Published on 30-Sep-2011
"“By passing data from SAP into Salesforce.com, we provided visibility of key performance metrics to our sales team and improved customer loyalty.”" - Mark Mande, National Channel Manager, Siemens Energy, Inc.
Customer:
Siemens Energy Inc.
Industry:
Energy & Utilities
Deployment country:
United States
Solution:
Cloud Computing
Overview
Siemens AG Energy Sector offers power generation, transmission and distribution for the growing world economy. The company’s U.S. division, Siemens Energy, Inc. supports the corporation’s mission providing power plant systems automation, mechanical drives, controls, electrical and protection products; compression, expansion and ventilation solutions as well as products and services for power generation, transmission and distribution through the energy grid.
Business need:
Siemens Energy faced this challenge when it needed to integrate its SAP software for ERP with Salesforce.com, the cloud-based CRM service. Data from SAP was not being updated in Salesforce.com on a timely basis. The information gap impeded sales cycles because it was difficult for sales and marketing staff to access the latest information about its customers.
Solution:
The Siemens Energy transmission and distribution team implemented the IBM WebSphere® Cast Iron® Cloud solution, which provides preconfigured integrations for hundreds of leading enterprise and cloud applications, including Salesforce.com and SAP.
Benefits:
· Achieved fast time to value with a “configuration, not coding” approach to customer data integration
· Accelerated adoption of Salesforce.com by sales and marketing through improved visibility and access to real-time customer information
· Increased sales productivity, reduced cycle times and enhanced customer credibility from real-time visibility into needed information
Case Study
The initial integration is completed in two weeks using an IBM WebSphere Cast Iron Cloud solution
For sales and marketing teams to do their jobs effectively, Siemens Energy need visibility into the latest information involving their customers. This requires harmonizing disparate applications such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). If such systems are incompatible, they must be integrated. The integration can be complicated if applications are disparate and reside in varied locations such as on-premises or in the cloud.
Siemens Energy faced this challenge when it needed to integrate its SAP software for ERP with Salesforce.com, the cloud-based CRM service. Data from SAP was not being updated in Salesforce.com on a timely basis. The information gap impeded sales cycles because it was difficult for sales and marketing staff to access the latest information about its customers.
Criteria for the integration project included a platform that could handle complex data amalgamation for a global enterprise and provide scalability for future growth. With sales, marketing and customer service hanging in the balance, Siemens Energy needed to accomplish the integration without delay.
The Siemens Energy transmission and distribution team implemented the IBM WebSphere® Cast Iron® Cloud solution, which provides preconfigured integrations for hundreds of leading enterprise and cloud applications, including Salesforce.com and SAP. The product simplifies complex integration projects by using a “configuration, not coding” approach. It offers mashups to present a single unified view of data from different applications; process integration to orchestrate business activities across cloud-based and on-premise applications; and data cleansing and migration from existing systems to cloud-based applications in real time.
The orchestration capabilities provided through the IBM WebSphere® Cast Iron® Cloud solution helped Siemens Energy complete its initial SAP-to-Salesforce.com integration in just two weeks. The project enabled the merger of customer data from multiple sources enabling sales and marketing staff to view customer information within Salesforce.com in real time. The Siemens Energy transmission and distribution team endeavor was used as an example for subsequent projects where expanded visibility of data across multiple business units was desired. The ease of use and data orchestration capabilities also helped Siemens Energy capitalize on the WebSphere platform for other projects within its division.
Benefits
· Achieved fast time to value with a “configuration, not coding” approach to customer data integration
· Accelerated adoption of Salesforce.com by sales and marketing through improved visibility and access to real-time customer information
· Increased sales productivity, reduced cycle times and enhanced customer credibility from real-time visibility into needed information
For more information
To learn more about WebSphere Cast Iron Cloud technology, please contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit:
ibm.com/software/integration/cast-iron-cloud-integration/
Products and services used
IBM products and services that were used in this case study.
Legal Information
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2011 IBM Corporation Software Group Route 100 Somers, NY 10589 U.S.A. Produced in the United States of America September 2011 All Rights Reserved IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, Cast Iron and WebSphere are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at “Copyright and trademark information” at ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. The information contained in this documentation is provided for informational purposes only. While efforts were made to verify the completeness and accuracy of the information contained in this documentation, it is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, express or implied. In addition, this information is based on IBM’s current product plans and strategy, which are subject to change by IBM without notice. IBM shall not be responsible for any damages arising out of the use of, or otherwise related to, this documentation or any other documentation. Nothing contained in this documentation is intended to, nor shall have the effect of, creating any warranties or representations from IBM (or its suppliers or licensors), or altering the terms and conditions of the applicable license agreement governing the use of IBM software. References in this publication to IBM products or services do not imply that IBM intends to make them available in all countries in which IBM operates. All customer examples described are presented as illustrations of how those customers have used IBM products and the results they may have achieved. Actual environmental costs and performance characteristics may vary by customer. EUC03013-USEN-00