Harlex Consulting deliver a successful SAP Cutover and Data Migration for Sony Music GSA

Sony Music has undertaken an ambitious program to build a new Global SAP ERP platform and to transition all business units from their existing regional SAP and non-SAP templates to the new environment. This will drive cost efficiencies through harmonized and streamlined business processes, improved system functionality and the provision of enterprise-wide consolidation and reporting. Sony Music GSA (Germany, Switzerland, Austria) and Hungary and the Czech Republic were the first offices to be transitioned from the EMEA SAP template to the Global platform in April 2013.

Requirements Harlex were tasked with providing a data migration strategy to manage all migration activity for the GSA deployment including the provision of resources to develop the necessary tools required to execute the migration and the delivery of all test and cutover load cycles. During the integration phase of the project, Harlex were also asked to develop and manage a detailed business and technical cutover plan to handle the transition to the new system. This requirement stretched across numerous workstreams, legacy systems and business departments.

Approach Working alongside Sony Music IT, the local business and third-party solution partner, we ran workshops in autumn 2012 to confirm the scope of the data migration and then developed a strategy and plan based on our SAP data migration methodology Harlex Advantage. Key activities were mapping workshops, data quality analysis, ETL development, two test cycles, data acceptance, a dress rehearsal and then the final cutover migration. We put in place data validation and acceptance procedures and an issue management process to manage and track status during the test phases. Harlex Consulting put in place a structured approach to preparing and executing the cutover plan:

Cutover Approach: Preparing a cutover approach and high level cutover plan which was then reviewed and

approved by the project team leads and stakeholders

Cutover Preparation: Identifying all teams and resources involved in the cutover activities and preparing

information gathering templates to capture tasks, timings, resources and dependencies. Scheduling and

executing a series of review sessions to gather all relevant information from the team leads to develop the

draft cutover plan. Presenting the plan to project stakeholders and all relevant parties for sign-off

Cutover Execution: Managing the execution of cutover and developing a status management strategy to ensure all tasks were communicated and managed and that the cutover plan was updated regularly, including preparing cutover checkpoint reports, scheduling and chairing regular checkpoint meetings, managing action items and risks and issues

Stakeholder Engagement: Informing project stakeholders of recent activity, next steps and risks and issues through summary status reports and bi-weekly stakeholder update meetings

Results Sony Music GSA successfully went live with the Global SAP platform ontime on 2 April 2013. Harlex Consulting delivered the cutover and data migration within the budget agreed with Sony Music at the start of our engagement.

Harlex Consulting Dave Cornine, VP IS&T, Global Financial Systems at Sony Music, said, 'Harlex executed the migration of data from our legacy environment to our new SAP instance with precise reconciliation and no problems since weve gone live. They also guided us through the cutover process by providing excellent mentoring and developing a strategy that we can use for future cutovers. Things could not have gone better in these phases and it was due to Harlex dedication and experience'.

Ben McGrail, Managing Director of Harlex Consulting, said, 'We are delighted to continue and build on our long working relationship with Sony Music. On this first phase of a global rollout, Harlex Consulting were responsible for data migration, cutover and the technical delivery of an enhanced Dispute Management solution. We look forward to continuing this partnership with Sony Music in their goal to create a single global platform to better support the business in what are changing times for the music industry'.

Contact For more information, contact Harlex Consulting on: info@harlexconsulting.com Harlex Consulting 96 Kensington High Street London W8 4SG