Success Story: Heineken improves SAP test data

We started three years ago with a new setup with our organization. So we work more in an agile manner. And as part of that, we also did a journey for new elements which were missing in our landscape. And at that time, EPI-USE came into to the picture. One big requirement from Heineken was in slice copying, although you take one month of data, but we want hundred percent of the open items. That was not your standard solutions, but it was made possible by EPI-USE Labs. That is one of the triggers. And second is, as I said, it integrates with other applications, like we have non SAP, scrambling tools. Client sync you are basically using to get the data on demand. So because we have a complex landscape, we have hundreds of SAP systems. Also they are connected with another set of non SAP systems, central master data systems. So they all are linked with each other. So the moment one customer asks for one refresh, you can't simply give them the data because the moment you you touch one, you need to touch another twenty. And to getting twenty refreshes is also not that simple because you need to align with hundred stakeholders. And seventy percent of them will say, they have no time. So that is why we thought, okay, how can we manage on demand data? And that is where we use Client Sync. And at the same time, we need the data to be protected. And that is where we use Data Secure.

It is easy to maintain. We don't have additional server hosting. Those costs are not there. Second is it's easy to scale. The scalability part, if you see, it's a reusable of the rules. You can use set of standard transports to start with so it is easy to scale. And third, if you have to say for example, with client sync the downtime. So generally in it we should do a refresh in it's two to three days of downtime at least. Here, it is twenty minutes. And let's say, for example, self-service. So we don't need a EPI-USE's consultant to really work for, executing our work. Our team has one training before the contract, and now they're doing for the last two years themselves. They don't need any help. So it's kind of a self-service. So all these club together the value, we we get from EPI-USE's Labs. The speed, we are delivering the same results. We can do it better. We should increase the scope. So we do more. And at the same time, we are we are making it more efficient. So I think we'd also do it faster. Of course, this is the three criteria that the the customer asks. Can you do it faster? Can you do it better? And can you do it cheaper? And, yeah, if the team can realize that with that technology, that is, of course, that's great.

Refreshing and scrambling: unravelling the problem

Heineken’s data team wanted to refresh and scramble their entire SAP and non-SAP ERP landscape more often. GDPR, agile sprints and complex international projects were all drivers prompting a search for a solution to facilitate and automate test data refreshes for both SAP and non-SAP environments.

One of Heineken’s main requirements was a need for consistent, cross-client and cross-technology scrambling. It was important the scrambled data should have different values after a run and adhere to ‘pattern-breaking’ methodologies.

The Heineken team’s SAP test data refresh solution needed to be:

easy to use, quickly and repeatedly
scalable for all of their systems
able to support complex projects
independent from their support partner
GDPR compliant.

Data Sync Manager: a refreshing solution for brewer

Heineken bought EPI-USE Labs’ full Data Sync Manager™ (DSM) suite to refresh their non-production environment with anonymized data quickly:

DSM System Builder™ creates system shells in line with the Production environment.
DSM Client Sync™ produces a subset of data from Production.
DSM Data Secure™ scrambles the data.
DSM Object Sync™ for HCM copies individual scenarios for Production support and scenario testing for HR and other functional areas.

DSM, in combination with Symphony orchestration from BCS and DATPROF’s test data and scrambling solutions, is used for non-SAP environments. The three systems together provide a seamless solution to refresh test data across SAP and non-SAP systems.

Heineken also uses our SAP Data Privacy Suite to comply with GDPR (the General Data Protection Regulation).