SETTING THE STAGE

Corresponding to their strategy, CSA has implemented an enterprise system, which as a real-time and centralized system supports complete data visibility on all organizational levels. SAP R/3 (Version 3.1H) was chosen to fulfill CSA's business requirements; also both of CSA's clients use the SAP R/3 system. SAP R/3 Financials has been used since November 1998, and the SAP R/3 Human Resources since late April 1999. The implementation costs were, as in many other implementation projects, determined by high consulting costs. Before the enterprise system was implemented CSA had to manage several legacy systems, which were partly substituted by the enterprise system. A still remaining legacy system is the in-house developed Asset Management Information System (AMIS). AMIS contains a catalogue of owned and leased assets separated by asset fleet, type, make and model, location and business area. Apart from asset register functions, AMIS performs the following additional tasks:

• Fuel Card Management: Cost recovery of fleet vehicles' fuel expenses and control of fuel invoices.

• Vehicle Hiring: Provision and invoice validation of fleet vehicles for business travels. CSA administers 2,000 fleet vehicles.

The IT staff of CSA is very confident with this system and there is an organization-wide high resistance to replace this system. AMIS is not fully integrated with SAP, but communicates in some areas via interfaces with SAP R/3. Currently the preparation for a system upgrade to SAP R/3 4.6C, scheduled for April 2002, is taking place. To realize the benefits of the costly implementation and upgrade, CSA is faced to achieve full capabilities and business values by adopting best practices, reducing operational costs and integrating the Financials and Human Resources modules. The IT management believes that a major impact on the way of service delivery will be from the increased integration of information systems and through the improved use of information technology. To realize the benefits of information systems, data shall be captured on one single and early point and converted into meaningful information, legacy systems and business processes need to be integrated, and data and information need to be easy accessible. Some of the key areas on which CSA is focusing involve employee self-service, electronic forms, e-procurement, and travel and expense management.