CUSTOMER““ CASE STUDY

Using Safyr® to harness the power of natural thinking in a SAP

Project Business Intelligence project Meeting business requirements for information Background Delivering reports, dashboards Hydro Tasmania has been a leader and analytics solutions based on SAP and SAP BW source in renewable energy development data since it pioneered hydroelectric power generation in Australia over one hundred years ago. Challenge It is now the country’s largest Staff unfamiliar with SAP and producer of renewable energy. They SAP BW use a combination of water and wind No available data model for power to harness natural energy that SAP and SAP BW sources they sell into the national grid. Traditional approach using In addition the company owns Google searches, Momentum Energy, a specialist and hypothesis testing electricity retailer that provides high unsuccessful quality products and services to their customers in Australia. They also operate an international consulting Solution business, Entura which offers expert Safyr used to infer data power engineering, renewable models from customised SAP energy, water and environmental implementation solutions locally, nationally and ““ internationally.

Benefits Situation • Time saved Hydro Tasmania started an • Improved accuracy implementation of SAP in 2010 to Hydro Tasmania’s Gordon Dam • Increased productivity replace over 50 legacy applications The dam is 192 metres (630 ft.) to bring more control and easier long and 140 metres (460 ft.) management to the business. SAP high. It is the tallest dam in went live in 2013, although there is Tasmania and the fifth-tallest still ongoing work to refine the in Australia. solution being undertaken. The modules implemented include Subsequently, the Business Finance, HR, Supply Chain, Asset Intelligence team, managed by Scott Management, Project Management, Delaney, was charged with EHS, GRC and BW. delivering enhancements to those; Other applications which support as well as building new reports, other areas of the business still dashboards and analytics from both remain, including Retail systems SAP and SAP Business Warehouse which are mainly used by (BW) sources using the SAP Momentum Energy. Business Objects product suite. Initial reports were developed by the (WEB Intelligence, Crystal Reports, silwoodtechnology.com System Integrator. Dashboards and Analytics © 2017, Silwood Technology Limited CUSTOMER““ CASE STUDY

Challenge The first challenge encountered by the BI team was the lack of data models or documentation about the data models for SAP ECC or for SAP BW. This meant that they had no start Project point from which to begin to find the Meeting business requirements data they needed in order to be able for information to build or enhance the reports, Delivering reports, dashboards dashboards or analytics which were and analytics solutions based required by the business. on SAP and SAP BW source Prior to the implementation of SAP, Hydro Tasmania, a leader in wind data the team had been extremely and other renewable energy proficient and confident in providing technologies. data to the business which Challenge originated in the various legacy It quickly became obvious that trying Staff unfamiliar with SAP and applications. SAP BW Now however they needed to to locate the right data from SAP or No available data model for understand how to get data from SAP BW was a major hurdle which SAP and SAP BW sources new sources, SAP and SAP BW, affected the BI team’s ability to meet Traditional approach using without documentation or data deadlines and was resulting in a Google searches, models. growing backlog and potential and hypothesis testing Whilst trying to build skills in these damage to their internal reputation. unsuccessful systems, the size, complexity and opaque nature of their data models Initial approaches to the problem meant that this task was extremely As Scott Delaney says: “We were Solution daunting and led to the team originally informed that no data becoming frustrated and working at a Safyr used to infer data model was available for the SAP reduced pace. models from customised SAP application or for SAP BW”. implementation This metadata discovery, or source The System Integrator involved in data analysis phase in any ““ the project also offered to build a information focused project is critical data model for them, however the Benefits for success because without accurate information about the time it would have taken was not • Time saved underlying data structures of an fitting and the price was outside the • Improved accuracy application from which to work, the acceptable budget parameters. • Increased productivity Customer implementation team are hampered Lacking a clear set of in their efforts to deliver. documentation, the team resorted to Small, often in house built a combination of searching Google applications, databases or for SAP data models and using a spreadsheets usually present little in ‘best guess’ approach to finding the way of an obstacle for discovery, what they needed for reporting, however large, complex and analytics and dashboards. customised packaged applications They also made use of a process of offer a challenge on a much greater hypothesis testing through data scale and with more associated risk observation. if not done properly. As they continued to struggle to As a result, they found that putting together a [simple] single data model deliver this content accurately and in containing just the tables they an acceptable timescale, they needed for a particular set of reports decided to look for other methods of could cost as much as AUS$20,000 accessing and understanding SAP in internal resources. and SAP BW metadata. silwoodtechnology.com © 2017, Silwood Technology Limited CUSTOMER““ CASE STUDY

