SAP BW and CRM implementation in the DaimlerChrysler merger process

In the strategic planning carried out for the year 2000, at the information systems level among other projects, the need to have two fundamental tools for the expansion of the business and for the improvement in decision-making at the managerial level was defined. 

Being in charge of special IT projects, I was fortunate to take charge of this great project, which in addition to its importance for the organization, added the complexity of having to implement it now not only for Mercedes Benz, but for the merged DaimlerChrysler, with the premise of being able to integrate all the information of both brands, but also that the information of both brands should be separated in the physical sphere.

It was a project that had its important complexities, since we had to integrate the information from the ERP SAP of Mercedes Benz plus the information in the ERP of Chrysler and the CRM systems of Chrysler, which were outsourced. In turn, SAP was in beta versions with its CRM and BW applications, which made the decision more difficult, due to the guarantees that were requested regarding the reliability and flexibility of the applications to be implemented, as well as the possibility of demonstrating successful implementations of both applications in satisfied customers. 

It was a really high-flying project with a lot of technical and political complexity. Politically because we were working with two very different business cultures and with very different information management practices and systems. 

Technically, the complexity came from having to integrate around 58 databases that contained information from clients of both brands, carry out a process of cleansing and standardization of information in all those databases, deduplicate the databases to be able to implement adequately a unique customer base and from there to know how the databases were kept separate to later achieve their logical integration. 

In parallel, BW was used as a deduplication tool and later as a manager of the Business intelligence information that allowed the generation of Dashboards for both the Marketing area and the General Management.

The project was successfully implemented after 18 months of work, achieving all the objectives set with a deviation of the budget only of 12% and of the time in 20% of the initial estimated time. This was one of my most important projects, since it implied a lot of knowledge development in the short term, taking the necessary risks but in a limited way and having led a highly complex project in a difficult and challenging political environment in which a minimum error would have had a very high cost.