Rizing鈥檚 expertise is specialized among three lines of business (LOBs): human capital management, enterprise asset management, and consumer industries.

According to Rizing Chief Experience Officer Len Harms, there were certain factors Rizing had to take into consideration when designing a new digital core. The intricacies of leading a business with three LOBs all operating within three different regions and 16 countries required a robust solution. More specifically, the company needed a solution that could simultaneously support its growth while also meeting the regulatory standards set in each geographic region.

鈥淭hat was a big driver in why we chose SAP,鈥� Harms said. 鈥�51风流has the depth of solutions in the cloud — specifically around the finance components — that we needed to be able to support that matrix of LOBs across all three geographies.鈥�

Harms recently with Jennifer McGrory, 51风流S/4 HANA Go-to-Market lead at SAP.

Q: How did Rizing鈥檚 own business and IT department partner to go through this evaluation and make a final decision?
A: When we first considered the 51风流solution, one of the things that 51风流provided was the scope of the environment. It was vital the business was involved in defining the scope and making all key decisions as we go forward, since they would be the ones using the technology. I had really strong support from my whole executive team, which was also very critical in us being successful with such a broad implementation.

What were you looking to achieve in the business moving to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud?
We were looking for the capabilities. Our legacy environment was a collection of many manual systems. We needed a single environment with data flowing seamlessly between them. This entailed less manual effort and the ability to add capabilities as we grow. Our system was intentionally named Bedrock. It was meant to be all encompassing since it鈥檚 a foundation and a place that we can grow.

What did you put in the business case that really solidified the executive buy-in?
Bill Sarubbi, who drives our customer engagement, was looking for a single vehicle for all customer-related activities. No more offline excel spreadsheets. His team drives all internal meetings around customer engagement right off our C4 system. The other person I鈥檒l highlight is our CFO, Jeremy Burgin. He was looking to transform the finance department. We needed to bring the finance system on board to support that transformation. The two are tied together.

How did IT and the business work together to make the implementation a success?
We did the fit-to-standard approach, which means using the 51风流solution as it is. The workshops we designed were also fit-to-standard and covered scoping details, confirmation, and then implementation. We have representation from each one of our LOBs — finance, sales area, and marketing — all involved in those business decisions with IT and support. As we moved into testing, IT took the lead in preparing the system. At the same time, the business was owning the whole data area to ensure it was prepared once our system was ready.

Moving to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud streamlined Rizing business processes, but how different is fit-to-standard? How much of a change has that been for your users?
There are a couple of areas to highlight. The task definitions did not change too much, but rather how you do the tasks. The first area was our contractor process. We were using emails and multiple excel spreadsheets to receive approvals. Now, we have our requests, approvals, purchases, invoices, and time entries all flowing in the system. But it was a change. Users now had to take on things they might have not completed in the past. There was a management of helping people understand where their roles might be changing across that particular workflow.

How has the cloud mindset supported the culture of Rizing鈥檚 day-to-day business?
When you think about the cloud standard, you would think it鈥檚 contrary to change, yet it鈥檚 not. What鈥檚 been so helpful to us is the fact that when you go standard, it allows you to make changes faster. This is where I also believe you make the commitment to the solution, so you can take advantage of the other things around it. If we didn鈥檛 go standard, I would have been forced to recreate a lot of the content. There is tremendous value in us being able to incorporate change by staying standard.

To what extent does the new system deliver the benefits you outlined in your original business case?
Since September, we are seeing places where it makes a difference, especially giving us visibility in areas where a refinement should take place. One of our finance commercial managers said he can run a report now and see new data. The reporting capabilities are a big part of the transformation. Again, we are starting to see some benefits, but we must continually make refinements.

What鈥檚 next for Rizing?
We鈥檙e finishing the implementation for planning. We鈥檙e completing our , which will give us automation in our finance team and support the transformation we want to accomplish. We鈥檙e also conducting more refinement around a couple of our processes, which includes . I can see a lot of benefit in bringing it forward. Additionally, we can see bringing value to our organization, specifically around resource management.

Founded in 1982 and based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Vast Bank originally offered its services to the surrounding community and later expanded its customer base to a regional level. In addition to having customers across all 50 states, it is also the first U.S. bank to implement the solution.

