By Chi Wang
Birlasoft, a global systems integrator and SAP services provider, achieved accreditation from the SAP Partner Quality program for demonstrating its commitment to quality management methods and principles in its customer projects.
Available through one of the many partner quality services provided by SAP Partner Service Delivery, the accreditation is a result of a series of rigorous audits that involved a detailed review of quality processes, adherence to SAP ASAP methodology, and alignment of Birlasoft’s quality philosophy with SAP’s 10 Quality Principles for successful bid and project management.
Preeti Das, CEO of Birlasoft, says the accreditation means more value for customers: “I am delighted that Birlasoft has achieved this accreditation from SAP. Birlasoft is all set to create new higher benchmarks in delivering value to our clients. Our team is dedicated to delivering world-class solutions to our global top clients, and this accreditation reinforces that commitment. This accreditation reaffirms the work we do to enable effective implementation of business processes using SAP solutions and to fulfill requirements to the highest standard.”
Tanuj Singh, head of global alliance at Birlasoft, says, “This accreditation showcases our commitment as an SAP services partner to delivering outstanding value to our customers and to providing customers with a clear view of SAP’s ability to influence the success of its program.”
Singh explains how customers benefit: “By using SAP quality principles, we can help ensure that our customers achieve smooth implementations as we anticipate benefits as measured against business requirements.”
Quality improvements in the project life cycle
To strengthen and extend its customer focus and project performance, the company joined the SAP Partner Quality Program. The goal of the program is to improve quality throughout the project life cycle – from bid to delivery and maintenance – as well as to increase customer satisfaction and minimize risks and escalations during the project.
“This program helped us to build up standard risk assessment processes, both in the bid and delivery cycles,” says Das. “Now, we can control risks in a timely manner along with improving project efficiency and delivery quality finally leading to highly improved customer satisfaction.”
The program offers a quality approach for sales processes and delivery methodologies through access to enhanced SAP channel quality templates and processes. With a distinct focus on quality deliverables, the accreditation also helps partners improve the success of bids by providing a sales differentiator from other partners through quality wording and information, as well as risk mitigation activities.
The annual partner quality plan and quarterly quality reviews form the basis for the global quality accreditation program by providing a way to monitor joint performance and measure success. Partners are required to submit an annual quality plan to showcase how they will improve quality in their own organization during the year. In addition, the quarterly quality review enables joint risk monitoring via open bilateral communication as well as identifying and preventing issues.
Case study: U.S. Fortune 500 insurance provider rollout of SAP ECC
Birlasoft recently used the SAP Partner Quality program methodology to guide a successful SAP rollout project for a Fortune 500 global insurance service provider. Completed in November 2013, the nine-month project was a Greenfield rollout of SAP ECC and SAP BusinessObjects solutions, with a number of integrations and third-party software.
After detailed analysis and by applying best practices from the SAP Partner Quality program, Birlasoft recommended implementing the SAP ECC 6.0 template for better control and customer satisfaction.
To ensure that this rollout delivered the necessary outcomes, Birlasoft and the Insurance provider customer’s team created a structure and governance model that involved the business integrally right from the beginning of the project. Business process owners were consulted very early in the process, which helped staff to get on board. A business steering committee, headed by a senior business person working full-time on the project, also operated alongside the project steering committee.
“Matters relating to requirements and design were managed in a separate group from matters relating to quality, scope, cost, and schedule,” says Sanjay Bajaj, delivery head at Birlasoft. “That allowed us to maintain the integrity of the business expectations, separate from the commercial aspects of the project’s times and costs.”
Birlasoft’s implementation introduces new approach to track progress
From a quality perspective, a critical success factor was the approach taken to milestone measurement during the project. A tool was created to inform the software build and support the solution post-go live. By using this to track progress, the team had a more objective view of where the project stood and any issues that were arising.
“We controlled the project at the lowest level, for example, what was being designed, what was being configured or developed, and the security planning that was planned to be implemented,” says Rajat Budhiraja, SAP COE head at Birlasoft. “We measured exactly where we were with each of the individual objects and items, rather than managing at the higher process level, which is what teams usually do.”
He explains, “By doing that, we could embed our quality control and procedural controls at that level. Quality was therefore an integral part not only in terms of standards and practices, but the way people worked and the way we measured progress.”
As demonstrated in this SAP ECC 6.0 implementation project, Birlasoft is closely aligned to the key principles of quality that SAP believes to be fundamental to the success of every implementation. Designed to assist partners in delivering high-quality software and support, the methodology of the SAP Partner Quality program provides the right processes, tools, and services to drive successful projects and delivery, leading to greater customer satisfaction.
About Birlasoft
Birlasoft, part of 150-year-old, multi-billion dollar CK Birla Group, enables clients in manufacturing, banking and financial services, insurance, media, and healthcare to become competitive in their businesses by providing value-based information technology services in onshore, offshore and near-shore models. Birlasoft’s portfolio of services includes enterprise application services, custom application services and specialized services like testing, analytics and mobility. Birlasoft’s robust delivery processes embrace digitized project management methodologies, embedded within proven practices of Six Sigma, SEI CMMI Level 5, ISO and a secure services framework. Birlasoft has presence across the United States, UK, Europe, and APAC region, including India. For further information, visit www.birlasoft.com.