ProRail becomes more agile by transitions to SAP S/4HANA®

A better system for better business processes

In the Netherlands, passengers combine to make millions of train trips every day. When combined with the substantial amount of freight that is also transported via rail, proper maintenance of the railways around the country has a significant impact both on the national economy and on the daily life of workers and travelers. Knowing this, ProRail takes its management and maintenance of over 7,000 km of track incredibly seriously. So, when the existing SAP systems for financial processes and all related back-office processes began struggling to keep pace with the demands of modern support, the organization moved quickly to identify a response.

This effort led to ProRail making the decision to transition its SAP systems to SAP S/4HANA and introduce the Microsoft Azure Cloud. Understanding that such an undertaking would require substantial expertise and experience, the organization made the additional decision to partner with Capgemini, with the focus of the relationship being split between this implementation and the long-term management of ProRail’s application landscape.

Migrating to SAP S/4HANA

Having already worked together for many years on various applications, ProRail and Capgemini were able to start the transition to SAP S/4HANA on the AZURE Cloud with a pre-existing degree of comfort working together. Expanding upon their shared knowledge of the existing processes and technology, the partners further examined ProRail’s application landscape in order to understand both the opportunities for improvement and the specific needs that would need to be addressed by the project.

With a firm grasp on the project’s objectives and challenges, ProRail and Capgemini launched the transition, delivering a new platform for SAP S/4HANA on the Microsoft Azure Cloud within a four-month timeline. This involved a large-scale data transfer from the existing system to SAP S/4HANA that ensured continuity following the transition. With the new platform, ProRail’s tools and processes for key back-office processes such as finance, purchasing, project management, and reporting became more user-friendly, flexible, and overall better suited to the needs of the organization’s employees. However, the setup of SAP S/4HANA was only the first step in a larger effort to migrate other legacy systems to SAP S/4HANA as well as introduce agile and innovative ways of working at ProRail.

A new approach to application management

Following the introduction of SAP S/4HANA and the Microsoft Azure Cloud, ProRail and Capgemini then turned an eye to ongoing application management. By including this service within the partnership, the organizations attempted to establish a further degree of continuity that would make the shift to the new system simpler while also preparing ProRail to rapidly adopt more agile ways of working. Together, the partners rapidly put together a team that would manage the entirety of ProRail’s application landscape, including both new and legacy technology.

With SAP S/4HANA operating as the platform for this landscape, the partners were able to more easily provide support for existing applications while also having a better foundation for developing new tools. The new application management team also helped ProRail to reduce its time-to-market through improved communication between internal and external parties. With greater agility within its application landscape management and a foundation formed by SAP S/4HANA and Microsoft Azure, ProRail now enjoys enhanced scalability and improved data-driven insights.

With the foundation for continual transformation firmly established and new ways of working introduced into its application landscape, ProRail has prepared itself for a future of innovation. As it continues to develop new, more powerful tools for railway maintenance, the organization will be able to better support the many passengers and businesses that rely on its tracks on a daily basis. As the partnership continues, ProRail and Capgemini will work together to introduce agile ways of working and ensure that railways within the Netherlands are more effectively maintained and expanded.