Ecogas is replacing its legacy commercial systems with SAP for Utilities running on SAP HANA to prepare for growth in Argentina's natural gas market. Migrating to IBM Power8 servers accelerated payment processing by 73% and compliance reporting by 83%. Implementing SAP HANA is expected to provide even greater performance boosts and enable deeper analytics of customer energy usage and payments.
Accelerate your journey to SAP S/4HANA with SAP’s Business Technology PlatformSAP Technology
Best run companies are already benefiting from SAP S/4HANA. Move to SAP S/4HANA quickly with confidence. SAP EIM and SAP Cloud Platform capabilities help you migrate data, curate, and govern master data, archive unused data, move custom code. With performance, functional, and security test tools, customers can move to SAP S/4HANA with confidence.
Accelerate Your Move to an Intelligent Enterprise with SAP Cloud Platform and...SAP Technology
Manage rapidly evolving business processes with greater ease. Minimize complex, time-consuming updates. Reduce high maintenance costs. Discover how enterprise IT teams are conquering the challenges of migrating from legacy ERP systems and innovating faster with SAP Cloud Platform and SAP S/4HANA.
SAUG New Zealand SAP Keynote (Wellington)Paul Marriott
SAUG New Zealand SAP Keynote (Wellington) - providing an overview of SAP's Vision & Strategy to deliver the next era of innovation and citizen experience.
Process optimization and automation for SAP S/4HANA with SAP’s Business Techn...SAP Technology
As you move to SAP S/4HANA, take this opportunity to optimize and automate your business processes to become an intelligent enterprise. With SAP’s business technology platform, you can understand your processes, integrate SAP and non-SAP apps with S/4HANA and help your knowledge works focus on higher-value tasks by automating repetitive manual tasks.
The SAP acquisition combined Ariba’s successful buyer-seller collaboration network and cloud applications with SAP’s broad customer base and deep business process expertise in order to create new models for business-to-business collaboration in the cloud. Please join this session to see the power of the new, combined SAP Ariba product roadmap to get an overview of Ariba’s strategy and innovation plans for the next 2-3 years.
Click to edit position descriptionSAP HANA Enterprise Cloud is a private managed cloud and is the fastest and easiest way to
access HANA based innovations for mission critical applications delivered in the cloud as a
managed service. Customers can access SAP HANA and SAP HANA based applications, such
as SAP Business Suite and SAP BW, via the SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud and take advantage of
HANA optimized infrastructure as well as tailored professional services delivered by SAP or
certified partners. Customers can either bring their existing SAP HANA and applications licenses
to be managed by SAP via this offering, or choose subscription based access.
Customers can now get access to SAP HANA applications and platform on a subscription basis
via the SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud. Previously, application and platform licenses were only
available in a ‘Bring Your Own License’ (BYOL) model which required customers to have
perpetual licenses for SAP HANA and SAP HANA applications. The subscription covers the SAP
HANA enabled SAP applications such as SAP Business Suite, BW and powered by SAP HANA
applications along with SAP HANA Platform when purchased together with infrastructure and
managed services from SAP.
The SAP solutions for Enterprise Information Management (EIM) Overview presentation provides a comprehensive overview on the portfolio of EIM solutions.
SAP HANA - The Foundation of Real Time, Now on the AWS Cloud Computing PlatformAmazon Web Services
The future holds many transformational opportunities. Capitalize on the new technology frontier and realize value previously unattainable with SAP HANA. Learn how SAP and AWS are collaborating to empower businesses, developers, startups and even sports fans to take advantage real time computing in the cloud.
SAP and AWS experts will outline:
• How do SAP and AWS align to support your cloud strategy, large or small?
• What is SAP HANA and how does it enable you to run your business in real-time?
• Use cases for developers and enterprise; and capabilities including analytics, business processes, sentiment data processing, and predictive.
• How to get immediate value by deploying SAP HANA on the AWS cloud computing platform.
• Best practices and reference guides to help you.
• Customer success stories, including the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
Accelerate your journey to SAP S/4HANA with SAP’s Business Technology PlatformSAP Technology
Best run companies are already benefiting from SAP S/4HANA. Move to SAP S/4HANA quickly with confidence. SAP EIM and SAP Cloud Platform capabilities help you migrate data, curate, and govern master data, archive unused data, move custom code. With performance, functional, and security test tools, customers can move to SAP S/4HANA with confidence.
Accelerate Your Move to an Intelligent Enterprise with SAP Cloud Platform and...SAP Technology
Manage rapidly evolving business processes with greater ease. Minimize complex, time-consuming updates. Reduce high maintenance costs. Discover how enterprise IT teams are conquering the challenges of migrating from legacy ERP systems and innovating faster with SAP Cloud Platform and SAP S/4HANA.