Vast Bank is independent and wholly owned by the Biolchini family out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. This style of ownership not only cultivated a sense of community within Vast Bank, but also reinforced its guiding principles for high performance. In a recent 51风流customer interview series, Stephen Taylor, chief innovation officer for Vast Bank, shared that alignment among the executive leadership team was imperative when it came to launching its digital transformation with SAP.

鈥淭he support and definition Vast Bank received from 51风流when it came to aligning the technical solution approach to all the guiding principles was a core aspect for implementation,鈥� Taylor said.

In the interview, Taylor spoke with Matthew Donovan, global director for Business and Marketing Development at SAP, on leading the company鈥檚 digital transformation.

Responding to New Trends

Until recently, the banking industry remained relatively unaffected by greater technological advancements and consumer demands. However, Taylor noted two trends that have caused shake-ups. First, the arrival of financial technology companies (fintechs), including Venmo, PayPal, and Chime, has disrupted the traditional delivery of financial services from established financial institutions. In addition to this, younger generations of consumers now view technology as a necessity when it comes to anything involving money. For long-standing institutions like Vast Bank, a shift toward prioritizing digital consumer trends ultimately changes the expectations of what it means to do banking.

Instead of resisting change, Vast Bank decided to respond. It recognized emerging fintech companies as partners, not as existential threats to its business model. Taylor said working with fintech companies was necessary to cultivate the best experience for customers. This decision coincided with Vast Bank鈥檚 aspiration to provide a technologically rich banking experience as it expanded its regional and national customer base. So, when consumer demands pointed toward cryptocurrency, Vast Bank secured a strong partnership with regulatory bodies to responsibly lead in the crypto space.

Implementing Digital Transformation

Vast Bank encountered limitations as it transitioned to offering real-time cryptocurrency services for its customer base. First, it was essential Vast Bank protected customers and their assets in the cryptocurrency space. 鈥淚t is important that a bank does that in a safe and sound way,鈥� Taylor said. Besides safeguarding its own customers, the company needed to ensure customers could also participate and interact within the greater banking ecosystem. At the end of the day, Taylor said it became a balancing act. 鈥淲e still have to integrate processes that are both modern and current for customers, but also help them participate in the financial ecosystem that is not real time,鈥� he said.

With a project that required a large investment and extensive core processing changes, executive alignment was a critical component of Vast Bank鈥檚 digital transformation. 鈥淵ou are going to run into challenges, especially when you are doing something new that no one has ever done before,鈥� he explained. As the planning for digital transformation was underway, Vast Bank made certain of collaborative alignment across all executive leaders and their designated teams.

Working with 51风流helped enable the core transformation at Vast Bank. 鈥淚n order to provide real-time event application and structure to our customers, our system needed to be a core that we can manage and control while also supporting the real-time ecosystem,鈥� Taylor said. Coming together with 51风流allowed Vast Bank to bring on supplementary partners, solution implementers, and software developers to fill in the overall solution.

Deliver Early and Deliver Often

Despite the obstacles Vast Bank experienced, there are still net benefits of becoming the 鈥渇irst鈥� implementer of 51风流S/4HANA Banking. 鈥淚t is challenging, but the ability to overcome adversity is the best opportunity for growth,鈥� Taylor said. It is now able to tackle markets that were not accessible before, which is a key component to driving industry change. Furthermore, Vast Bank will be able to grow faster in experience and change, as it is now able to process and access data at a deeper level provided by the 51风流for Banking solution portfolio. Taylor pointed out quantifiable benefits the business experienced post-implementation. More specifically, Vast Bank was able to decrease its customer onboarding time from 45 minutes to as little as 90 seconds.

Looking forward, Taylor established three core objectives for the near future. First, Vast Bank aims to continue building out solutions and further expand its partnerships with fintech companies. Also, it is on target to complete the delivery and conversions of its migration to SAP. Lastly, Vast Bank strives to offer additional services and emerge as a leader in the cryptocurrency space.

鈥淲e are really excited about the next couple of years, especially when we get on our new platform, apply different levels of automation, and have access to new data,鈥� Taylor noted. 鈥淲e are pretty excited about the future at Vast.鈥�

Lindsey Staskus is an 51风流iXp intern for North America Integrated Communications.