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Enterprise software leader reduced document types by 96% and prepared for AI innovation in HR with OpenText Content Management for SAP SuccessFactors

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About SAP

As a market leader in enterprise application software, SAP helps companies run better by redefining ERP and creating networks of intelligent enterprises that provide transparency, resiliency, and sustainability across supply chains.

See how SAP reduced document types by 96% and prepared for AI innovation in HR
  • Locations:
    >100 worldwide
  • Employees:
    >105,000
  • Revenue:
    €29.52 billion

Summary

Challenges

  • The global org manages millions of HR records.
  • Manual processes made GDPR compliance more onerous.
  • Needed a document management solution to simplify data retention and disposition.

Solution

  • Deployed automated governance capabilities.
  • Migrated millions of HR documents to the new platform.
  • Achieved a smooth, big-bang deployment.

Results

  • Accelerated compliance activities
  • Cost savings magnifying glass Migrated 8.5 million documents
  • actionable intelligence brain Reduced document types by 96%

Challenges

  • Need to manage millions of HR records
  • Manual, time-consuming processes made GDPR compliance onerous
  • Aging document management system was incompatible with next-gen HCM solutions

SAP strives to help the world run better. Across the global enterprise, more than 110,000 employees help deliver the solutions and services that empower businesses to optimize their operations, improve efficiency, and drive growth.

Fausto Brembilla, SVP head of global HR service delivery at SAP, said, “Within the global HR organization, our aim is to make core HR processes as seamless as possible for our teams, so they can focus on SAP’s mission.”

To help deliver streamlined, self-service HR capabilities across its international business, SAP is adopting its own best-in-class solutions. The long-term goal is to use SAP SuccessFactors® solutions to manage everything from payroll and compensation to learning and performance, beginning with the deployment of SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central—a flexible, cloud-based human resource information system.

“SAP SuccessFactors solutions will enable us to manage our global workforce much more efficiently and enhance the employee experience,” continued Brembilla. “To unlock the benefits of SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, it was crucial to manage HR-related documents in a secure and compliant way.”

In the past, SAP relied on manual processes to ensure compliance with requirements such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), sifting through thousands of HR documents to identify records for deletion. As it prepared to deploy SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, the company saw an opportunity to automate these activities—strengthening compliance and boosting operational efficiency.

Susanne Decker, solution owner of OpenText systems at SAP, said, “To achieve our goals, we looked for an enterprise content management [ECM] solution that would help us simplify our approach to data retention and disposition. The aim was to deploy a central platform to manage our millions of existing HR documents and new records created inside SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central.”

HR team meeting around a conference table

We had almost 2,000 different document types in our legacy system, with very little global consistency. Working with OpenText, we’ve now standardized on just 70 global templates—a reduction of 96%.

Katja Lukkarinen
Process Excellence Lead, Global HR Service Delivery, SAP

Solution

To deliver a high-quality HR experience to over 100,000 employees while streamlining GDPR compliance, SAP chose OpenText™ Content Management for SAP® SuccessFactors as the ECM platform for its new SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central environment.

Products deployed

Solution deployed

Deploying automated governance capabilities

After a thorough evaluation of several market-leading ECM providers, SAP saw OpenText Content Management for SAP SuccessFactors as the standout solution. As well as tight integration with SAP SuccessFactors software, OpenText Content Management offers powerful compliance capabilities at scale.

“We were looking for a solution that spoke the language of SAP SuccessFactors solutions, and OpenText Content Management shined in that respect,” said Brembilla. “As well as being fully compatible with our SAP SuccessFactors solutions, OpenText allows us to define automated document retention and deletion policies, which is a huge benefit for GDPR compliance.”

He added, “Another aspect of the OpenText solution that greatly appealed to us was the long-term roadmap around AI. SAP operates in more than 70 countries and staying on top of so many templates and documents has always been a struggle. We think AI innovation from OpenText will play a key role in helping us address those challenges.”

Migrating millions of HR documents to the new platform

Working with OpenText Professional Services, SAP migrated millions of HR records from its legacy document management repository to OpenText Content Management for SAP SuccessFactors.

“The implementation experience was excellent,” recalled Brembilla. “With more than 8.5 million documents to migrate, we knew that there would be bumps in the road, but the OpenText Professional Services team wasn’t fazed at all by the size and complexity of the project. OpenText worked side-by-side with us to resolve any issues.”

Katja Lukkarinen, process excellence lead for global HR service delivery at SAP, said, “We had almost 2,000 different document types in our legacy system, with very little global consistency. Working with OpenText, we’ve now standardized on just 70 global templates—a reduction of 96%.”

Achieving a smooth, big-bang deployment

SAP planned for a big-bang go-live, in which its legacy human capital management (HCM) system and document repository would be switched off simultaneously. In preparation for the switchover, SAP worked closely with OpenText to deliver a smooth transition.

“Throughout the project, change management was one of our top priorities,” said Brembilla. “We wanted to ensure that we brought our users along with every step of the journey. Thanks to the strong collaboration between our project team and OpenText, we successfully launched our new document management software to the entire global business at once.”

Two colleagues reviewing documents on a laptop

The possibilities for employee self-service are almost endless. For example, if an employee sends a document attesting a change to their address or marital status, we aim to use AI-powered automation to update their employment record without a member of the HR team getting involved.

Fausto Brembilla
SVP Head of Global HR Service Delivery, SAP

Results

By deploying OpenText Content Management for SAP SuccessFactors, SAP has gained a modern, scalable document management platform to support its ongoing SAP SuccessFactors rollout—with powerful automation to help it accelerate compliance tasks.

Accelerated compliance activities

With OpenText Content Management powering its new SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central solution, SAP is gaining the advantages of its next-generation HCM solution while dramatically reducing the complexity of regulatory compliance.

“In the past, identifying the documents we needed to dispose of under the GDPR was a laborious and time-consuming process that detracted from value-added activities,” explained Brembilla. “Today, we can define retention policies for each document type, which enables us to deliver a highly automated approach to GDPR compliance across the entire SAP organization.

Delivered document management at scale

With tens of thousands of employees across over 100 legal entities, SAP needs to trust that its document management platform will work reliably at scale. During its annual compensation review, SAP had the chance to put the solution to the test.

“One of the periods when our document management platform is under highest demand is during the annual compensation review, when we generate around 80,000 letters for our global personnel,” said Brembilla. “OpenText Content Management passed the test with flying colors, and our employees were able to access their documents without delay.”

Enabled new employee self-service capabilities

For SAP, the long-term aspiration is that core HR processes fade into the background—liberating employees to focus on their work. By building on the integration between SAP SuccessFactors and OpenText Content Management for SAP SuccessFactors, SAP plans to deliver new self-service capabilities to its global users.

“The possibilities for employee self-service are almost endless,” commented Brembilla. “For example, if an employee sends a document attesting a change to their address or marital status, we aim to use AI-powered automation to update their employment record without a member of the HR team getting involved.”

Looking to the future, SAP will build on its collaboration with OpenText to continue to enhance the employee experience.

“Now we’ve done the heavy lifting of moving our existing documents to the new OpenText platform, we have a strong foundation for innovation,” concluded Brembilla. “I'm very grateful for the opportunity to partner with OpenText and look forward to working together to add new value for our employees.”

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