SAUG New Zealand SAP Keynote (Wellington)Paul Marriott
SAUG New Zealand SAP Keynote (Wellington) - providing an overview of SAP's Vision & Strategy to deliver the next era of innovation and citizen experience.
Process optimization and automation for SAP S/4HANA with SAP’s Business Techn...SAP Technology
As you move to SAP S/4HANA, take this opportunity to optimize and automate your business processes to become an intelligent enterprise. With SAP’s business technology platform, you can understand your processes, integrate SAP and non-SAP apps with S/4HANA and help your knowledge works focus on higher-value tasks by automating repetitive manual tasks.
The SAP acquisition combined Ariba’s successful buyer-seller collaboration network and cloud applications with SAP’s broad customer base and deep business process expertise in order to create new models for business-to-business collaboration in the cloud. Please join this session to see the power of the new, combined SAP Ariba product roadmap to get an overview of Ariba’s strategy and innovation plans for the next 2-3 years.
Click to edit position descriptionSAP HANA Enterprise Cloud is a private managed cloud and is the fastest and easiest way to
access HANA based innovations for mission critical applications delivered in the cloud as a
managed service. Customers can access SAP HANA and SAP HANA based applications, such
as SAP Business Suite and SAP BW, via the SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud and take advantage of
HANA optimized infrastructure as well as tailored professional services delivered by SAP or
certified partners. Customers can either bring their existing SAP HANA and applications licenses
to be managed by SAP via this offering, or choose subscription based access.
Customers can now get access to SAP HANA applications and platform on a subscription basis
via the SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud. Previously, application and platform licenses were only
available in a ‘Bring Your Own License’ (BYOL) model which required customers to have
perpetual licenses for SAP HANA and SAP HANA applications. The subscription covers the SAP
HANA enabled SAP applications such as SAP Business Suite, BW and powered by SAP HANA
applications along with SAP HANA Platform when purchased together with infrastructure and
managed services from SAP.
The SAP solutions for Enterprise Information Management (EIM) Overview presentation provides a comprehensive overview on the portfolio of EIM solutions.
SAP HANA - The Foundation of Real Time, Now on the AWS Cloud Computing PlatformAmazon Web Services
The future holds many transformational opportunities. Capitalize on the new technology frontier and realize value previously unattainable with SAP HANA. Learn how SAP and AWS are collaborating to empower businesses, developers, startups and even sports fans to take advantage real time computing in the cloud.
SAP and AWS experts will outline:
• How do SAP and AWS align to support your cloud strategy, large or small?
• What is SAP HANA and how does it enable you to run your business in real-time?
• Use cases for developers and enterprise; and capabilities including analytics, business processes, sentiment data processing, and predictive.
• How to get immediate value by deploying SAP HANA on the AWS cloud computing platform.
• Best practices and reference guides to help you.
• Customer success stories, including the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
SQL Anywhere- Solution Brief- Embed Data Management in Your Mobile &Remote Ap...SAP OEM
In today’s digital economy, your applications need to deliver timely, accurate data to help drive successful business outcomes for your customers. By embedding SAP® SQL Anywhere® solutions, you can enable your applications to capture, manage, and synchronize data in real-world conditions, at every point of action – even when connectivity and technical staff are not available
Tomorrow’s industry leaders are the ones that draw new insights by creatively combining the data they have today. That can be a real challenge for most companies, especially since data types and volumes have grown astronomically over the last decade. And when you pair that with the tasks of gathering, organizing, and managing information from all over an organization and ensuring its accuracy, you have quite a job on your hands. But with our comprehensive portfolio of enterprise information management solutions, your business can unlock the power of its data, achieve entirely new insights, and use them to create a winning future.
SAP HANA accelerator for SAP ASE provides native access to HANA capabilities from SAP ASE. Develop analytical applications on SAP HANA using ASE data. To watch a webcast and learn more, visit http://bit.ly/1MP3Sg4
Leveraging SAP HANA with Apache Hadoop and SAP AnalyticsMethod360
The rise of big data and the Apache Hadoop platform allows for the capture and processing of data at an unprecedented scale and velocity. Watch this slide deck to get a comprehensive overview of the Apache Hadoop platform architecture and learn how to leverage the strengths of both the Apache Hadoop and SAP HANA platforms.
This lecture will discuss and demonstrate how SQL Anywhere can be used in Internet of Things scenarios. Learn how to leverage the full power of SQL Anywhere in applications that run on single board computers like the Raspberry Pi. Topics discussed will include an overview of IoT, deployment and setup of SQL Anywhere on single board computers, and an example application to demonstrate the powerful and flexible applications that can be run anywhere and synchronize data back to an enterprise data source such as Hana Cloud Platform.
