Project Examples

Get an idea of how modern IT can help you to understand the challenges of new global markets and transform them into opportunities. Here you'll find a selection of projects that we are currently supervising or have already completed. (in alphabetical order)

Ball Packaging Europe: Global intranet portal

Ball Packaging Europe, one of Europe’s leading beverage can manufacturers, entrusted btexx with the job of developing a global, enterprise-wide employee portal. The ‘myBallPortal’ was launched as the central communications and information instrument for 2,900 employees in Europe at the end of 2008. Success Story »

BASF: Global intranet for over 97,000 users

The global intranet project BASF.net was launched amid high demands on state-of-the-art technology and design. For the core team at BASF, the main priority was to provide a platform designed to serve the global exchange of knowledge and information within the BASF Group. Success Story » 

BHW: Implementation of an SAP NetWeaver Portal

BHW is one of the leading financial service providers in Germny. btexx implemented an enterprise portal with SAP. The key benefits are: simple and secure browser-based access without password verification with single sign-on for all intranet applications, efficient role-supported working for all users without client side installation and central role control and allocation. 

HR and BHW's proprietary user, role and security system, as well as the SAP Application Server 6.20 for central user administration, are major components of a solution that will provide one Single Point of Administration for all users and applications from the very first moment of operation. In addition to the role-based provision of applications and information, a document management system was implemented that now supports approx. 500 internal and external users with their project documentation. It was integrated by means of the portal's Knowledge Management Component. Key requirements were a simple authentication management based on Microsoft Active Directory, version management and secure external access via Internet. Key features are news, upload and download sections, TREX search, version management and document status management. New software features for attribute based and query based taxonomy will be implemented in a future step.

Design and implementation of an Internet-based project portal for strategic project management and project budget planning at a large german bank

Sub-project "Strategic Project Controlling" Used software: PHP, MS Access, SAP PS Client: Deutsche Bank RTS Description: The project task was to design and implement an Internet-based project portal for strategic project management and project controlling. The objective of strategic project management is to ensure consistency between the company's strategy and the result of operations. It includes identification and management of those projects which urgently need executing and contribute significantly to the business objectives. The application allows for the acquisition, strategic rating and assessment of project ideas and for the compilation of project portfolios. Sub-project "Budget Planning" Used software: PHP, Oracle 8i, SAP PS Client: Deutsche Bank PCAM Description: Building a project portal for the administration of well over 5,000 projects from the bank's various international branches. The final budget can be calculated starting from the rough project idea to the refined project planning on cost centre level. The process of fine-tuning is supported by a workflow component and, through the connection with the SAP R/3 system, the whole life cycle, from project idea creation to actual project order, is covered.

Consulting Services in Designing an Executive Portal for the Municipality Group Essen

The Municipality Group Essen has implemented a powerful management information portal based on SAP NetWeaver and successively expanded this portal with self-service functionality. The executive portal makes information relevant for planning and controlling available with the click of a mouse using a uniform, consolidated database. Management executives can access current financial and structural data quickly and conveniently. As a central element of e-government, the portal offers a reliable basis for better and sounder decisions. Further highlights: Single sign-on authentication, easy access to SAP transactions and the integration of familiar Office applications such as MS Excel or MS Outlook were implemented with SAP NetWeaver.

"A particular challenge was connecting our archiving system for searching within the press archive," remembers Uwe Hesse, Department Manager for Consulting and Development, Essener Systemhaus. A press ticker is planned for the management portal which will allow users to subscribe to information on their subjects of interest. This will require that the data in the press archive be presented by the portal in the browser according to individual specifications using search technologies within the Knowledge Management System of the SAP NetWeaver Portal. btexx business technologies supported this demanding project with consulting services as an SAP Special Expertise Partner for SAP NetWeaver Portals in close cooperation with SAP Consulting, making it possible to launch productive operations for the executive portal after a project duration of just six months.

