SAIC is a leader in systems design and integration, information security,
IT outsourcing, and telecommunications networking and support, with more than
41,000 people at offices in more than 150 cities worldwide and a 32-year continued
growth record. This is their SAP Case study
:

Decision to Purchase

SAIC made the business decision to modernize their IT applications in the fall
of 1993 in order to meet the growing business information needs of finance and
accounting. The company, therefore, committed to replace its custom legacy systems
with an ERP system from a global software solutions company.

Solution

After rigorous evaluation of possible solutions SAP’s R/3 Enterprise solution
suite was selected. SAIC was an “early-adopter” in selecting SAP to integrate
their dynamic and rapidly growing global business. One of the main criteria
was the ability to support SAIC business processes. Very few U.S. companies
had implemented SAP at that time and SAIC was one of the first large-scale users
of R/3 Enterprize software in the United States, with more than 300 locations
worldwide and over 5,000 users.

Pilot Project

In the first stage of the R/3 implementation, SAIC chose a pilot project approach
for their small commercial division, starting with PS, Financials, CO, and Materials
Management modules, along with the time reporting portion of HR. Within six
months, this phase was successfully completed with assistance from SAP and in
part because of the ability to access project information on-line. The internal
pilot project team was now in place to further implement the SAP R/3 Enterprise
System company-wide. SAIC clearly saw benefit in SAP R/3’s potential for lowering
operating as well as administrative costs, and streamlining processes with one
data model.

Company-wide Implementation

Subsequently, the SAIC internal team implemented company-wide procurement in
1995, which involved centralization of Accounts Payable and the implementation
of common business practices for procurement. The existing Accounts Payable
and procurement processes were mostly manual processes with various locally
developed, offline management tools. A key benefit of the new SAP system was
having information readily available for consolidating large vendor accounts
and negotiating corporate purchasing agreements.

One of SAIC’s objectives for this project was to develop a permanent internal
R/3 Enterprise support team. This was accomplished by partnering with SAP and
other consultants in the initial pilot, training existing staff on the various
modules and new releases. Some of the main challenges apart from streamlining
business processes and change management were meeting training needs and SAP
front-end software distribution. The SAIC training approach was to send technical
and functional teams to SAP training classes and to establish an in-house training
team to train the users. The company followed the “train-the-trainer” approach
in order to reach all 5,000 users. Role-based training and informational events,
in which employees were comprehensively prepared for the coming changes, played
an important role in effective change management.

SAIC’s SAP R/3 implementation was such a success from a pilot project perspective
that we immediately saw the system’s potential for lowering costs and increasing
productivity. Shortly after the pilot implementation, SAIC moved forward with
a company-wide implementation. SAP has been running problem-free now for over
seven years, thanks to our internal project team and SAP’s own dedicated team
of professionals.
” — Mani Perumal, SAIC

Company Growth

SAIC with its strong record of growth is continually expanding through partnerships,
joint ventures and acquisitions, which requires many commercial and international
system rollouts through contemporary SAP software components. Implementing “Best
Practices” in the business arena has helped SAIC to integrate these new companies
through the acquisition process more quickly, hence moving the new copany forward
easily into SAIC’s streamlined operations. Two recent rollout examples, SAIC
UK Ltd., and Network Solutions, are new organizations using the same SAP system.
Building on prior internal experience, SAIC later implemented a full complement
of SAP modules for Intesa, SAIC’s joint IT venture with Petroleos de Venezuela
(PDVSA). SAP systems greatly simplified the process of merging with another
company, thus reducing the time to implement new programs and continued progressive
operations.

System Performance

SAIC is looking forward with plans for an active future with SAP. To take advantage
of SAP R/3 Enterprise’s increasing functionality and versatility, SAIC has kept
the system up-to-date by performing subsequent upgrades. Since its implementation
in 1994, SAP R/3 Enterprise has been running problem-free for over seven years,
which has enabled significant benefits to end users. Lessons learned during
implementation can be attributed to SAP’s well-developed sense of customer partnership
and support, as well as SAIC’s efficient and reliable operational model, service
delivery infrastructure, software and business process knowledge base, and experienced
delivery team.

About SAIC

As a leader in systems design and integration, information security, IT outsourcing,
and telecommunications networking and support, SAIC offers unparalleled expertise
and a variety of value-added services. With more than 41,000 people at offices
in more than 150 cities worldwide, SAIC provides IT services around the world.
And, as a FORTUNE 500® company with a history of 32 consecutive years of growth,
their clients can count on SAIC to stand by its commitments now and into the
future. SAIC helps its clients — from some of the world’s largest utility/energy
and commercial companies and government agencies — to reduce costs, improve
operations and add value to their businesses.

 

About SAP

SAP America is a subsidiary of SAP AG, the recognized leader in providing collaborative,
inter-enterprise software and e-business solutions. A truly global software
provider, SAP AG has more than 1,000 partners, 22 industr y solutions and 10
million users at 30,000 installations around the world. SAP America has contributed
significantly to this leadership position, and it is the foremost provider of
e-business and enterprise software in the United States.

www.sap.com/usa/publicservices/utilities