CIO Guide to Using SAP HANA Platform For Big DataSnehanshu Shah
This guide supports CIOs in setting up a system infrastructure for their business that can get the best out of Big Data. We describe what the SAP HANA platform can do and how it integrates with Hadoop and related technologies interplay, looking at data life cycle management and data streaming. Concrete use cases point out the requirements associated with Big Data as well as the opportunities it offers, and how companies are already taking advantage of them.
Ariba, SAP Procurement and Business Network Roadmap [New York City]SAP Ariba
What's next for SAP, Ariba, and Fieldglass solutions, and what should you consider leveraging in the future? You will learn relevant roadmap details regarding the SAP On Premise procurement portfolio, the Ariba On Demand procurement portfolio, Ariba Network, Fieldglass and SAP Cloud for Travel and Expense. We will also discuss the larger vision for the Ariba Network within SAP, broadening to supply chain and transportation - related collaborative processes. You won't want to miss this insight on our latest direction.
Ariba, SAP Procurement and Business Network Roadmap
Rob Jones, Sr. Director, Solutions Management – Business Network, SAP -- Ariba Commerce Summit New York City 2014
Blogthetech why are companies investing billions in sap implementationHarryJake1
To showcase a thought leadership approach on the necessities of SAP implementation by companies. To provide statistics on how companies are benefitting, show some case studies focusing on positive impact.
SAP HANA typical implementations today
Outlook for the next 12-18 months
Disaster Recovery capabilities of SAP HANA
Complete automation of Disaster Recovery for SAP HANA with SUSE Linux High Availability
Speakers: Dan Lahl (VP Database Product, SAP), Markus Guertler (Senior SAP Architect, SUSE)
In this issue of “The 10 Fastest Growing ERP Sap is always committed to continuous innovations, and has been leveraging both small and large enterprises by helping them grow and excel. With the increase in customer acceptability, the depth of solution's scalability and functionality has also increased. Taking advantage of these SAP solutions, companies are remodeling their structure to offer company wide visibility and agility. To flash the spotlight on the achievements of these admiring company's, we are introducing the issue of The 10 Most Valuable SAP Solution Providers 2017.
SQL Anywhere- Solution Brief- Embed Data Management in Your Mobile &Remote Ap...SAP OEM
In today’s digital economy, your applications need to deliver timely, accurate data to help drive successful business outcomes for your customers. By embedding SAP® SQL Anywhere® solutions, you can enable your applications to capture, manage, and synchronize data in real-world conditions, at every point of action – even when connectivity and technical staff are not available
Tomorrow’s industry leaders are the ones that draw new insights by creatively combining the data they have today. That can be a real challenge for most companies, especially since data types and volumes have grown astronomically over the last decade. And when you pair that with the tasks of gathering, organizing, and managing information from all over an organization and ensuring its accuracy, you have quite a job on your hands. But with our comprehensive portfolio of enterprise information management solutions, your business can unlock the power of its data, achieve entirely new insights, and use them to create a winning future.
SAP HANA accelerator for SAP ASE provides native access to HANA capabilities from SAP ASE. Develop analytical applications on SAP HANA using ASE data. To watch a webcast and learn more, visit http://bit.ly/1MP3Sg4
Leveraging SAP HANA with Apache Hadoop and SAP AnalyticsMethod360
The rise of big data and the Apache Hadoop platform allows for the capture and processing of data at an unprecedented scale and velocity. Watch this slide deck to get a comprehensive overview of the Apache Hadoop platform architecture and learn how to leverage the strengths of both the Apache Hadoop and SAP HANA platforms.
This lecture will discuss and demonstrate how SQL Anywhere can be used in Internet of Things scenarios. Learn how to leverage the full power of SQL Anywhere in applications that run on single board computers like the Raspberry Pi. Topics discussed will include an overview of IoT, deployment and setup of SQL Anywhere on single board computers, and an example application to demonstrate the powerful and flexible applications that can be run anywhere and synchronize data back to an enterprise data source such as Hana Cloud Platform.
CIO Guide to Using SAP HANA Platform For Big DataSnehanshu Shah
This guide supports CIOs in setting up a system infrastructure for their business that can get the best out of Big Data. We describe what the SAP HANA platform can do and how it integrates with Hadoop and related technologies interplay, looking at data life cycle management and data streaming. Concrete use cases point out the requirements associated with Big Data as well as the opportunities it offers, and how companies are already taking advantage of them.
Ariba, SAP Procurement and Business Network Roadmap [New York City]SAP Ariba
What's next for SAP, Ariba, and Fieldglass solutions, and what should you consider leveraging in the future? You will learn relevant roadmap details regarding the SAP On Premise procurement portfolio, the Ariba On Demand procurement portfolio, Ariba Network, Fieldglass and SAP Cloud for Travel and Expense. We will also discuss the larger vision for the Ariba Network within SAP, broadening to supply chain and transportation - related collaborative processes. You won't want to miss this insight on our latest direction.
