Industry:
Travel and Transportation

Annual Revenue:
>=$1B

Employees:
>=10000

"A precondition for more efficient processes and better economic and strategic analyses is a good, reliable financial system. For SAS, the capabilities we gain from Oracle Financials mean we can better manage the requirements and specific prerequisites of our three owner countries." -- Ulla Edlund, VicePresident, SAS Corporate Accounting

One Airline Needs One Financial System

The SAS Group, a major provider of air travel and related businesses for northern Europe, found itself in need of major revisions to its financial system as the 1990s drew to a close. Each of its various local offices throughout the world had its own financial system, and additions, upgrades, and repairs were anything but uniform.

Concerns over potential Y2K problems at the beginning of the new century provided the impetus for SAS to make all processes more efficient, standardize and integrate its many worldwide offices, and merge its financial monitoring.

"Our organization was splintered and inefficient because of all the different systems, suppliers, and products--an untenable situation for an international company and one that placed our administrative management under considerable pressure," said Ulla Edlund, vice president of corporate accounting at SAS. "We needed to replace a 'do-it-yourself' approach with a uniform system that could reduce administrative complexity and bureaucracy in produding the year-end accounts and internal reports."

High-Level Project Goals

• Achieve full data access companywide


• Process year-end accounts more quickly


• Establish a global financial model


• Standardize systems to meet local needs within a global environment


• Consolidate technology and support for both hardware and software


• Avoid service disruptions due to Y2K

Why Oracle?

"We looked at 10 different suppliers, and after careful consideration we chose Oracle," Edlund said. "For us, functionality was the main determining factor in our choice of supplier, but we also carefully considered price and implementation. Because Oracle offered to assume total responsibility for the implementation, we felt most comfortable selecting Oracle."

SAS's project management built a single, unified system for the entire company using Oracle Financials, a part of Oracle E-Business Suite. The task was especially complex because SAS is partially owned by the governments of three countries: Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Its financial system must accommodate the currencies, tax structures, and regulations of all three countries. The project managers reviewed the needs of the entire SAS organization to ensure the solution provided not only the local Scandinavina users, but all 32 additional international stations, with the reporting, consolidation, and currency management needed. Now all countries access the single Oracle system.

Meeting a Deadline through Teamwork

For SAS, the timetable for the implementation of this new system was critical. It was absolutely essential that the new system be finished before 2000. Implementation began on the continent during 1998, and the wide-ranging project was finished on time despite considerable challenges.

Cooperation between Oracle Consulting and the SAS project team proved a major element contributing to the success of the project. "A project of this magnitude and scale requires people with seniority on both sides of the table--people who can conduct an open dialogue, and who have the power and authority to ensure the right steps are implemented," Edlund said.

A Single System Facilitates Financial Operations

The new system using Oracle technology provides SAS with a number of benefits. Thanks to Oracle Financials, the system is now completely integrated with the currencies, VAT rates, and taxation rates of the owner countries. Although SAS is a single company, its ownership by three countries must be taken into account when dealing with currencies, taxes, and other economic rules.

The now-uniform online system means that SAS no longer needs to make large batch runs with the enormous number of attendant printouts. Staff access to the system has also been increased.

All those involved are happy with Oracle's products, especially Oracle Financials, which provides new, improved capabilities for producing SAS' financial and economic reports. The system now entails significantly less need for administration and bureaucracy and will allow significant staffing reductions in the accounds payable department. The needed support for hardware and software has also been reduced.

Oracle Financial Analyzer improves the year-end analyses, enhancing and refining the work of the SAS accounting staff. Overall, implementation of Oracle has resulted in shorter response times--and a happier organization. "We've just begun to benefit from our new, efficient system. We look forward to taking even better advantage of all the features of this beneficial tool," Edlund said.