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Zag Delivers One Of Australasia’s First Large SAP S/4HANA Implementations Remotely Amidst Pandemic

 SAP specialist Zag has successfully delivered one of the first large S/4HANA implementations in Australasia, converting Hydro Tasmania from its legacy SAP ECC system to SAP’s next generation ERP solution with Fiori 3. The project was already working to tight deadlines to meet Hydro Tasmania’s end of financial year, when COVID-19 travel restrictions introduced another challenge.

Zag CEO Nick Mulcahy says while Hydro Tasmania is one of the first businesses in Australasia to deploy S/4HANA and Fiori 3, SAP’s latest iteration of its user interface, with many businesses factoring in a move to S/4HANA before the end of SAP’s support for legacy ERP systems in 2027, the success of this project is a clear demonstration of Kiwi-founded company Zag’s capability to tackle large S/4HANA projects.

Enhancing its accounting and financial capabilities was a key outcome for Hydro Tasmania which meant there was tight governance of the project and shared responsibilities by both Zag and Hydro Tasmania. The size and complexity of the project – with 1000+ seats, a large asset base and an intricate SAP backend – combined with tight deadlines and the need to balance other ongoing projects at Hydro Tasmania all combined to make the delivery of the project a complicated task without the introduction of the pandemic.

Mulcahy says the successful completion of the project, on time and on budget, is a testament to both the team’s ability to adapt to changing conditions and the close working relationship they developed with Hydro Tasmania’s team prior to travel restrictions coming into force. Zag and Hydro Tasmania identified and managed the project’s risks weeks before the pandemic materialised in Australia. When it was required, the project team quickly adapted to remote working and virtual collaboration.

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“This was a 10-month project and prior to the pandemic the team had already worked closely with Hydro Tasmania to scope and define the full functionality of the system and delve deeply into what the system needed to do to deliver on their needs. This meant that when we had to unexpectedly switch to remote collaboration, both teams were fully up to speed and were able to maintain good communication despite the challenges COVID-19 brought to the project.”

From March to June 2020, all project activities were delivered 100% remotely, including two dress rehearsals and the production cutover/go-live.

“Remote working went seamlessly. It was well managed, and the strength of the team shone through. The early on-site collaborations and relationships we built with Zag helped us engage well later in the project remotely,” says Hydro Tasmania GM Corporate IT Anna Bird.

The organisation saw the conversion to S/4HANA as an enablement project to get the business onto newer technology, opening the door to streamlined, simpler processes and improved user experience with Fiori 3. “Zag as a partner is right-sized for our organisation. Sometimes, if you’re engaging the Tier 1 type players, you can get lost as a small fish in the big pond. The willingness of Zag to collaborate with us on the ground and work as one team stood out,” says Bird.

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