Selective Data Transition to S/4

With around 1,500 employees and an annual turnover of almost 1.3 billion euros, Badenova is one of the central energy suppliers in southern Germany. The Freiburg-based company not only stands for a sustainable energy and heat transition, but also invests specifically in a future-proof IT infrastructure. After two decades of productive use, the existing ERP system had reached its functional limits - a comprehensive renewal was unavoidable. 

The goal was a modern, cloud-based solution that offers both technological connectivity and maximum flexibility for future requirements. "Our old system served us well for many years. At some point, however, every solution reaches a point where it no longer meets current requirements. Then it's time for a fresh start," says Georg Klein, IT Project Manager at Badenova, describing the reasons for the transformation.

Restructuring of IT landscape

The aim of the system modernization was not only to switch to a future-proof ERP platform. Rather, Badenova took the opportunity to fundamentally restructure its IT architecture: The energy management processes from SAP IS-U were to be clearly separated from the logistical and commercial ERP core - a strategic step towards better maintainability and flexibility of the system landscape. At the same time, the SAP organizational structure was revised, including the introduction of a controlling area separation, in order to create the technical prerequisites for a later orientation towards profit center structures. 

With S/4, the choice fell on a target system that not only offers modern functionalities, for example in profit center accounting, the general ledger or asset accounting, but also lays the foundation for modular and integrated business processes. The migration itself included all ERP core modules - from Finance (FI) and Controlling (CO) to Sales and Distribution (SD), Materials Management (MM) and Maintenance and Service (PM/CS). The historically grown volume of data in the legacy system posed a particular challenge - especially as the parallel operation of the SAP IS-U system had to be maintained throughout the entire duration of the project. The demands on the technical migration strategy and the selection of suitable implementation partners were correspondingly high.

Smooth S/4 transition

For the technical implementation of the migration project, Badenova decided to work with digital engineering service provider Nagarro and its partner Natuvion - both experienced specialists in complex SAP transformation projects. "Complex transformation processes require a smart and technically mature process model. This is precisely where Nagarro and Natuvion demonstrated their particular strengths - which is one of the reasons why they were ultimately awarded the contract for our tender," explains project manager Georg Klein. 

Once the partner had been selected, a joint project team was set up to work out the migration strategy in detail and set the necessary conceptual and technical course.

The core of the chosen approach was a selective data transition, with which the large volume of data could be transferred to the new system environment in a targeted and risk-minimized manner. To this end, the energy industry processes and data from SAP IS-U were clearly separated from the ERP core. While IS-U remained in the source system, the data relevant for S/4 was extracted from the previous SAP ECC system - including all open processes, the current financial year and the previous year. 

In order to technically implement the selective data transfer, the team set up a dedicated shell based on the existing production system, into which the historical data was migrated. The actual transfer was carried out via Natuvion's Data Conversion Server (DCS) - a server solution specially developed for large data migrations. At the same time, Badenova used the project to specifically improve the quality of the master and transaction data.

Basis for BTP and modularity

Redundancies and inconsistencies in accounts receivable, accounts payable and business partner data were eliminated. In addition, the already planned controlling area separation was implemented in the new system. This has now created the basis for switching to profit center structures in the future - with a consistent database in modules such as Finance and Controlling, without media disruptions or integration losses. After around 21 months of intensive project work, including four test migrations and a comprehensive dress rehearsal, the final cutover took place at the beginning of May 2024. The new S/4 system went live in a carefully planned 96-hour time window. The new ERP system has been running successfully in live operation since May 13, 2024. 

With the new system landscape, the energy supplier now has a modern, future-oriented ERP platform that is not only technologically up to date, but also enables further strategic developments - for example through the connection to the Business Technology Platform or the introduction of modular profit center structures. The separation of controlling areas in the SAP system forms the technical foundation for further organizational development and a stronger business segmentation of the company. 

Success despite enormous old stocks

Georg Klein is highly satisfied with the progress and outcome of the project: "Despite the extensive data stocks and structures that have grown over twenty years, the migration went almost smoothly thanks to the professional planning of the project team." 
 

badenova.de

To the partner entry: