Switching to a third-party ERP support vendor reaped savings for this firm

The savings can be reinvested in boosting staff support and customer service to weather economic strains.

A leading agribusiness in Australia has made the most of their enterprise resource planning system by switching to a third-party support provider for the SAP ERP.

Elders provides agriculture products and services, livestock, real estate, insurance and other advisory services to the agriculture industry in Australia, with a focus on helping customers become more successful in their agriculture business. The company operates out of 250+ branches nationwide and the complexities of size prompted them to search for a third-party support provider to improve its application support service levels.

By switching to a third party for support, Elders dramatically reduced the total cost of maintenance and support fees. With the savings realized, the firm will invest in technology services for its branch network—primarily based in rural Australia.

Said Peveni Rajapakse, Head of IT, Elders: “On average, we have about 400 staff using the SAP software at any one time each and every day, so response time is critical to our operations. In the short period since we made the switch… we are seeing excellent response times when tickets are raised. And with the additional capacity to re-invest in IT, we can begin to look at new and interesting ways to further enhance our customer experience.”

With the new support vendor Rimini Street, Elders is also able to run its stable ERP system for a minimum of 15 years from the time of the switch, without being forced to upgrade their current SAP application release just to stay fully supported by the vendor.

Said Emmanuelle Hose, Regional GM, Australia and New Zealand, Rimini Street: “Innovation is how organizations get and stay ahead, yet without the ability to invest in innovative toolsets and practices, the best that organizations can do is tread water. Elders is one organization that is driving its business forward by freeing up precious resources to focus on more strategic initiatives within their business.”