Success Story (German): "Consulting Services in Designing an Executive Portal for the Municipality Group" (PDF, 250KB) »

Enterprise Portal with "Traders Workplace" based on the SAP NetWeaver Portal

Evonik Aktiengesellschaft (incorporated company) is an internationally active industrial holdings group with over 82,000 employees and revenues of over EUR 22 billion in 2005. The company was founded solely as a mining company in 1969 under the name Ruhrkohle AG. Now RAG AG has expanded its value chain, which is centered around hard coal, into the area of international business as well. In addition to the Chemicals business division, which will soon become one of the highest revenue-generating divisions in the company following the majority takeover of Degussa AG, the RAG Group also boasts one of the largest real estate firms in North Rhine Westphalia – RAG Immobilien AG.

The goal of the project was the development of a portal infrastructure capable of providing 15,000 employees with a digital workplace for completing their daily tasks. The launch of the portal, which draws on fundamental characteristics of the SAP Enterprise Portal, made it possible for RAG to replace numerous individual solutions.

Integrating SAP and non-SAP solutions into the portal posed a real challenge during the link-up of diverse ERP systems.

One component of the portal is the basic portal, which offers a large number of users a uniform yet customizable interface via which users can access all of the applications they need in their day-to-day work. This also eliminates the need to sign on to different applications, as was previously the case. Various iViews provide the user with different information and can be individually prepared on role-based pages.

In addition, it is possible to present selected groups with data from special applications and systems in such a way that the required information is available at a glance. This makes it possible to reproduce scenarios for specific user groups and roles that are then visualized in iViews according to topic.

A concrete example of this has been realized in the creation of a "Trader's Workplace". It was developed in order to simplify the traders' duties and map these duties to an individual workplace scenario. With the help of iViews, relevant information and systems are consolidated for use by the traders. Functions include proposal tracking, customer evaluation and access to information on the Internet.

R/3 SD order registration in customer portal

btexx designed and implemented a tailor-made customer portal for entering and tracking SD orders for internationally-active GKN, a components supplier to the automotive industry. The solution is a proprietary development based on Java that includes user and permission administration. It runs on the free J2EE Server Tomcat and does not require the SAP Portal. Implemented features in detail:

• Article search
• Shopping cart
• Pricing in R/3
• Availability check in R/3
• Quotation
• Creating SD order
• Tracking od SD order
• Open item list
• Multi-language support

Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH: Employee portal with SAP NetWeaver and easyWCM

"The in-depth portal and project know-how demonstrated by the experts at btexx made a significant contribution to the success of our employee portal, Haniel Group Net. In addition, deploying the easyWCM Portal Content Management System helped us reduce the implementation time dramatically."

Dirk Müller, Portal Program Manager, BI & KM, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH

The Haniel Group holding company, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, oversees, controls and supports communications and business processes through a variety of group applications in the company's own employee portal. The myriad information to be provided in the employee portal is steadily increasing in the company's dynamic environment. This applies to both quantitative information, generated within the scope of portal applications, for instance, and qualitative information (all types of documents). As the company grows, so does its need for modern Knowledge Management. The existing Haniel intranet had to be replaced in order to meet the company’s demanding requirement specifications. The idea for the Haniel Group Net was born.

As a technology consultant, btexx led the way, from the design concept to the implementation, in contributing to a solution that would address all of these requirements and existing conditions: Pixel-precise accuracy and CD-oriented design, optimized performance with portal response times of under a second and efficient usability made the successful production launch and the widespread acceptance of the new employee portal Haniel Group Net possible in April of 2008. Read more »

Retailer Portal with SAP NetWeaver and SAP Customer Relationship Management

HUGO BOSS is a firmly established company in the area of international men’s and ladies’ fashions. The collections of the BOSS and HUGO brands as well as their individual lines are directed toward different target groups. Tailored to the various demands and desires of the customer, these include classic, ready-to-wear clothing, casual fashion, functional sportswear and accessories. Footwear and leather goods complete the company’s own operations. HUGO BOSS products are available in more than 100 countries and in over 5,000 retail stores worldwide.

