FREQUENTIS implements TPG PSLink to integrate Microsoft Project Server with SAP

Project management and accounting staff now work with an improved, common database

Since late 2009, the air traffic control systems provider Frequentis has been working with TPG PSLink, which integrates Microsoft Project with SAP. The company has also implemented Microsoft Project Server 2007. The solution enables project managers to seamlessly share data with the finance department. Frequentis decided on TPG PSLink after a rigorous selection procedure. The solution integrates several systems and has been running since September 2009. It is slated to go into production this year. The TPG solution allows project leaders to work with their project management tool, and accounting staff with SAP, while sharing data with each other. As users no longer have to enter the same data in two different systems, the integration solution has enjoyed rapid acceptance. It runs unobtrusively in the background and has improved data quality while providing management with a flexible reporting solution.

Frequentis, based in Vienna, Austria, is an international provider of information and communication systems for air traffic management as well as public safety and transport. TPG The Project Group implemented the integration of SAP with the Microsoft Project environment at Frequentis as part of a large-scale project, for which Frequentis had produced very detailed specifications. This involved the introduction of a consolidated project management system for the 150-200 customer projects that run concurrently. The company conducted intensive tests of potential solutions, including those from SAP and Microsoft, before deciding on a Microsoft Project Server 2007 environment. The Microsoft Enterprise Project Management solution was implemented by specialists at TPG, who tailored it extensively to Frequentis’ requirements. Several TPG products were installed at the same time.

“At the start of the project, we found TPG’s advice on best practices very valuable – it was a major factor behind the solution’s success,” says Julian Molzer, director of the project management office at Frequentis, who headed up the implementation project. “During the project itself, TPG staff demonstrated their skill and flexibility in extending Microsoft Project functionality with features we needed. In many cases, this was possible using standard products.”

At Frequentis, all project planning data is stored in Microsoft Project Server and actual cost information in SAP. The integration between the two systems means that SAP-based cost data can be fed back into Microsoft Project. As a result, the planned and actual costs are updated monthly and available to project managers and finance staff in both MS Project and SAP. In addition, the updated project data is always available for the preparation of management reports on a number of topics. These include the planning and tracking of enterprise-wide, project-related cashflow, and cost transparency to facilitate the preparation of future proposals.

The new project management system enables project and accounting staff to view the same information in a format optimized for their needs. It also links payment milestones with SAP SD and provides resource planning by cost center / type of service for work package leaders. To facilitate reporting, the solution delivers quality gate reports, status reports, and data on work and costs. All of the project master data is managed in one system. TPG also integrated Frequentis’ new system with existing project workspaces in Microsoft SharePoint. It also implemented Project Web Access, making it easier for project managers to distribute project information and for staff, partners and customers to access it.

When selecting its new solution, Frequentis placed particular importance on ensuring the highest possible level of standardization; a clear overview of current projects; and ease of use. Molzer comments: “Project managers find Microsoft Project comparatively easy to use, and SAP is more familiar to finance staff. The synthesis of the two means that both groups are working with the tool that suits them best and have accepted it rapidly. That also helps ensure that the data quality is very high.”

Frequentis selected TPG The Project Group due to its industry expertise, many years of Microsoft Project experience, and its solution for integrating Microsoft Project with SAP. The project began at the end of 2008 and the test phase followed during 2009, with the implementation starting in September of that year. In the near future, Frequentis intends to use the new system to manage the project planning for all current customer projects. Plans for an extension of the system are already underway.

“The Frequentis project is particularly interesting for us because it is a very broad-based enterprise solution. It supports all the planned and actual costs for customer projects as well as project time planning,” notes Johann Strasser, managing director at TPG The Project Group. “This means that it has a high level of importance for Frequentis.”

Note: Frequentis will be demonstrating its solution at the T.A. Cook event “Project Management with SAP” on 25-26 February in Berlin, Germany. Event details (in German only) are available at: http://www.tacook.de/tagungen_kongresse_progr.php?id=00090&sub_id=8

FREQUENTIS Group
Frequentis is an international supplier of communications and information systems in the fields of Air Traffic Management (civil and military air traffic control) and Public Safety & Transport (police, rescue and fire services, coastal rescue, railways, shipping, and others). As such, the company maintains a global network of subsidiaries in the sales and operations area that provides a platform for sales and project processing in its various addressed regions. In addition, regional offices and representatives in around 50 countries complete the global coverage of Frequentis.

As regards development activities, the R&D capacities at the headquarters - complemented by additional resources in its subsidiaries and the organizations within the Frequentis network - provide the company with access to more than 400 qualified engineers with skills and specialist expertise in hardware and software development as well a project management. Frequentis is also a founding shareholder of GroupEAD Europe S.L., the service provider company operating the European Aeronautical Database on behalf of EUROCONTROL (this project represents a milestone on the road to a ‘single European sky’). The company’s participation portfolio is rounded out by additional strategic participations. Frequentis posted 2008 revenues of €141 million and has about 800 staff worldwide. Further information: www.frequentis.com

TPG The Project Group GmbH, based in Munich, Germany, is an international full service provider for enterprise-wide project management. The company is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner whose services include consulting, implementation, hosting, products and training on project management and Microsoft Project. TPG’s comprehensive and leading product portfolio is built on the significant implementation experience the company has acquired since it was founded in 1998. TPG PSLink® is the world’s leading and only SAP-certified product for integrating Microsoft EPM with SAP.

TPG’s range of products and services is complemented by public seminars on Microsoft Project for users and administrators and on PMI methodology (Project Management Institute). TPG increases the maturity level of its customers’ project management, making a significant contribution to their business success. It sells its products and services via its offices in Germany, Austria, USA and UK, as well as through an international network of authorized partners. TPG’s customers are large and midsized companies in all industries, including AOL, Audi, Bosch, BAE Systems, EON, GE, Harman, Infineon, MAN, Microsoft, SAP and Siemens.
For further information, please visit www.theprojectgroup.com/index_e.html

TPG The Project Group
Destouchesstr. 68
80796 Munich, Germany
Email: AchimS@theprojectgroup.de
Phone: +49 (89) 61 55 93 51
Fax: +49 (89) 61 55 93 40

This release was published on openPR.