Our client was one of the busiest airports in Europe for passenger traffic and undergoing one undergoing one of Europe’s largest infrastructure projects. A significant expansion to be fit for the future of air travel.
The client’s ERP was outdated, unsupported, and misaligned with the cloud-first future IT strategy. Leadership understood the opportunity that a systems upgrade offered, and Proxima was appointed as part of a best-of-breed consortium to conduct a full review of the end-to-end procurement process for a fully cloud-based ERP solution and System Integrator selection to include Finance, HR, Commercial, and Procurement modules.
Approach
With some initial data already gathered, we started the project with a comprehensive process and data review, looking at e2e processes, customer journeys, system complexities, and future requirements. Following this, we ran over 20 workshops with various customer groups, including AP, Vendor Master Data, Commercial, HR, Supplier Relationship Management, Contract Management, and Procurement. This enabled us to build a picture of current successes, pain points, and future requirements. Concurrently, we worked with suppliers to scope up the art of the possible. The outcome was a management report summarising the future requirements vs market capability and corresponding go-to-market strategy recommendations.
Using BPMN 2.0 we mapped out relevant customer journeys, highlighting over 3,000 functional requirements that were “like to have”. We mapped these against off-the-shelf SaaS offerings, highlighting where requirements could be met off the shelf and where customization would likely be required. This enabled us to proactively discuss the quantum of cost/ effort involved in customization and reframe the critical requirements in the face of likely change control.
Specification completed and the project team formed, we drafted the tender to determine the preferred technology and service integration partner and asked the potential suppliers specific questions on the top-rated pain points (determined by a RAG status) to ensure these were addressed and clearly understood by Heathrow stakeholders. We developed complex commercial templates, conducted a full analysis of the responses, and led all negotiations with top-tier vendors.
Results
Through market knowledge and negotiation, we ensured the client received best-in-class commercial terms and contract provisions. We also leveraged the outcome to improve overall business terms with the provider. Post selection, we also completed a tender to select a suitable systems integrator capable of working with the chosen ERP system at speed and scale and matching the client’s values and ways of working.
