Industry: Healthcare and Life Science, Pharma
Category: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), SAP S/4HANA

On SAP S/4HANA within 15 weeks

Basilea Pharmaceutical successfully navigates SAP ERP to S/4HANA migration, overcoming challenges like tight deadlines & compliance, with NTT DATA Business Solution's efficient Conversion Factory, ensuring future-readiness & innovation access.

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Two scientiests working on computer in laboratory

It was not easy for us to find a good partner who understood our requirements and was able to adapt to our planned project timeframe. But with the fixed price model and experience of NTT DATA Business Solutions, we felt immediately in good hands.

Buu Pham, Overall Project Lead, Basilea Pharmaceutica International Ltd.

Business needs

  • Impending end to SAP ERP maintenance
  • Migration with short project term
  • Strict compliance with validation requirements
  • Working from home regulations due to pandemic

 

Solutions

  • SAP S/4HANA

Outcomes

  • Set up for the future with SAP S/4HANA
  • Speedy migration using Conversion Factory
  • Ability to retain specific processes
  • Ability to take advantage of SAP innovations

Industry: Pharma, Life Sciences
Products: Development and marketing of innovative drugs for oncology and infectious diseases
Employees: approx. 150 employees at Basel headquarters
Website: www.basilea.com

15 weeks project term

Why NTT DATA Business Solutions?

  • Fixed price model with short project term and minimal risk
  • Industry know-how including validation

Migration to modern ERP suite

In principle, the core processes at Basilea Pharmaceutical International had been working very well with SAP ERP ECC 6.0 EHP 7. However, as the end of maintenance for the solution was announced, migration to a new system became necessary. “To be set up as well as possible for the future, we decided in favor of the modern ERP suite SAP S/4HANA,” reports the Overall Project Lead Buu Pham. “Due to our limited resources for such a project, three things were of paramount importance: A speedy switch to the new software solution to avoid time pressure. A short project term to avoid blocking other impending projects and to ensure that operations could continue unhindered. And reliable validation, which is a must for us as a life sciences company.”

Retaining existing processes

In addition, the aim was to definitely retain the existing, well-functioning core processes when moving to SAP S/4HANA. The system was to continue making the familiar processes available after the conversion – while the company would be able to benefit from the innovations that the new ERP suite would provide over time. After searching for an SAP partner that could fulfill these requirements, Basilea decided to opt for the team from NTT DATA Business Solutions as it offered a unique, tried and tested approach for a speedy system conversion: the it.S/4HANA conversionR2R – a conversion factory based on the so-called brownfield approach. ““It meant that the migration was completed on time and in budget.”

Smooth remote implementation

And this effective project execution worked perfectly despite the regulations on working from home that the Covid pandemic entailed. The hosting provider facilitated system access. This meant that it was possible to make available a sandbox system with a copy of the productive ERP system quickly during the first project phase, the Prepare Phase. A simplification item analysis then yielded a clear catalog of standardized migration steps that could be realized in the sandbox system.

This involved the revision of 65 test scripts for modules FI, CO, SD, MM, and QM via two change request processes. These were transferred into the document portal upon release. “Soon after completion of the short Prepare Phase, the conversion of the sandbox system started, followed by that of the quality system,” reports Buu Pham. “With the Conversion Factory, the whole migration process went very smoothly.”

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