Magenta LLC and John Keells IT’s award-winning collaboration
The adoption of SAP is always a collaborative venture, between a business that is envisioning transformative change and a specialist partner who can materialize it. Some of the greatest SAP success stories are of instances, where undaunted ambition led to outcomes that truly showcased the immense potential of SAP products and landscapes being optimally made use of.
SAP chooses to recognize such leadership in innovation; the top digital transformation initiatives, with the SAP Quality Award for Customer Success. In 2021, for the whole of SAP Middle East & North Africa (MENA), the collaboration between Magenta LLC and John Keells IT to transition Magenta’s multi-tier ERP system to a single-tier solution using SAP on Azure, was selected to be honoured by the SAP Quality Award for Implementation.
The critical need of the hour: Evolving Magenta’s ERP landscape to enable growth
The intent of Magenta to enter into a partnership with John Keells IT, was to optimize their ERP landscape into a solution that could overcome the limitations posed by the existing on-premise setup. The three-tier (RIGHT ERP) system covered only the functional scopes of Purchasing, Production, Sales, Finance, and Logistics, leaving out processes relating to Human Resource Management, Quality Management, and Plant Maintenance to be executed manually.
Options for growth too were severely impeded due to the inability of the three-tier system to scale workloads according to changing business requirements. Additional investments in new hardware/software would have been necessary if Magenta was to achieve levelled-up agility and flexibility for the business.
Purposing integration to deliver beyond all expectations
With their capability to understand SAP applications like no other provider in the market, John Keells IT saw the answer to all of Magenta’s current problems in SAP S/4HANA Enterprise Management ver. 1909. All of the core functions (including those previously excluded in the ERP’s scope), together with a range of backend services including document management, authorization, and administration were integrated into the new, single production landscape on SAP. However, what really set apart John Keells IT’s implementation from every other nominated SAP application case, were the process mobility and automation attributes delivered on top of the core ERP solution.
Through using SAP’s Fiori User Experience (UX) to address functional processes, the mobile deployment capability it offered was also capitalized on to introduce a cross-device interactivity feature. With this game-changing improvement, users could initiate and run processes on-the-go via mobile, smart devices without the need for a computer. Next came automation, with banking, 3PL, and RFID/Barcode and RF Device integration among others being carried out for all functional areas.
The implementation, when viewed as the sum of all parts, left Magenta with a serious gain over its previous operational abilities.
Transformation, driven by SAP best practices
The transformation journey of Magenta’s ERP landscape; from a structurally fragmented setup to a wholly cohesive, cloud-based iteration, can be viewed as a definitive example of how SAP Best Practices ought to be adopted.
SAP’s preconfigured, integrated, out-of-the-box business processes (otherwise known as Best Practices) have been optimized for SAP S/4HANA. Utilizing SAP Best Practices, which include the highly integral SAP Activate; the implementation methodology for SAP S/4HANA, architecture for businesses can be built faster and take life in shorter lead times.
John Keells IT’s own, patented ‘Rapid-Time-To-Value’ approach, built on the same SAP ideology of delivering expected value within the shortest span of time, to create a holistically streamlined, new operational paradigm for Magenta.
Spearheading thought leadership for SAP-based solutions in the region
The partnership between Magenta and John Keells IT is one that goes far beyond the conventions of any business digitalization engagement. The final outcome collaboratively worked towards by the two, undisputedly held all the makings typically observed in a high-quality implementation that has left no opportunity untapped.
Under the criteria of performance, John Keells IT’s evolution of Magenta’s complexly set up ERP to a cloud-powered, agile production landscape, made a compelling case for recognition. The fact that the entire implementation was achieved at speed without the necessity for any expensive capital investments, made the feat all the more impressive. With the integration of process mobility and automation features, Magenta also benefited from heightened process simplification and convenience, the value that was significantly above the expected threshold.
The largest SAP consultancy in Sri Lanka with the highest number of locally carried out SAP implementations, John Keells IT is a proven catalyst for digital transformation. The company’s illustrious track record spans engagements with both local and international clientele, many of whom are leaders in their respective industrial segments. Progressive and future-oriented, John Keells IT retain their edge by constantly adapting within the ever-changing SAP ecosystem. This inclination to be at the forefront of the new and the revolutionary is precisely why solutions conceptualized by them deliver such momentum and the reason why they are considered a brand to be emulated by many.
