Saarbruecken, September 22, 2008- Supported by IDS Scheer, the international solution provider for Business Process Management (BPM), Germany’s third largest energy supplier EnBW VSG B2B has laid the foundation for a service-oriented architecture (SOA). The key requirement here was tight integration and communication between IT and user departments. The responsibles at EnBW VSG B2B are expecting a ten percent reduction in IT project effort and IT cost savings of 2.5 percent. In recognition of this innovative project, the energy supplier received the Business Process Excellence Award in the Business-Driven SOA Management category at ARIS ProcessWorld 2008 inBerlin.

With around 6 million customers, EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG is the third largest energy supplier in Germany. Internal optimization projects and external developments in the energy market, such as new laws deregulating the energy sector, mean that user demands on the company’s IT environment are changing all the time. In response, IDS Scheer is supporting a comprehensive BPM project designed to bridge the gap between IT and business, thereby creating the basis for a service-oriented architecture.

Business data was modeled using ARIS Business Architect, paving the way for a shared cross-departmental understanding of the data relevant to the company’s value chain. By linking the elements of the business data models with process models, an integrated platform has been created for requirements in IT projects. For maximum transparency, the documented process and data models are automatically published on the intranet by way of ARIS Business Publisher.

Since the business data models are broken down into business and system-specific views, it becomes far easier to reflect corporate reality in a service-oriented IT environment. The SOA will significantly accelerate and streamline implementation of new business workflows in IT systems.

“With the support of IDS Scheer and its ARIS tools, we have finally found a common language both within the IT department and between user departments and IT,” says Dr. Wolfgang Rueffler, head of IT/quality management and processes at EnBW VSG. “Modeling business processes and business data at EnBW VSG B2B has significantly improved the quality of our core operational processes.”

“We estimate that requirements analysis effort has been reduced by at least twenty percent, based on initial quantitative results obtained during an SAP® CRM implementation project,” says Silvia Vierneusel, head of IT strategy and sales/processing systems.

Improved communication and clarity regarding the business requirements saved approximately 100 person days, while early error detection during the blueprint phase cut IT project effort by around ten percent. Total IT cost savings average out at 2.5 percent.

“Driven by the business and regulatory challenges faced by utility companies, EnBW has tightly integrated its business and technical views. Adopting a process-oriented approach has created a flexible IT system and laid the foundation for a service-oriented architecture. In recognition of the project’s groundbreaking character, EnBW received the Business Process Excellence Award in the Business-Driven SOA Management category at ARIS ProcessWorld in Berlin. Once again, an organization was able to boost performance by optimizing business processes and making its IT assets more flexible,” says Dr. Dirk Oevermann, Member of the Executive Board responsible for the DACH und EMEA regions at IDS Scheer.