SAP Analytics Cloud modeled and implemented

Just how big the difference is to the previous "Excel world" is something that Novoferm's sales staff can see and experience in reporting at the latest when they are on site with their customers.

Whereas in the past they had to look up the figures and data in the office before visiting customers and then print them out, today all they have to do is click on the iPad or iPhone - and all the data is available. It's location-independent, up to date the day before, and clearer than ever before.

"The field staff are thrilled with the solution," says Stefanie Mio, project manager in Novoferm's sales department. "And that was exactly what we wanted to achieve with the switch in reporting from Excel to SAP Analytics Cloud. More convenience, a better overview - and above all, less manual effort in maintaining our customer data."

Until now, Novoferm managed its own customer data with several SharePoint Excel files. Incoming orders, sales, deviations in figures compared to the previous year - all data was transferred from the existing SAP BW system via an Excel plug-in into several Excel lists.

Since the company no longer considered this to be up to date, those responsible commissioned GAMBIT as a long-term partner with the replacement of the existing solution and a new conception via the SAP Analytics Cloud. With this SAP solution, companies can - on the basis of the Business Technology Platform - combine their data from different data sources and analyze and plan them centrally.

Proof of Concept and Introduction

During the three-month project, the GAMBIT experts first recorded the customer's wishes and requirements, created a proof of concept and subsequently implemented the solution after presentation and approval. "In contrast to the previous Excel solution, the SAC offers significantly more convenience and clarity," says Frieder Morgenstern, project manager and senior consultant at GAMBIT.

The data is clearly arranged on the SAC dashboard and divided into different categories - from an overview of incoming orders and turnover of the customers to a presentation of the customers with the largest positive or negative deviation in incoming orders to a specific comparison period.

In addition, the data for each individual customer can be displayed graphically and in tabular form with sales, incoming orders or even data on participation in certain Novoferm sales campaigns. Even at first glance, the color coding in green and red fields makes it possible to see where there are the strongest deviations and corresponding need for action.

The new authorization control also brings many advantages, for example for data security, data protection and clarity. Depending on their role in the company, employees can now only view the customer data that is required for a specific task and role.

"From my point of view, one of the biggest advantages of the new solution is the centralized master data, which now only has to be entered once centrally. If anything changes later, it is automatically updated in all the models used and is immediately available everywhere," says Frieder Morgenstern. "This simplifies the work in sales enormously and reduces the error rate."

Goals achieved 100 percent

"With the introduction of SAC, we have achieved our goals 100 percent - above all, less effort, more clarity and better work for the sales force," says Stefanie Mio from Novoferm. "We would like to thank our partner GAMBIT for their excellent support during the implementation of SAP Analytics Cloud."