Accenture-Taking-Sky-Procurement

Taking Sky’s procurement capability into the cloud

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Following the merger of Sky UK with Sky With user experience for the more than 10,000 Italia and Sky Deutschland, Sky’s Group users at the heart of the solution, SAP Ariba was Procurement team, under the leadership chosen as the Procurement solution to enable of Fabio Francalancia, Chief Procurement Source to Goods Receipt processes in the cloud. Officer, set out a bold vision: to create a next A transformation was required to replace the generation commercial purchasing function, legacy systems and processes in Italy, Germany building on a robust and digital focussed and the UK with SAP Ariba as the common digital capability, by providing leading class tools Sourcing and Procurement solution. and processes. In order to truly set Sky’s Procurement function Accenture was asked to deliver a digitally apart, the project needed to implement cutting transformed approach to Sourcing and edge tools such as the SAP Guided Buying Procurement that would enable efficiencies, solution - one of the first global deployments drive compliance, and empower Sky’s of this capability. procurement stakeholders to work more effectively and intuitively. Taking Sky’s procurement capability into the cloud

CLIENT PROFILE

Sky is one of the leading entertainment companies in Europe. In business for 27 years, the company now serves 22.9 million subscribers across Italy, Germany, Austria, the UK, Ireland and, most recently, Spain.

Offering its customers some of the best TV and film content available on the market, Sky is deeply committed to innovation. The company’s ethos of ‘Believe in Better’ reflects this commitment and is at the heart of its ongoing efforts to provide compelling customer experiences and more efficient business operations.

What’s more, the company believes that its people are fundamental to success. As a result, it is always looking at ways in which it can help employees do their best work, fulfil their potential and achieve great things. Taking Sky’s procurement capability into the cloud

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

In 2014, Sky completed the acquisition of Sky Additionally, Sky was looking to enable a Italia and Sky Deutschland. Merged with Sky Procurement function that is easy to do UK, the larger businesses provided Sky with business with. The company therefore needed a broader customer base and a unified brand a system that would reduce complexity and across Europe. enable seamless collaboration between internal customers, regardless of their office location, Fabio and his leadership team set out a bold and the single pan-European Procurement team. ambition: to provide a world-leading procurement function, supported by leading edge digital tools, Finally, Sky hoped to put in place systems standardised processes and the best people, in that were user-friendly; intuitive Procurement order to help the newly formed group accelerate and Sourcing tools that would empower its key merge synergies. Procurement team and users to work more effectively by providing easy access to the To ensure the businesses could come together information needed to improve decision effectively as a single organisation, Sky and making and value generation. As a media and Accenture designed a single, future procurement entertainment business, Sky well understands operating model. the power of user-enablement in making This model demanded a joined-up approach customer services more efficient and compelling; to Sourcing and Procurement across all of the challenge was to apply this same ethos to its Sky’s geographical operations with the aim Procurement tools. of driving savings, increasing service quality, enabling compliance, and freeing Procurement to contribute to innovation. Sky also hoped to reduce duplication in the Procurement function through synergies and allow Sky’s people to focus on working with their business counterparts across geographies to drive increased value in their supply chain. Taking Sky’s procurement capability into the cloud

HOW ACCENTURE HELPED

Sky selected Accenture based on its The third phase saw Accenture integrate the multiple-award-winning leadership in SAP SAP Ariba applications with Sky’s new SAP ERP Ariba - Sky’s chosen platform for Sourcing on HANA backend system for a streamlined and Procurement - and Accenture’s credibility end-to-end Procure to Pay solution, with the first in driving business change in the fast-paced deployment of the new end-to-end Procurement environment of a leading media organisation solution in the UK, followed by redeployments to Italy and Germany. Accenture was asked to devise a three-phase integration plan. Critically, Sky wanted to realise benefits from the project from the outset and right across In the first phase, SAP Ariba Sourcing and Supplier all three phases. Management was implemented for all three countries to create a single European platform This wide-ranging project drew on all five of for strategic sourcing. Accenture’s core business functions – Strategy, Consulting, Digital, Technology and Operations In the second phase, SAP Ariba Contracts was – as the company worked as a true strategic deployed for all three countries, extending the partner in realising Sky’s ambitions. When it already deployed strategic sourcing capabilities. came to the technical deployment of the project, SAP Ariba Buying and Guided Buying were also Sky benefitted from three core elements of integrated with Sky’s existing ERP solutions in Accenture’s world-class delivery platform: Germany and Italy to create a simple user-centric and common European Procurement solution that guides the users to the right buying channels and suppliers to achieve process, policy and contract compliance. Taking Sky’s procurement capability into the cloud