HUGO BOSS uses integrated IT systems to support business-to-business activities with trade partners. A new retailer portal based on SAP NetWeaver and Internet Sales with SAP Customer Relationship Management (CRM) enables seamless ordering and facilitates flexible and timely delivery coordination. This makes it possible to control the complete flow of goods along the entire process chain in an economical fashion. "The comprehensive ordering and information services provided by our retailer portal enable us to effectively promote the sales success of our retail partners," says Stefan Weiblen, IT eBusiness Team Leader at HUGO BOSS.

Hugo Boss The project team at HUGO BOSS is very satisfied with progress of the implementation. Stefan Weiblen reports: "We were able to securely complete the new portal solution with SAP NetWeaver within the planned time frame of six months – without fully exhausting our budget." Three consulting companies were involved in the project and played a significant role it its success. btexx business technologies GmbH made a substantial contribution to the targeted realization of all performance and security requirements. btexx Managing Director Lars Laegner personally assisted in the introduction and made clear right from the start the importance of the SAP NetWeaver Portal's new External Facing Technology: "The newest release couldn’t have been more effective in meeting the high demands on performance and design." Another area of emphasis was content integration as well as the integration of Internet Sales with SAP CRM into the portal.

The future with the ESA and SAP NetWeaver: Today, SAP NetWeaver provides HUGO BOSS with a portal solution that is based on open standards and can integrate standard software as effortlessly as custom-developed solutions. This translates into flexibility and sustainability. The world market leader in the area of upscale fashion continues to rely on SAP NetWeaver as a groundbreaking technology platform for the efficient technological reproduction of continuous processes. The portal project was preceded by a fundamental decision for an ERP solution from SAP in order to fully leverage the benefits of standard software in their global business.

Success Story (English): "Retailer Portal with SAP NetWeaver and SAP Customer Relationship Management" (PDF, 232KB)»

Development of batch components for the user mapping of a web-shop portal

Karstadt Quelle is the largest combined mail-order and department store company in Europe. A considerable share of its turn-over is handled by decentralised agencies. These agencies, amounting to a four digit number in total, are scheduled to process all orders via a portal based on the SAP EP 6.0 in order to increase the efficiency of their business processes.

The agencies have access to further back-end systems via the portal using a single sign-on mechanism with user mapping. Taking care of such data manually, would require a great deal of administration, which is why btexx extended the SAP EP 6.0 instead with a batch upload feature. That way, bulk data can be uploaded from files into the portal where it is then automatically filed in the user administration.

Migration of an Enterprise Portal from SAP EP 5.0 to EP 6.0

The Metro Group operates an employee portal based on a SAP EP 5.0. Numerous applications are already productively used by the employees on this platform. Within the tender offer for a follow-up platform, a new portal based on SAP EP 6.0 was devised. The objective of this proof of concept was to achieve functionality for the new portal fully identical to the EP 5.0's.

btexx accomplished its commissioned job of migrating extensive customer software to the new platform, in particular Java and .Net iViews, which partly needed redeveloping, together with portal services. Metro's EP 6.0 portal uses an Oracle database instead of a SQL Server. Therefore, one database-driven news application had to be completely redesigned.

A newly-added requirement was to automatically determine, depending on the role membership of a logged on user, which back-end system to use for the standard Business Packages, e.g. ESS. For this purpose, btexx developed a dynamic system switch that seamlessly integrates into the portal's standard APIs.

Development of an Enterprise Portal Based on SAP NetWeaver for Order Entry of Construction Services

Development of an Enterprise Portal Based on SAP NetWeaver for Order Entry of Construction Services Oppenheim Immobilien-Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbh (OIK) views itself as a real estate portfolio manager and assumes the responsibility for portfolio and property management of real estate within the framework of developing a multi-asset portfolio for institutional investors. In the process, Oppenheim Immobilien-Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbh attends to over 500 properties across the globe with a total value of over EUR 10 billion. The goal of the project was to develop a system for rapid and convenient entry of order information for construction, maintenance and repair services. Until now, the data entered and transferred by the property and facility managers had to be processed manually, which often led to frequent changes in format. This significantly slowed the process of information acquisition and processing. The new solution provides the property and facility managers with a portal that allows them to rapidly enter the individual properties and integrate them into the existing workflows. This enables the company to provide construction services more quickly and eases the employee's workload by custom tailoring processes. The decision was quickly made in favor of the SAP NetWeaver Portal due to its ability to seamlessly integrate structured and unstructured information.

