Migration to SAP S/4HANA in a long-established German company
Migrating grown SAP system landscapes with numerous in-house developments to S/4HANA are always challenging projects. ISO Professional Services GmbH took on the task at the German automation specialist Friedrich Lütze GmbH.
Initial situation
As a member of the globally active Lütze International Group, Friedrich Lütze GmbH from Weinstadt assumes a central role in sales, production facilities, and the development and research department.
The company has been a successful supplier in the automation market since 1958. The company’s goal is to supply this market with high-quality electronic and electrical engineering components and system solutions for automation and railroad engineering. Together with Lütze Transportation GmbH, it is one of the global leaders in this field.
By now, the product portfolio includes highly flexible control cables and cable assemblies, energy-efficient wiring systems for control cabinets, industry 4.0 solutions, interface technology, voltage supply and monitoring, and ethernet infrastructure. With sales and production companies in Europe, Asia, and the USA, the company is active throughout the world.
S/4HANA Transformation: Task
Friedrich Lütze GmbH had a SAP system landscape that had grown over the years with numerous in-house developments, interfaces, and add-ons for the various locations. The goal of the project was to change the service provider for hosting and SAP-BC support alongside a parallel S/4HANA transformation, with simultaneous consolidation of the entire system landscape.
In the course of this requirement, Friedrich Lütze GmbH was looking for a service provider that could provide the following services: Infrastructure-/hosting services and SAP BC support, as well as planning and facilitation of a target S/4HANA system landscape. This should also include support during the S/4HANA transformation project and the establishment of SAP ECC6.0.
In addition, the system environment and the migration of HR data and processes should be managed. The service provider also had to ensure the transfer to regular operation with 24/7 support for productive systems.
Migration to S/4HANA: Project
The approach proposed by ISO Professional Services GmbH (IPS) to meet the project requirements convinced Friedrich Lütze GmbH to enter into cooperation. A bluefield approach to S/4HANA transformation facilitated existing, integrated industry solutions and numerous in-house developments while minimizing cutover risk.
The flexibility and scalability of the IPS infrastructure ensured a project-driven expansion of the infrastructure while minimizing running costs. SAP BASIS operation is guaranteed by a jointly agreed service catalogue and a 24/7 on-call service.
The focus is on the continuous maintenance of critical system components such as BASIS or HR. Regular service reports help keep quality of service high and detect and prevent possible disruptive situations early.
Outcome
In the meantime, Friedrich Lütze GmbH has been working with ISO Professional Services GmbH for three years and has successfully transferred all its SAP and legacy systems, (in total 14 SAP systems with 13.6 terabytes, 575 users, 24/7) to the care of IPS. Numerous projects ensure the continuous development of the system landscape.
“I regard ISO Professional Services GmbH more as a partner and less as a service provider.”
Matthias Ernst, Head of IT Friedrich Lütze GmbH.
Outlook
Due to the high dynamics and IT affinity of Friedrich Lütze GmbH, we expect further promising projects. In addition to upgrades and extensions of the systems with new functionalities, our customer strives for innovations both on a technical and process level. ISO Professional Services GmbH is very pleased about the on-going and future cooperation.
„Due to the dynamics of the different requirements from the specialist areas, again, and again very fast reactions are necessary. For example, a planned update of a Support Package turns in the short term into an unplanned upgrade to S/4HANA 2021.
This then means not only much more attention and effort internally, but also demands a great deal of flexibility from the partners. We feel we are in good hands here.“
Jörg Sachs, Group Leader SAP Solutions & Consulting, Friedrich Lütze GmbH.
„The fact that Friedrich Lütze GmbH has placed all its SAP systems in our hands for support is an incredible vote of confi dence. We repay this trust with performance and reliability.“
Kerem Dagdelen, Technical Account Manager at ISO Professional Services.
