Don't call it migration!

SGI - Società Gasdotti Italia offers natural gas transportation services through a network of high-pressure methane pipelines covering approximately 1,800 km.

In a process of growth that sees it responding to the challenges of increasingly effective digital transformation, SGI deemed Exprivia the ideal partner with which to embark on a journey that began with the need to replace the management software in use, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009; the activity was aimed at migrating the current ERP (Dynamics Ax) to an independent SAP technology platform (SAP S/4HANA).

Objectives

The S4@SGI project aimed to implement a new integrated system capable of:

• adequately supporting the development and evolution of operating processes, ensuring the best support for characteristic business processes;
• ensuring integration between processes by optimising the flow of communication;
• increasing process efficiency by reducing low value-added activities;
• maintaining effective integration with existing and remaining applications, even in the presence of the S/4HANA Information System;
• supporting a robust, flexible application and infrastructure platform open to possible future extensions and equipped with Embedded Analytics functions capable providing real-time statistical data to support daily operating processes;
• providing a facilitated change path for users thanks to the simplifications of the new information system, starting with the User Experience.
  
  

Project

To meet SGI's needs and in line with the planned digital transformation program, Exprivia dealt with the greenfield implementation project of SAP S/4HANA vers. 2021 On Premise with SAP Activate methodology: an  Agile methodology according to which Exprivia operates thanks to the completion of a certification process on its phases: Prepare, Explore and Realise, up to Deploy.

The system went live in January 2023 with the achievement of the targets that triggered the next phase, Run, for application maintenance with a 12-month contract from May 2023.

Among the main implementation macro-themes, the following deserve mention: the Finance and Control processes, including Treasury and Assets, Electronic Invoicing in Accounts Payable and Receivable, the Controlling model, Purchasing processes and Project System processes.

Results

The migration was the first step in meeting the company's general need for evolution in business efficiency. This need immediately stood out in the project planning phase of the collaboration between Exprivia and SGI, and was excellently resolved thanks to SGI's profound professionalism and Exprivia's experience gained over 40 years of business process digital transformation projects with a comprehensive, cross-industry vision of activities and solutions.

The customer noted the following benefits thanks to the implementation: confirming SAP S/4HANA as the ideal answer for the integrated management of business processes with the aim of improving collaboration, supporting the company in making data-driven decisions and increasing business productivity by standardising procedures, as well as supporting report processing in management control.

The model implemented also met the need to be able to produce the Unbundling reporting required by ARERA for the preparation of financial statements, using analytical accounting classified according to the accounting specifications required by the Authority.

In particular, the main analysis dimensions are Activity, Section and Category.

The new SAP Fiori front-end was also activated, especially for Analytics, in addition to the classic SAP GUI.

The SAP system was also interfaced with:

• ARXIVAR, the software for sending and receiving electronic invoices to/from SDI
• TeamSystem, for the acquisition of staff costs
• CGA for billing

Lastly, the Data Migration task included in the project scope is noteworthy.