Customers

EnBW

EnBW Logo"The power users in the central department only account for 20% of all report users. We want a system that helps us reach the remaining 80% of report consumers and so the majority of employees... Business Objects helped us to meet all user requirements with only 20 reports."

Matthias Gualeni
Team Leader of IT Strategy and Cross-Section Systems
EnBW

Challenge

With some 6 million customers, EnBW (Energie Baden-Württemberg) AG with its headquarters in Karlsruhe is the third-largest energy supply company in Germany. Of over 21,000 employees, 2,100 work at the company's sales and services unit EnBW Vertriebs-und Servicegesellschaft (VSG). This business unit sells energy (electricity, gas, and district heating), water, and energy-related services to industrial, commercial, and private customers, public utilities, and municipalities all over Germany.

As the German energy market is subject to increased competition, accurately calculated prices and precise planning become a necessity in the business-to-business segment, especially when dealing with big commercial customers. For this market, high quality, content-rich reporting is essential. In the course of its SAP® BW migration, two further components will go live at VSG, offering all users access to a consistent, standardized reporting for the first time. The new frontend is based on Crystal Reports® from Business Objects, an SAP company, and on Business Objects partner JOIN(+) GmbH's Enterprise Report Integrator (ERI).

Employees in the central department can now create reports on demand. Since ad hoc functionality is extremely popular with software solutions today, wanting to replace the ad hoc creation of reports may sound counterproductive. But what can be a strength in one case is only a plus for specific requirements where reporting is concerned. While some users kept the central department busy with reporting requests, others entered the report data into Excel sheets, creating silos of information. Accessing consistent, traceable results became impossible.

Approach

With the implementation of SAP BW as the central, reliable database, the VSG IT department laid the foundations for its new reporting. However, EnBW wanted compelling, content-rich reports that could integrate data from multiple sources, and the ability for all users to have secure, simple, and easy-to-use access to information. In addition to Crystal Reports, EnBW uses BusinessObjects™ Enterprise and BusinessObjects Integration for SAP.

Matthias Gualeni, team leader of IT strategy and cross-section systems at EnBW's VSG, says, "The power users in the central department only account for 20% of all report users. We want a system that helps us reach the remaining 80% of report consumers and so the majority of employees." The solution was to combine standardized reporting from Business Objects and a Web-based portal solution from JOIN(+) for easy access to data. Now, for easy report access, users only need their browser.

Business Objects provides standardized reporting for EnBW's main account managers and sales offices as well as employees in the sales and product controlling departments. Furthermore, at VSG, two worlds have to be served. The sales department wants to calculate prices, evaluate quantities, plan securely, and of course, tweak its offers and contracts. The technical and billing departments want to know what quantities will be requested at what times, what power peaks will occur, and how big the rate of reactive power will be. Gualeni says, "Business Objects helped us to meet all user requirements with only 20 reports. Each report is available in three expansion levels—level one contains all important metrics and insightful graphics, level two offers comprehensive tables with additional attributes, and on level three the user can view information in granular detail."

Results

The new reporting covers all-important business processes, from the accurate planning of electricity purchases to energy and network logistics to price calculation and customer service. For the first time, every user can access compelling, highly structured reports. What is more, they get information that has not been available before. In the initial phase, the users are very happy with the new offerings. At a demonstration before management, the new reporting convinced senior executives with its clear information presentation. There are already plans to offer executives tailor-made dashboards with all-important key performance indicators (KPIs).

Trustworthy and actionable information is the basis for quick and intelligent decision-making. This is not only a benefit for EnBW but also for their customers and even the environment—for example, when an account manager can quickly calculate and show the customer how he can avoid reactive power and save costs. Gualeni says, "The reporting based on SAP customer relationship management (CRM) provides our key accounts with information on offers, contracts, and energy consumption. They, too, may gain access to our reporting portal in the future."

EnBW seems to be well prepared for the increasing competition on the energy market. Says Gualeni, "Our new reporting system conforms to all requirements: a powerful data warehouse as the reliable, high-quality data base; informative reports with compelling layouts and relevant contents; plus a simple, easy-to-use information access that does not require any special knowledge or training. I believe we have developed a sound decision making basis for our users with this solution."

About JOIN(+)GmbH

JOIN(+) GmbH provides consulting and support for companies using information technology. Its philosophy focuses on all aspects of competent customer consulting offering high quality, timely and cost-effective services. The company's Enterprise Report Integrator allows the creation of Web-based reporting portals based on reports from multiple reporting tools. The portal then summarizes the reports by topic and functional area.

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