• SAP Ariba Solution Factory As a key SAP partner, Accenture was able to provide the deepest level of expertise around SAP Ariba and proactively help guide Sky’s Procurement roadmap

• Hybrid agile packaged cloud methodology To ensure increased agility and user-centricity, Accenture deployed SAP Ariba using a hybrid agile methodology, which is focused on iterative prototyping to ensure effective business engagement and buy-in from the outset

• Intelligent Sourcing and Procurement (part of the Accenture Intelligent Enterprise Platform) Using ready-made deliverables across the project lifecycle - from work plans, design workshop materials, comprehensive test scenarios and scripts to stabilisation reports - as well as delivery tools for SAP Ariba requirements generation, data migration and testing to accelerate and de-risk the deployment.

Accenture’s knowledge of SAP’s product Finally, Accenture devised and oversaw an roadmap for SAP Ariba and its highly collaborative engaging change management programme relationship with SAP proved particularly beneficial to acclimatise Sky’s employees to their new over the course of this project. Accenture Procurement tools and ensure they can use them encouraged Sky’s design partnership for SAP optimally. The programme included 45 videos, Ariba Guided Buying and thus helped Sky to 90 quick reference guides and 2 weeks’ worth influence the development of the capability and of training delivery; with supporting content in become one of the first organisations globally to local languages across the UK, Germany and Italy implement this new solution. Guided Buying is over the course of a year. Accenture’s training designed to guide end users to the right items, team worked hand-in-hand with Accenture’s preferred suppliers, and compliant policies to delivery team, Sky’s Change Team, and Sky’s ERP deliver consumer-like buying experiences technology partners to create the content, which in the enterprise. was delivered well ahead of Sky’s deadline. Taking Sky’s procurement capability into the cloud

LEADING IN THE NEW

Thanks to Accenture’s rapid and effective delivery of SAP Ariba in Sky’s operations, the company’s Procurement function is leading- edge and low cost. Its 10,000+ Procurement users are empowered with tools that are simple and satisfying to use, have compliance built-in, and help them serve internal customers much more easily.

Sky’s transformed Procurement Key benefits of the solution include: function comprises: • End-to-end supplier information and • A modern, simple, and effective experience: performance management, all in one place enabling an end-to-end digital native buying process with the ‘requisitioner’ at the centre, • Accelerated sourcing cycles, and the ability designed to foster compliance and to create competitive, best-value agreements transparency across in-scope countries for sustainable savings

• Visibility, control and insight: for sourcing, • Compliance and control combined contract management and operational with a compelling buying experience Procurement to support evolving Sky and innovative capabilities business needs • Content enablement via digital catalogues, • A cloud-enabled, scalable business platform: enabling the business to successfully implement the Ariba on-demand solution enables flexibility, Guided Buying to work more effectively ready access to future SAP innovations, and the with their suppliers. agility to allow a common European operating Today, Sky is benefitting from a completely model and future Sky businesses to adopt transformed experience that brings together its the platform Procurement and Sourcing functions in a single • A simple Procurement process: allowing clarity European solution that facilitates a simple, smart and easiness of interaction between internal and elegant buying experience, increases user customers and the Procurement team. engagement and drives process, contract and policy compliance. About Accenture Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range ofservices and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialised skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 401,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.