SAP & delaware Belux empower Shurgard's ‘ERP for the Future’ to boost operational efficiency and competitiveness

As part of their overarching 'digital shift' initiative and as such reflecting on its future needs and current pain points, Shurgard made the pivotal decision to upgrade many of their business applications. It is in this context that Shurgard opted for SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud and SAP SuccessFactors as the foundation of their ERP strategy. This robust solution is hosted on the SAP Cloud platform and is well-equipped to meet Shurgard's current and future needs. 

It aligns seamlessly with Shurgard's IT Strategy, which involves transitioning most of the business applications to the cloud over the next two years. In pursuit of this transition, Shurgard sought solutions designed around a solid core, capable of accommodating flexible and agile enhancements. SAP serves as this robust core, offering the adaptability required to support Shurgard's growing business needs and evolving processes.

“The main objective is to deploy a future-proof ERP technology, tailored to our specific business requirements, while ensuring future adaptability and seamless integration with other technologies. This initiative is envisaged to deliver a low-maintenance solution that guarantees high availability, scalability, and adaptability, across the organization, while fully benefitting from SAP’s Best Practice Approach”, says Thomas Oversberg, Finance Director Shurgard Self-Storage and Project Sponsor. 

This comprehensive ERP solution encompasses various aspects, including accounting, financial processes, Real Estate Management, Human Capital Management (HCM), and partially Customer Relationship Management (CRM). 

The project’s impact includes streamlining financial reporting, enabling informed management decision-making through integrated processes and significant automation. At the same time the project will address current business challenges and serve as a central master data system for other functions such as HR and CRM. 

As a result, the Shurgard will operate more efficiently, gaining quicker insights into order and payment statuses. They will also be able to provide rapid support for potential organizational expansions within the SAP environment. Moreover, Shurgard's digitization efforts will enable proactive management of store maintenance and the prioritization of improvements to prevent breakdowns. 

SAP’s structured approach limits the need for customization, ensuring adherence to best practices during and after implementation. delaware will assist Shurgard in creating, configuring, and implementing an integrated business application environment using SAP S/4HANA and SuccessFactors, leveraging their robust relationship with SAP to Shurgard's advantage.

“We are happy to put this partnership into practice. We look forward to guide Shurgard through their digital shift and lead the integration of the SAP solutions,” says Jan De Bock, Managing Director at delaware Belux. 

Following the initial onboarding with delaware and SAP, the non-production environments have been established and the first steps in the SAP Activate methodology with the fit-to-standard workshops are scheduled for the last quarter of 2024. The realization phase is set to commence in early 2024, with a projected first go-live date in late 2024.