Image of a race car on the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team

Customer Stories

Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team: Winning the race with outstanding fan experiences

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Explore Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team's journey with SAP

Competing at speeds of up to 250 km/hour on city streets, Formula E drivers rely on electric race cars that must constantly evolve to optimise performance, efficiency, and agility. And for the Mercedes-EQ Formula E (MFE) Team, that winning edge is enabled by SAP S/4HANA Cloud and Experience Management (XM) solutions from SAP and Qualtrics.

weeks from kickoff to go-live.

part-time MFE and 5 SAP resources implemented the solution.

ongoing IT support people needed.

Ian James

Team Principal, Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team

Across the board, our partnership with SAP has been brilliant. SAP S/4HANA and XM solutions will continue to give us that edge over our competition.

The Challenge

Navigating tight turns and tighter timelines to get the perfect start

As a startup, the MFE Team initially had minimal finance personnel, no IT infrastructure, and no operational systems or processes. But it did have a driving need for an ERP solution to enable its racing debut.

The MFE Team wanted innovative e-vehicle technology to control operations and performance. However, the organisation also needed to run an efficient, sustainable business and deliver a world-class experience that would win fans and drive engagement. And the team had three months to acquire it all.

Launching fast was critically important because the MFE Team is not just about cutting-edge Formula E race cars and winning races. It’s also focused on building the best emission-free, software-driven electric vehicles that can help fight climate change and deliver a sustainable future.

To help achieve this vision and accelerate its success, the MFE Team chose SAP S/4HANA Cloud and XM solutions from SAP and Qualtrics.

During COVID-19 had we not had SAP S/4HANA enabling us to work in five different locations around the world, fully connected and able to operate as normal, we’d have been in a position where it’d be almost impossible to function.

Ian James
Team Principal, Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team

The Solution

Implementing cloud-based intelligent technologies quickly for the win

When milliseconds matter and fans can vote to influence outcomes, intelligent technologies and outstanding fan experiences can mean the difference between a podium finish and not qualifying.

After a full assessment of the field, the MFE Team chose SAP S/4HANA Cloud for its agility, precision, speed, and mobile capabilities to keep crews and the back office connected across the globe.

“We were live in three months,” said MFE Team CFO Laura Goodrick. “Compare that to 18 months for a typical implementation. From the starting line, we had the finance and accounting tools to manage costs, track profitability, predict cash flow, and run forecasts.”

Formula E events uniquely enable fans to award drivers with an extra boost of power during the race. So, fan experience tracking and management is extremely important to the MFE Team’s success. As a result, the organisation also relies on XM solutions from SAP and Qualtrics to gather and analyse fan feedback and drive continual improvements.

The Result

Stepping on the podium with SAP S/4HANA Cloud and XM solutions

With the MFE Team raring to go, a global pandemic was not going to stop its momentum. At least, not with SAP S/4HANA Cloud on board.

The mobile capabilities and intelligent technologies ‒ including embedded AI, intelligent robotic process automation, and situation handling ‒ enabled operations to continue as normal despite abnormal circumstances.

The MFE Team can measure performance and make fast, informed business decisions with real-time data and analytics at its fingertips. The interface and workflows are intuitive, allowing the entire team ‒ from mechanics to executives ‒ to understand and learn from the data.

Fans can now easily engage with the team, and their feedback is quickly analysed, in context, with XM solutions from SAP and Qualtrics. The MFE team gains deep insights on what’s working and immediate improvements that can help it become and remain fan favourites.

Ready to start your journey? Contact SAP to get started

SAP helps Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team run better

Key business outcomes and benefits

With SAP S/4HANA Cloud as its operational engine and XM solutions from SAP and Qualtrics, the MFE team has the insight and speed to win on the track and in the back office.

Unified, standardised processes to streamline operations and create efficiencies
Mobile capabilities and intelligent technologies that keep the business engine running throughout a global pandemic
Real-time analytics and dashboards for budgeting and forecasting insights and increased financial control
Sustainability performance measurements and improvement recommendations
Fan engagement at every touch point and continuous use of fan feedback to improve the event-day experiences

Featured solutions and services

SAP S/4HANA Cloud serves as a complete enterprise resource planning (ERP) system with built-in intelligent technologies.
Experience Management solutions from SAP and Qualtrics empower you to know and respond to employee needs and experience gaps, helping ensure employee resilience and productivity.