Ariba, SAP Procurement and Business Network Roadmap
Rob Jones, Sr. Director, Solutions Management – Business Network, SAP -- Ariba Commerce Summit New York City 2014
Blogthetech why are companies investing billions in sap implementationHarryJake1
To showcase a thought leadership approach on the necessities of SAP implementation by companies. To provide statistics on how companies are benefitting, show some case studies focusing on positive impact.
SAP HANA typical implementations today
Outlook for the next 12-18 months
Disaster Recovery capabilities of SAP HANA
Complete automation of Disaster Recovery for SAP HANA with SUSE Linux High Availability
Speakers: Dan Lahl (VP Database Product, SAP), Markus Guertler (Senior SAP Architect, SUSE)
In this issue of “The 10 Fastest Growing ERP Sap is always committed to continuous innovations, and has been leveraging both small and large enterprises by helping them grow and excel. With the increase in customer acceptability, the depth of solution's scalability and functionality has also increased. Taking advantage of these SAP solutions, companies are remodeling their structure to offer company wide visibility and agility. To flash the spotlight on the achievements of these admiring company's, we are introducing the issue of The 10 Most Valuable SAP Solution Providers 2017.
Capture and Feed Telecom Network Data and More Into SAP HANA - Quicky and Aff...SAP Solution Extensions
Get details on how the SAP Big Data Integrator solution by DigitalRoute helps telecom firms integrate, analyze, and act on operational usage and customer data in real time to gain a huge competitive advantage
DXC Technology- Innovating with Partner Managed Cloud for SAP Landscape Manag...SAPPartnerCloud
As one of the world’s leading independent, end-to-end IT services companies, DXC Technology supports customers’ digital transformations through services including Platform as a Service for SAP which is a full-stack managed, cloud service designed specifically for SAP applications and includes DXC managed cloud delivery of SAP Landscape Management.
The IBM and SAP alliance has helped invigorate and transform businesses for decades. With tailored solutions designed to meet your data-driven requirements, we can help you achieve new levels of success.
SAP Utilities and the SAP Cloud Revolution A Comprehensive Guide (1).pdfingenxtec
The dedication of SAP to innovation is evident through its varied offerings tailored to the utilities sector and different cloud service models. From handling complex utility operations with SAP Utilities, leveraging the global accessibility of SAP Public Cloud, the exclusivity of SAP Private Cloud, to the comprehensive transformation journey afforded by RISE with SAP, these powerful tools represent not just technological solutions, but a roadmap to success in the digital age.
Service Entry Sheets for Major and Complex Capital ProjectsSAP Ariba
Remember the old-school days of deciphering and keying in mounds of handwritten and faxed service entry sheets (SES) from the field? Well, welcome to SAP Ariba and processing service entry sheets in the 21st century! With SAP Ariba’s new service entry sheet and services invoicing, field supervisors and their contractors can now easily create online orders and field tickets, as well as create, correct, and approve work orders and invoices right in the field. Like the idea of doing any or all of this on an Android or IOS smartphone or tablet? It’s now possible. Attend this session to hear a panel discussion featuring customers from leading energy and mining companies who are currently using SAP Ariba service entry sheet functionalities today.
Chatty Kathy - UNC Bootcamp Final Project Presentation - Final Version - 5.23...John Andrews
SlideShare Description for "Chatty Kathy - UNC Bootcamp Final Project Presentation"
Title: Chatty Kathy: Enhancing Physical Activity Among Older Adults
Description:
Discover how Chatty Kathy, an innovative project developed at the UNC Bootcamp, aims to tackle the challenge of low physical activity among older adults. Our AI-driven solution uses peer interaction to boost and sustain exercise levels, significantly improving health outcomes. This presentation covers our problem statement, the rationale behind Chatty Kathy, synthetic data and persona creation, model performance metrics, a visual demonstration of the project, and potential future developments. Join us for an insightful Q&A session to explore the potential of this groundbreaking project.
Project Team: Jay Requarth, Jana Avery, John Andrews, Dr. Dick Davis II, Nee Buntoum, Nam Yeongjin & Mat Nicholas
StarCompliance is a leading firm specializing in the recovery of stolen cryptocurrency. Our comprehensive services are designed to assist individuals and organizations in navigating the complex process of fraud reporting, investigation, and fund recovery. We combine cutting-edge technology with expert legal support to provide a robust solution for victims of crypto theft.
Our Services Include:
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We immediately notify all relevant centralized exchanges (CEX), decentralized exchanges (DEX), and wallet providers about the stolen cryptocurrency. This ensures that the stolen assets are flagged as scam transactions, making it impossible for the thief to use them.