Through the rapid implementation of dialogs with the SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer in particular, SAP NetWeaver Special Expertise Partner btexx business technologies ensured that the project progressed smoothly and successfully. Thanks to its established expertise and experience with the SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer and BAPI development, launch partner and project manager btexx business technologies was able to guarantee optimum convergence of front-end and back-end operations. "By using WebDynpro for ABAP and SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer, we were able to fully implement the customer’s requirements and still minimize the deployment time and the consulting expenditure," said Mathias Zimmerman, Senior Consultant at btexx business technologies with satisfaction. "In addition, the cost of maintenance is reduced to a minimum, offering a true cash savings to the customer." Frank Elstner, IT Director at OIK is enthusiastic about the success: "This optimizes communication between the local service provider and our staff. This will result in a noticeable reduction in our employees' workload and customer satisfaction will increase as a positive side effect."

Success Story (German): "Development of an Enterprise Portal Based on SAP NetWeaver" (PDF, 140KB) »

Randstad implements its “YOU2” company portal with btexx Enterprise 2.0

With an average of 66,000 employees and 600 branch offices in over 300 cities (as of 2008), Randstad is the leading personnel services firm in Germany. In addition to traditional temporary employment services, Randstad's portfolio also includes Professional Services, Personnel Placement, HR Solutions and In-House Services divisions, among others. Randstad entrusted btexx with the design and implementation of its “YOU2” employee portal. To the project profile »

Consulting and feasibility study on the Integration of a SAP BW system into the SAP portal of Ruhrgas

Within the scope of a proof of concept, the technical possibilities for integrating the SAP BW system into the SAP portal topography of Ruhrgas, were analysed and implemented prototypically focusing on particular requirements. Specifically, the following issues were taken into account:

• Planning and implementation of user interface and navigation structure
• Migrating existing BW user roles into the portal
• Integrating the BW role menu of the Web Application Designer as iViews
• Implementation of the Enterprise Portal Client Framework (EPCF) for client-side navigation/interaction of iViews (e.g.: Function 'select a cost centre' in iView A triggers off function 'display a graph' in iView B)
• Implementation of BW Web Applications based on the BW Web Application Designer using command URLs, extending context menus and using table interfaces
• Customisation of BW iViews both on the basis of .Net iViews and BW Web Application Designer functions

Migration of a SharePoint Portal to SAP EP 6.0

An existing Microsoft SharePoint portal with a data volume exeeding 10 GB in 15,000 files was migrated into the content management of the SAP EP 6.0. The objective was to transfer the existing data and meta information as extensively as possible and in its original structure to the SharePoint portal. To do so, appropriate properties were created in the SAP EP 6.0 CM and filled with the meta information from the SharePoint portal in an automated procedure. In addition, the versioning of SAP EP 6.0 CM was applied to each document's versions in the order in which they were in the SharePoint portal.

Implemented key features in detail:

Im Einzelnen waren folgende technische Eckpunkte umzusetzen:

• Parsing of SharePoint XML export files (per SAX, due to the size)
• Creation of versions of a document in SAP EP 6.0 CM, including its properties, according to the export file
• Extensive logging and log analysis

Introducing EP 6.0 as global internal portal of SAP AG SAP Home

At present SAP operates a multitude of web-based internal applications including some 30 employee portals, amongst others. Some of these applications are proprietary developments, some of which were implemented on the basis of Microsoft .Net. Within the scope of its project EP6@SAP, SAP is now embarking on a global consolidation strategy intending to harmonise a major part of its infrastructure plus, the up-to-now widely spread applications, into one Enterprise Portal 6.0.

