were also able to implement a number of customer-specific requirements together with the client. For example, EnBW is now able to correctly assign certain attributes to the business partner using the “Classification” function.

ISO Professional Services handled the actual implementation with ease, even for a customer of this size. The process definitions resulting from the many successfully completed projects helped EnBW to successfully introduce the ISO solutions.
 

Initial experience with the new data governance process

Although the ISO solutions had only been in use at EnBW for a short time, it quickly became apparent: The original requirement to create business partner data error-free using automated processes and checks works perfectly with Marlin Duplicate Check at EnBW and duplicates in the system are now largely automatically avoided. The dual control principle of the data governance process helps to create master data reliably and traceably.

The automatic VAT ID check now ensures that business partner data is created correctly. The SAP standard only checks the form of the VAT ID number, but not its validity. This is now done by the Marlin VAT ID check at EnBW, and the Marlin address validation prevents incorrect data entries. Heinrich Dold sums up accordingly: “The Marlin products enable us to raise our master data quality of the integrated business partner in our new S/4HANA system to a new level.”
 

Very satisfied with the new Data Quality Management

Joachim Fies and Heinrich Dold, who were responsible for the project at EnBW, summarize: “We are very satisfied with the first joint steps towards introducing the ISO Professional Services products. Thanks to detailed installation instructions and competent advice, we were able to quickly integrate the add-ons into our SAP S/4HANA system.

In a joint workshop to record our process requirements, these were largely implemented directly in the system by an ISO employee. The initial creation and maintenance processes that the add-ons support were thus very quickly made tangible and tangible in our development system.” 

Key data
 

Customer

EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG,

• Large German energy supplier based in Karlsruhe
• Supplies 5.5 million customers with electricity, gas and water and energy-related services, e-mobility
• EUR 32.15 billion turnover in 2021
• Subsidiaries and partner projects in England, France, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey and Taiwan
• 26064 employees (2021)
   

Project

• Holistic introduction of a data governance process for business partners on the S/4HANA system including data quality tools
   

ISO solutions used

• Marlin Master Data Governance Business Partner
• Marlin Duplicate Check
• Marlin Address Validation
• Marlin Compliance Screening
• Marlin UST-ID Check
   

Advantages

• SAP-integrated and scalable solutions
• S/4HANA available
• Mature product suite
• Clear architecture of the Marlin product world