Assistance with Filing Police Reports:
We guide you through the process of filing a valid police report. Our support team provides detailed instructions on which police department to contact and helps you complete the necessary paperwork within the critical 72-hour window.
Launching the Refund Process:
Our team of experienced lawyers can initiate lawsuits on your behalf and represent you in various jurisdictions around the world. They work diligently to recover your stolen funds and ensure that justice is served.
At StarCompliance, we understand the urgency and stress involved in dealing with cryptocurrency theft. Our dedicated team works quickly and efficiently to provide you with the support and expertise needed to recover your assets. Trust us to be your partner in navigating the complexities of the crypto world and safeguarding your investments.
Levelwise PageRank with Loop-Based Dead End Handling Strategy : SHORT REPORT ...Subhajit Sahu
Abstract — Levelwise PageRank is an alternative method of PageRank computation which decomposes the input graph into a directed acyclic block-graph of strongly connected components, and processes them in topological order, one level at a time. This enables calculation for ranks in a distributed fashion without per-iteration communication, unlike the standard method where all vertices are processed in each iteration. It however comes with a precondition of the absence of dead ends in the input graph. Here, the native non-distributed performance of Levelwise PageRank was compared against Monolithic PageRank on a CPU as well as a GPU. To ensure a fair comparison, Monolithic PageRank was also performed on a graph where vertices were split by components. Results indicate that Levelwise PageRank is about as fast as Monolithic PageRank on the CPU, but quite a bit slower on the GPU. Slowdown on the GPU is likely caused by a large submission of small workloads, and expected to be non-issue when the computation is performed on massive graphs.
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Empowering the Data Analytics Ecosystem: A Laser Focus on Value
The data analytics ecosystem thrives when every component functions at its peak, unlocking the true potential of data. Here's a laser focus on key areas for an empowered ecosystem:
1. Democratize Access, Not Data:
Granular Access Controls: Provide users with self-service tools tailored to their specific needs, preventing data overload and misuse.
Data Catalogs: Implement robust data catalogs for easy discovery and understanding of available data sources.
2. Foster Collaboration with Clear Roles:
Data Mesh Architecture: Break down data silos by creating a distributed data ownership model with clear ownership and responsibilities.
Collaborative Workspaces: Utilize interactive platforms where data scientists, analysts, and domain experts can work seamlessly together.
3. Leverage Advanced Analytics Strategically:
AI-powered Automation: Automate repetitive tasks like data cleaning and feature engineering, freeing up data talent for higher-level analysis.
Right-Tool Selection: Strategically choose the most effective advanced analytics techniques (e.g., AI, ML) based on specific business problems.
4. Prioritize Data Quality with Automation:
Automated Data Validation: Implement automated data quality checks to identify and rectify errors at the source, minimizing downstream issues.
Data Lineage Tracking: Track the flow of data throughout the ecosystem, ensuring transparency and facilitating root cause analysis for errors.
5. Cultivate a Data-Driven Mindset:
Metrics-Driven Performance Management: Align KPIs and performance metrics with data-driven insights to ensure actionable decision making.
Data Storytelling Workshops: Equip stakeholders with the skills to translate complex data findings into compelling narratives that drive action.
Benefits of a Precise Ecosystem:
Sharpened Focus: Precise access and clear roles ensure everyone works with the most relevant data, maximizing efficiency.
Actionable Insights: Strategic analytics and automated quality checks lead to more reliable and actionable data insights.
Continuous Improvement: Data-driven performance management fosters a culture of learning and continuous improvement.
Sustainable Growth: Empowered by data, organizations can make informed decisions to drive sustainable growth and innovation.
By focusing on these precise actions, organizations can create an empowered data analytics ecosystem that delivers real value by driving data-driven decisions and maximizing the return on their data investment.
Explore our comprehensive data analysis project presentation on predicting product ad campaign performance. Learn how data-driven insights can optimize your marketing strategies and enhance campaign effectiveness. Perfect for professionals and students looking to understand the power of data analysis in advertising. for more details visit: https://bostoninstituteofanalytics.org/data-science-and-artificial-intelligence/
1. Business benefits:
Share this
Customer pic here,
box is 40x40mm
at x221 y35 mm,
actual dpi 300,
effective dpi 300
or greater at 100%
General customer pic here, actual dpi 300, effective dpi 300
or greater at 100%
Oscar Sobrero
Head of IT
Ecogas
Business Challenge
As Argentina expects natural gas
production to grow, Ecogas is preparing
to manage higher business volumes.
With existing business systems near full
capacity, how could the company cope
with growth?
Transformation
Ecogas is replacing homegrown legacy
systems with SAP® for Utilities running
on SAP HANA®, integrating smoothly
with existing SAP ERP systems. The
SAP landscape runs on advanced
IBM® POWER8® servers.
