Constantia Services GmbH
Customer & challenge
Constantia Services has set itself the task of driving forward the digital transformation in the parent company Constantia Industries AG. Around 60 employees at five locations in Austria support the group companies Isosport, Isovolta and Fundermax in all areas of the IT world and combine the requirements of an industrial group with the latest IT technologies.
In order to simplify their digital technology adoption strategy, Constantia Services desired to keep all three businesses’ data stored in a central location. Employees from various parts of the organization would then able to create reports and analyses based on uniform data. A Microsoft Azure SQL DWH was chosen as the storage solution, with Power BI as the reporting tool.
With Gregor Uhl, Constantia Services brought an experienced DWH and BI architect on board to set up suitable DWH structures as the heart of its new BI landscape. His plan was to implement a Microsoft Azure SQL DWH and connect the various ERP, CRM, and MES systems of the three group companies using interface technology.
Gregor Uhl evaluated various software solutions for extracting SAP ERP data to MS Azure DWH, including Xtract Universal from Theobald Software: He recalled, “The implementation was very simple. I contacted the support service with three or four technical questions and then everything was clear. I didn’t need any training on how to use it: the solution is lean, and the learning curve is very steep.” The performance was also convincing, and the DWH architect also received complete approval when the overall solution was presented to the group management.
After the two-week test phase, there was a seamless transition to live operation.
“With Xtract Universal, we managed to go live with a central data warehouse within a few weeks and offer stable reporting.”
Gregor Uhl, DWH and BI architect, Constantia Services GmbH
Solution with Xtract Universal
Gregor Uhl explained, “We are currently using Xtract Universal to write data streams from an SAP S/4HANA system and an SAP R/3 system to an MS Azure SQL DWH. Due to the age of the version, one of the R/3 systems had problems with the table function module. I opened a support ticket, got a response in a few hours, and the solution was implemented the next day. The extraction process runs flawlessly from both systems.”
Challenge: Automated extraction of data from two different SAP systems into a Microsoft Azure SQL DWH
Solution: Xtract Universal Microsoft Azure Add-On
Time to deploy: Two weeks from implementation to productive use
Added value: 95% less development effort due to automating the extraction processes
For Gregor Uhl, the greatest added value of Xtract Universal lies in the high degree of automation of the extraction process: “Data extraction from SAP into our cloud data warehouse accounts for about a third of the effort spent on the entire BI project. And I was able to reduce this effort by 95 percent by using Xtract Universal.”
The simplicity of the interface was particularly convincing: The DWH expert noted: “I am familiar with a lot of software tools, and most of them are a pain to use because of their complexity. Xtract Universal, on the other hand, actually makes the process easier for me. The range of features is easy to understand. The solution does exactly what it is supposed to do – and does it very well.”
Within the group, the BI initiative has become a prime example of how quickly added value can be gained from digital technology adoption using suitable measures and tools.