Choosing Safyr As part of their search, a team member found Safyr, which on initial investigation gave them confidence that it would help them to quickly and accurately find the part of the SAP model that they needed for the Project specific business area they were Meeting business requirements working on. for information After contacting Silwood Delivering reports, dashboards Technology, the team downloaded and analytics solutions based an evaluation copy of the software on SAP and SAP BW source and arranged for a presentation and data demonstration of the product from the vendor. Having seen and experienced the Challenge functionality of the product the team Staff unfamiliar with SAP and were confident that firstly; it would SAP BW meet their needs and secondly; at We were originally No available data model for the price point of the software it SAP and SAP BW sources would pay for itself within a couple of informed that no data months. Subsequently a decision to Traditional approach using model was available Google searches, purchase the software and an initial and hypothesis testing training course was scheduled. unsuccessful for the SAP application Experience with Safyr The installation of Safyr was easy, Scott Delaney Solution quick (about 30 minutes) and free of Hydro Tasmania Safyr used to infer data complications or problems once the models from customised SAP small piece of SAP certified Safyr ABAP code was loaded into the implementation He also picked out the Application target SAP systems. ““ Hierarchy view of the SAP data The team also decided to undertake model and the Table Row count Benefits the initial 1 day training course, function as being welcome surprises They found the education useful and • Time saved in their use of Safyr. The Application it helped them to pick up the use of • Improved accuracy Hierarchy provides a means to see the product very quickly. • Increased productivity which SAP Tables are used by Since then Safyr has proved to be Customer which SAP Programs, Functions, valuable and was used extensively etc. The Row Count facility has in the early stages of the BI project. made it easy for them to confidently It is still in regular use to-day helping the team to meet the reporting needs ignore tables which are included in a of the business. result set but which contain no data. Scott Delaney states that Safyr has Whilst Safyr can export its Subject easily met their expectations in Areas to a variety of modelling tools terms of the functionality they including ERwin, ER/Studio and required. SAP PowerDesigner, the team at It has enabled them to navigate the Hydro Tasmania decided to make SAP and SAP BW data models and exten-sive use of Safyr’s Enterprise quickly find the parts of the data Relationship Diagrammer module for model they need which rep-resent visualising and sharing the Subject the data required for reporting and Areas which were the results of their save those as Safyr Subject Areas. analysis of the SAP data model. silwoodtechnology.com © 2017, Silwood Technology Limited CUSTOMER““ CASE STUDY

Benefits meeting the demands for new Scott Delaney reports that “Safyr has reports and data within acceptable proved to be a highly successful timescales and the business’ trust in addition to the tools avail-able to the the information they provide is team and played a significant part in growing”. helping them to clear the backlog of reporting requests and that as Project expected the return on investment in The future Meeting business requirements the product was easily realised The BI team will continue to use for information within a few months”. Safyr to help drive high quality Delivering reports, dashboards He estimates that the time saved or information flow to support business and analytics solutions based additional productivity was initiatives. on SAP and SAP BW source equivalent to at least ¾ of a Full Hydro Tasmania will shortly be data Time Employee. embarking on an Information He describes how tasks that, without Governance Framework project to Safyr, would have taken days or deliver an inventory of available data Challenge weeks now take hours or possibly a across the company. The objectives Staff unfamiliar with SAP and day and mentions a specific example are to enable better communication SAP BW where previously finding a specific via data models of information used set of tables took 93 hours, the same No available data model for by the business, better integration task now took only 35 minutes using SAP and SAP BW sources and improved analytics. Safyr! Traditional approach using Safyr will be used to deliver the SAP Google searches, The BI team has greater confidence data models for that project and its and hypothesis testing in their own work and no longer unsuccessful waste time wondering if the results scope may be broadened to make it of their Google searching are correct easier for other packaged and trying to check them. applications with complex and inaccessible data models to be Solution Scott again “As a result of our included. Safyr used to infer data investment in Safyr we are able to models from customised SAP take a more agile approach to implementation Image courtesy of ““ University of Tasmania

Benefits • Time saved • Improved accuracy • Increased productivity Customer

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