Ecogas
Fueling rapid growth and
building game-changing
analytics capabilities with
IBM and SAP
“Working closely with
IBM and SAP, we are
confident that we will keep
on discovering new ways
to boost efficiency, save
money and provide better
customer service.”
Oscar Sobrero, Head of IT, Ecogas
Business benefits:
Share this
73% faster
payment processing from
POWER8, with further boosts
to come from SAP HANA
Enables
analysis of customer
behavior, energy
consumption and more
83% quicker
compliance reporting from
POWER8, with SAP HANA
set to speed this up further
Ecogas specializes in distributing natural gas to households and businesses
across six provinces in Argentina. A regulated monopoly, the company serves
1,251,281 customers via a distribution network spanning almost 30,000 km.
2. 2
Challenge in detail
The Argentinian government is creating
market conditions that encourage
energy providers to boost their
production of natural gas and other
fuels. Its aims are to make the country
more energy self-sufficient, to help its
domestic economy thrive and to reduce
dependence on imports.
Any increases in production will require
distribution companies like Ecogas
to manage higher business volumes.
This growth opportunity presented
Ecogas with a challenge, as its existing
business systems were already close to
full capacity. How could the company
cope with increased transaction volumes
without impacting customer service?
Solution delivery
Ecogas is replacing its homegrown
legacy commercial systems – one for
each business division – with a single
instance of SAP for Utilities. The new
solution integrates seamlessly with
the company’s existing SAP ERP
applications, and runs on the powerful
SAP HANA database.
State-of-the-art IBM Power Systems
servers alongside cutting-edge IBM
Storwize V3700 and IBM FlashSystem
900 storage provide outstanding
performance and superb reliability for
the mission-critical SAP systems. IBM
and THE COMPUTER, an IBM Business
Partner, helped Ecogas achieve a smooth
transition to the latest IBM hardware.
Stoking growth
Change is afoot in Argentina’s energy
industry. To make the country more
energy self-sufficient, to help its
domestic economy thrive and to reduce
dependence on imports, the government
is creating market conditions that
encourage energy providers to boost their
production of natural gas and other fuels.
Any increases in production will require
companies downstream, such as those
that transport natural gas from drilling
rigs to regional hubs, and the distribution
companies such as Ecogas that transfer
the fuel to households and businesses, to
manage larger business volumes.
Now, Ecogas is preparing to cope with
that growth. Oscar Sobrero, Head of IT at
Ecogas, takes up the story: “It’s an exciting
time for Ecogas. We already serve nearly
1.3 million households and businesses,
and our business is set to expand
even further.
“However, this growth also presents a
problem. Our commercial systems, which
we use for processes such as managing
customer payments, were running almost
at full capacity. The expected growth
threatened to overload us, slowing
response times and impacting the quality
of service that our end-customers receive.
“We set out to find a solution that could
better support our growing business.”
Finding the right
solution
Ecogas wanted a new solution that could
integrate seamlessly with its existing suite
of SAP ERP applications, which includes
modules for finance and controlling,
materials management, human resources
management and plant maintenance, as
well as SAP Portal.
Previously, the company had been running
two different commercial systems – one
to support its Distribuidora de Gas del
Centro S.A. business, which serves the
provinces of Cordoba, Catamarca and
La Rioja, and another for its Distribuidora
de Gas Cuyana S.A. division, which
operates in Mendoza, San Luis and San
Juan. Ecogas decided to replace both
systems with a single instance of SAP for
Utilities, which supports industry-specific
processes such as relevant regulatory
compliance, smart grid analytics and
meter data management.
“We have seen first-hand that if you build
a solution in-house and it later becomes
obsolete, then it can be difficult and
expensive to replace,” explains Oscar
Sobrero. “For that reason, we were keen to
opt for a packaged vendor solution.
“We examined a broad array of IT systems
designed for utilities companies. Many of
the leading solutions are similar, but we
selected SAP for Utilities because it offers
a vast range of extension options – for
example with mobile capabilities – to
support our evolving business. What’s
more, we knew that SAP for Utilities
would integrate tightly with our existing
SAP ERP environment.”
Once the implementation is complete,
the scalable SAP for Utilities solution
will equip Ecogas to handle higher
transaction volumes than ever before. In
addition, the solution will be used by staff
in Ecogas’ call centers to help answer
customer enquiries.
“We are also planning to connect SAP for
Utilities to our website, so that customers
can complete some interactions – such
as submitting meter readings or making
payments – online rather than having
“We rely on IBM Power
Systems, because the
servers offer spectacular
performance and
round-the-clock reliability
for our SAP environment.”
Oscar Sobrero
Head of IT
Ecogas
“We have a long success
story with IBM and our
partner THE COMPUTER.
They are brilliant at
understanding our needs,
giving us the right solution
and providing us with a
great service.”