As a result of its expertise in the sector of portal technologies, and its specialisation on portal implementation, btexx is playing a supportive role in this project. SAP's Lines of Business (LOB) successively implement their business processes into the enterprise portal, country by country. Recently the production start-up of the LOBs Sales and Marketing took place with their application "SMI" (Sales & Marketing Intranet), based on EP6. The portal system is situated in the USA . The rollout of SMI in ten European countries, followed by Asia , will be carried out during the next months. After the completion of the rollout, some 3,000 sales employeeswill use the EP6 productively. The next step in this project will be the set-up of an EP6 for the EMEA region in Walldorf. More LOBs to be moved in here are the service department with CRM service processes and the human resources department with ESS and MSS scenarios. In the course of this process, the connection of the two portal setups in the USA and Europe to one "federated portal" is deemed to be a great challenge. Currently, a SAP-wide strategy for content management is being devised. The objective of this inter-LOB sub-project is to replace the present SAPNet, SAP's Intranet, with a modern high-performance KM solution. In this project btexx consultants are in charge of the following tasks and roles:

Technical Solution Architect:

• Gives strategic advice to the Program Management on matters of portal technology and architecture
• Co-ordinates developement activities on a global scale (cross national)
• Assures quality by code reviews, concept reviews
• Ensures abidance of best practice
• Co-ordinates communication with basic developement and other groups at the SAP base
• Transfers know-how from client projects to the internal project

Senior Portal Developers:

• Co-ordination of work packages in small team units
• Coaching of Junior Developers
• Troubleshooting and debugging
• Portal developement (iView, connectivity, KM, etc)

Customer portal with integrated communication processes with Enterprise Service-Oriented Architecture in SAP NetWeaver wacker-logo

Wacker Chemie AG implemented integrated communication processes with SAP NetWeaver to their customers and took the first step to an Enterprise Service-Oriented Architecture (Enterprise SOA).

Wacker Chemie AG is a globally operating chemical company with about 20 production locations and 14400 employees worldwide. In order to standardize IT-architecture they decided to develop a customer portal based on a sustainable platform for a targeted and effective information and communication.

The platform had to cover the necessary functionalities within the standard product. For this reason Wacker Chemie AG decided to build the portal on SAP NetWeaver. In October 2005, after six month's implementation phase, the new customer portal went online. wacker

A substantial reason for the rapid implementation was the support by btexx business technologies, a Special Expertise Partner for SAP NetWeaver Portal. btexx business technologies brought in its experiences from numerous portal installations. "That was especially in our project very helpfully." said Juergen Hamann, project leader. About 150 customers are already integrated into the portal, at the end of 2007 about 250 customers will have access to the Wacker portal. Each customer is registered with several unique users. Additionally Wacker Chemie AG introduced the Web Content Management solution easyWCM of btexx business technologies. Editorial content can now be provided, maintained and published directly in the portal in the existing navigation structure.

Success Story (German): "Customer portal with integrated communication processes in SAP NetWeaver" (PDF, 230KB) »

HR time planning processes and setting up the SAP EP 6.0 Portal ZF

In order to optimize the internal HR processes, ZF changed its time economic systems from Mainframe applications to SAP. For the visualization of the HR time restaurant processes iView applications were written. The ZF requirements were interfaced with the SAP ESS standard.

btexx did development and infrastructure changes, as well as instructing the developers, in the production setting. The portal, EP 5,0, which affected over 5000 associates, was successfully put into production on time. The search engine TREX from SAP was developed as a high-available universal search machine, which facilitates the access to information for all ZF users. It was also integrated in all websites, and from non-portal applications, with a TREX webservice.

Step by step components are integrated. For example the group-specific operational sequence and communication forms are easier to support. In order to create a world-wide entrance for associates, as well as suppliers and customers, btexx developed a global EP 6.0-Infrastructure. In the next phase, further content and additional HR processes will be integrated. The goal is to allow access to applications for about 30.000 persons in one uniform global portal.