Cisco Cisco Process Orchestrator 3.0 Guida Informativa
The accuracy and availability of data in
the CIS application is crucial to the suc-
cess of the business. The system includes
billing information, such as premise and
gas meter information, name, location,
and address. While Enbridge outsources
its customer care and billing functions,
the IT department is tasked with main-
taining the CIS system. Enbridge employ-
ees in sales, operations, and finance also
the CIS application is crucial to the suc-
cess of the business. The system includes
billing information, such as premise and
gas meter information, name, location,
and address. While Enbridge outsources
its customer care and billing functions,
the IT department is tasked with main-
taining the CIS system. Enbridge employ-
ees in sales, operations, and finance also
frequently use the CIS
application to access
and review customer
information.
The application uti-
lizes the SAP ERP and
SAP Customer Rela-
tionship Management
(SAP CRM) systems
for its customer and
billing data. To keep
data relevant, the IT
department is regular-
ly required to refresh
the data in the com-
pany’s pre-production
environment, which is
where final testing and
user acceptance testing
is done for all changes
that go to production.
As part of the refresh
process, IT must move
the data from the
production system to
this
application to access
and review customer
information.
The application uti-
lizes the SAP ERP and
SAP Customer Rela-
tionship Management
(SAP CRM) systems
for its customer and
billing data. To keep
data relevant, the IT
department is regular-
ly required to refresh
the data in the com-
pany’s pre-production
environment, which is
where final testing and
user acceptance testing
is done for all changes
that go to production.
As part of the refresh
process, IT must move
the data from the
production system to
this
pre-production
environment — dur-
ing which time the
ing which time the
updated data would be unavailable to CIS
developers and testers for up to four weeks
at a time.
The business was understandably un-
comfortable with having the CIS pre-
production environment out of commis-
sion for so long, and the lengthy process
left the IT department and business users
waiting to perform testing and complete
other projects. “With projects changing
and going as fast as they are, we can’t be
behind the business needs,” says Liliana
Wilson, Database Architect at Enbridge.
developers and testers for up to four weeks
at a time.
The business was understandably un-
comfortable with having the CIS pre-
production environment out of commis-
sion for so long, and the lengthy process
left the IT department and business users
waiting to perform testing and complete
other projects. “With projects changing
and going as fast as they are, we can’t be
behind the business needs,” says Liliana
Wilson, Database Architect at Enbridge.
“And without a pre-production environ-
ment available for people to test and to
sign off, enhancements and other required
changes can get delayed — which can
affect our customers.”
ment available for people to test and to
sign off, enhancements and other required
changes can get delayed — which can
affect our customers.”
The Road to a Faster
System Refresh
As any SAP administrator could attest, a
production to pre-production refresh is a
lengthy and tedious process involving a
sequence of manual, repetitive steps.
“To complete the refresh, you have
to do a lot of manual intervention,” says
Wilson. “And by that, I mean 50, 60, or 70
individual steps per SAP system.” With
three SAP system modules and a ton of in-
teroperability amongst them, a refresh at
Enbridge could involve hundreds of steps.
To fulfill the business need for a quick-
er system refresh, the IT team at Enbridge
dissected the problem and searched for a
solution that would speed up the process.
The first step was to evaluate vendors
who offered runbook automation — i.e.,
defining and managing workflows that
support systems and processes. Enbridge
selected Cisco Tidal Intelligent Automa-
tion for SAP, which provides this work-
flow capability and additionally handles
a lot of the SAP activities required for
the post-processing aspects of the refresh.
(For more on why Enbridge chose Cisco,
see the sidebar at the end of the article.)
With Cisco Tidal Intelligent Automa-
tion for SAP, application users can create
workflows from scratch to fit their own
environment. This flexibility was attrac-
tive to Enbridge because of the complicat-
ed nature of its processes. “The workflow
you build is a set of detailed steps that
logically follow each other, and you can
insert an approval process in between the
steps,” says Wilson. “Once you build it, you
can rerun this workflow an endless num-
ber of times and it will always perform
the same way. You take out human errors
like typos and mistakes like that.”
Building a workflow that automates
the repetitive steps for performing a sys-
tem refresh means a faster refresh and a
production to pre-production refresh is a
lengthy and tedious process involving a
sequence of manual, repetitive steps.
“To complete the refresh, you have
to do a lot of manual intervention,” says
Wilson. “And by that, I mean 50, 60, or 70
individual steps per SAP system.” With
three SAP system modules and a ton of in-
teroperability amongst them, a refresh at
Enbridge could involve hundreds of steps.
To fulfill the business need for a quick-
er system refresh, the IT team at Enbridge
dissected the problem and searched for a
solution that would speed up the process.
The first step was to evaluate vendors
who offered runbook automation — i.e.,
defining and managing workflows that
support systems and processes. Enbridge
selected Cisco Tidal Intelligent Automa-
tion for SAP, which provides this work-
flow capability and additionally handles
a lot of the SAP activities required for
the post-processing aspects of the refresh.
(For more on why Enbridge chose Cisco,
see the sidebar at the end of the article.)
With Cisco Tidal Intelligent Automa-
tion for SAP, application users can create
workflows from scratch to fit their own
environment. This flexibility was attrac-
tive to Enbridge because of the complicat-
ed nature of its processes. “The workflow
you build is a set of detailed steps that
logically follow each other, and you can
insert an approval process in between the
steps,” says Wilson. “Once you build it, you
can rerun this workflow an endless num-
ber of times and it will always perform
the same way. You take out human errors
like typos and mistakes like that.”
Building a workflow that automates
the repetitive steps for performing a sys-
tem refresh means a faster refresh and a
Enbridge Gas Distribution
Toronto, Ontario,
Canada
Canada
Gas distribution
Approximately
$2.8 billion
Approximately 1,800
Canada’s largest natural
gas utility
Serves 1.95 million customers
in communities across Ontario
(added about 37,000 custom-
ers in 2010)
Operating for 160+ years
gas utility
Serves 1.95 million customers
in communities across Ontario
(added about 37,000 custom-
ers in 2010)
Operating for 160+ years
SAP ERP (including the industry
solution for utilities)
SAP CRM
SAP NetWeaver PI
SAP NetWeaver BW
solution for utilities)
SAP CRM
SAP NetWeaver PI
SAP NetWeaver BW
At a Glance