Oscar Sobrero
Head of IT
Ecogas
3. 3
Benefits in detail
• Smooths the path to growth by helping
Ecogas manage higher volumes than
ever before
• Improves customer service by enabling
people to submit meter readings and
make payments online, rather than having
to visit one of its offices
• Accelerates processing of customer
payments by 73 percent by upgrading
to POWER8, with even greater
improvements to come from the
implementation of SAP HANA
• Speeds regulatory reporting by
83 percent by moving to POWER8,
meaning that reports can be generated
overnight without slowing response times
for customers. Ecogas is expecting to
be able to accelerate this process even
further by migrating to SAP HANA
• Helps employees avoid having to work
overtime as they wait for important
reports to complete
• Simplifies compliance with
ever-changing regulations
• Paves the way to in-depth analysis of
energy consumption, enabling better
preparation for spikes in demand
• Enables the company to gain a deeper
understanding of its customers and
how to reduce late payments from each
customer segment, boosting cash flow
• Provides a sturdy platform for rapid
future growth
billed are introduced, Ecogas employees
can update their ways of working in
SAP for Utilities – with no knowledge of
coding required.
Ecogas chose to run the new SAP for
Utilities solution on the SAP HANA
database. SAP HANA uses columnar data
structures and in-memory technologies
to enable extremely rapid data analysis
on large datasets. Faced with a very large
increases in transaction volumes, the
hugely improved analysis times will enable
Ecogas to manage the predicted growth
of the gas market.
“The SAP HANA database promises
immense performance gains from
in-memory processing,” comments Oscar
Sobrero. “Switching to the platform will
help us lower response times and compile
information for decision-making much
faster than before.
“In addition, moving to SAP HANA will
enable us to reduce the licensing fees
we currently pay to our existing database
vendor. We plan to move our entire SAP
environment over to the SAP HANA
platform over the coming months.”
Upgrading to
state-of-the-art
IBM Power Systems
servers
Ecogas already had a strong relationship
with IBM, formed during its many years
of running its SAP ERP environment on
the IBM AIX® operating system. When
the company selected SAP for Utilities
running on the SAP HANA database, it
approached IBM for a recommendation
on suitable hardware to support the new
SAP solutions.
“Deploying SAP for Utilities is
just the start of our journey
to become a smarter, more
agile business.”
Oscar Sobrero
Head of IT
Ecogas
to visit one of our offices,” adds Oscar
Sobrero. “That will enable us to provide an
even better service to our customers.”
Similarly, deploying SAP for Utilities will
make it easier for Ecogas to adapt its
business according to the latest regulatory
requirements. For example, whenever
new rules concerning how customers are
4. 4
took more than 30 minutes to process
10,000 payments, and we receive around
30,000 customer payments every day.
Staff sometimes worked overtime until
the jobs were complete,” recalls Oscar
Sobrero. “After migrating to POWER8, and
enlisting the help of THE COMPUTER to
fine-tune the solution, we can process
each batch in eight minutes – that’s 73
percent faster. Accelerating processing
times is a big win for employee
productivity and keeping overtime down.
It’s also helpful for customers to receive
prompt acknowledgements of their
payments, so that they know that they will
not incur late-payment penalties. Once the
implementation of SAP HANA is complete,
we expect to be able to process customer
payments even faster.”
“In addition, we are obliged to report
to the industry regulator Ente Nacional
Regulador del Gas (ENARGAS) for
compliance purposes. The reports we
send are highly complex, and previously it
took two days to generate them – meaning
“In a test, we saw that SAP
HANA on IBM FlashSystem
could process massive
volumes of data extremely
quickly, with response
times as low as 200
microseconds.”
Oscar Sobrero
Head of IT
Ecogas
Key components
Industry: Energy & Utilities
Applications: SAP® ERP, SAP for
Mobile, SAP for Utilities, SAP HANA®,
SAP Portal
Software: IBM® AIX®, SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server
Hardware: IBM FlashSystem® 900,
IBM Power® E870, IBM Power 824, IBM
Storwize® V3700
Services: IBM Business Partner THE
COMPUTER
plenty of headroom to scale up in future,”
recalls Oscar Sobrero. “Opting for IBM
POWER8 gave us 3 TB of memory in a
single box, with the option of scaling up
to 20 TB before we need to invest in a
second physical server. As a result, the
IBM proposal represented outstanding
value for money, and enables us to keep
our administrative overhead low as the
business grows.
“With the proposals from the other
vendors we looked at, we would have
needed multiple physical servers to obtain
the same capacity, taking up space and
increasing maintenance, power and
cooling costs.”
Oscar Sobrero continues: “Senior
managers require us to keep
mission-critical systems like our SAP
ERP environment up-and-running at
all times – even when there are spikes
in transaction volumes. We rely on IBM
Power Systems, because the servers
offer spectacular performance and
round-the-clock reliability for our SAP
environment. We first started using Power
in 1998, and we’ve been running our SAP
ERP applications on it since 2001, and
we’re extremely happy with the platform.
“What’s more, the Power Systems
platform scales seamlessly. For example,
we recently upgraded one of our IBM
Power 824 servers, which originally came
with 256 GB of memory, to 2 TB so that
it can support a backup instance of SAP
for Utilities and SAP HANA. When your
business is growing as fast as ours, that
kind of scalability is essential.”
Migrating the legacy commercial systems
from POWER7® to POWER8 has already
provided major performance boosts.
“Using our previous architecture, it
Ecogas decided to deploy the latest IBM
Power Systems™ servers to run SAP for
Utilities and SAP HANA. THE COMPUTER,
an IBM Business Partner, provided expert
assistance throughout the implementation.
“We have a long success story with IBM
and our partner THE COMPUTER,”
remarks Oscar Sobrero. “That’s
impressive, because we aren’t always
easy to work with – we have very specific
requirements, and we always want the
best price. IBM and THE COMPUTER are
brilliant at understanding our needs, giving
us the right solution and providing us with
a great service.”
Today, one IBM Power® 824 server in
Ecogas’ data center in Córdoba runs
the legacy commercial system for its
Centro subsidiary, as well as the SAP ERP
environment and a backup instance of
Cuyana division’s commercial system.
Another Power 824 server in the Mendoza
data center runs the Cuyana subsidiary’s
commercial system as well as backup
instances of the SAP ERP systems
and the commercial system for the
Centro business.
Once the implementation of SAP for
Utilities and SAP HANA is complete,
the solutions will run on a new IBM
Power 870 server – supporting both the
Cuyana and Centro business units on a
single platform. Taking advantage of the
advanced virtualization capabilities of
POWER8, Ecogas plans to run separate
virtual machines for its production, test
and development environments and also
a sandbox – all on the same Power 870
physical server.
“When we set out to implement SAP
HANA, SAP informed us that we would
need a database of at least 1.5 TB – with
5. 5
that any customers making payments
or submitting meter readings during this
window suffered slow system response
times. Now, the reports are completed
overnight in just eight hours, some
83 percent faster, without affecting
customers. By moving to SAP HANA, we
hope to make this process even quicker.”
Further boosting
performance with
cutting-edge IBM
storage
To provide an additional performance
boost, Ecogas relies on three
IBM Storwize® V3700 storage devices
connected to its SAP ERP applications
and the legacy commercial systems.
“We have been using IBM Storwize
technology for years, and we have always
received brilliant performance and
availability from the platform,” continues
Oscar Sobrero.
To support the new SAP for Utilities and
SAP HANA environment, Ecogas recently
purchased an IBM FlashSystem® 900
storage device .
“In a test, we saw that SAP HANA
on IBM FlashSystem could process
massive volumes of data extremely
quickly, with response times as low
as 200 microseconds,” adds Oscar
Sobrero. “We predict that upgrading to
FlashSystem will make it even easier for
us to process customer payments. Later,
we also plan to migrate our SAP ERP
environment to FlashSystem storage, too.”
Ecogas plans to take advantage of the
Dynamic Tiering functionality, which
ensures that data accessed most
frequently will be stored in-memory in
SAP HANA; data used less frequently is
automatically stored on high-performance
disks, and data accessed infrequently is
moved to more economical disks. This
automated tiering process ensures that
Ecogas optimizes the price-performance
ratio on its storage while benefiting from
maximum throughput.
Furthermore, Ecogas plans to virtualize
the FlashSystem solution along with the
Storwize V3700 devices and activate the
compression functionality, enabling full
utilization of available storage capacity.
By adopting FlashSystem, the company
expects to slash the time taken for tasks
such as batch processing and monthly
financial closes.
Unearthing rich insight
with SAP HANA
Once the SAP HANA implementation
Accelerates processing of
customer payments by 73
percent by upgrading to
POWER8, with even greater
improvements to come from the
implementation of SAP HANA is complete, Ecogas plans to take
advantage of the platform to analyze more
business data than ever before, revealing
actionable insights.
“Our business generates enormous
quantities of data – such as detailed
figures on energy consumption and
payments,” explains Oscar Sobrero.
“Traditionally, it has been difficult for
us to analyze such large volumes of
data to obtain insights to support
decision-making. With SAP HANA, all that
will change.
“We plan to use the SAP HANA platform
to perform in-depth analysis of energy
consumption, predicting how much natural
gas customers are likely to use at any
given time, and examining how weather
affects energy consumption. With these
insights, we’ll be able to better prepare
for peaks in demand and reduce the risk
of supply shortages, providing stellar
customer service.”