Groupe Qualiconsult: Maximizing structural integrity by building a new business foundation in the cloud on a clean core
A business foundation that’s underpinned in the cloud
In a business built on the structural integrity of properties, equipment efficiency, and safety of construction, Groupe Qualiconsult created its new business foundation on SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition through the RISE with SAP journey. And using SAP Business Technology Platform to extend and integrate systems, it maintains a clean core approach.
| Industry | Region | Company Size |
| Professional services | Vélizy-Villacoublay, France | 2,200 employees |
Director of Applications and Innovation, Groupe Qualiconsult
Seeking scalability and flexibility for growth in a changing world
When Groupe Qualiconsult was established more than 40 years ago, its original purpose was to be a trusted third party, promoting safety and progress in the construction sector through the auditing and verification of building projects. Since that time, the group has made a name for itself by staying true to its mission and serving a changing world through its contribution to improving safety, efficiency, and sustainability for buildings, installations, and infrastructures.
Groupe Qualiconsult has also broadened its services with seven subsidiaries and six complementary businesses. With its core business centered on ensuring the structural integrity of properties, equipment efficiency, and safety of construction, the organization puts customers, their workers, and the environment first.
Operating on a highly customized technology infrastructure with siloed data and disparate systems and processes that were a poor fit for the company’s innovation agenda, Groupe Qualiconsult needed to upgrade its on-premises systems.
Looking to enhance operational efficiency, drive cost savings, and improve decision-making capabilities with real-time data, the company sought a modern solution that would provide the scalability and flexibility required for ongoing growth.
Optimizing stability with structured processes and best practices
Having made the strategic decision to transition to the cloud, Groupe Qualiconsult determined that moving to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition through the RISE with SAP journey was the best route to meet its objectives. The company was impressed by the modern ERP in the cloud, combining structured and rigorous processes with the flexibility to adapt to its unique needs. RISE with SAP Methodology provides a comprehensive set of migration services and tools and leads the way to SAP Business Suite, SAP’s portfolio of AI capabilities, data, and core business applications.
Because of the inherent technical debt and complexity from customizations in its legacy environment, Groupe Qualiconsult decided on a greenfield implementation of the solution, taking a big bang approach. With a fit-to-standard mindset, legacy processes and solutions were reframed as standard in the new environment.
The implementation focused on configuring the cash management solution for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition and the base edition of enterprise portfolio and project management for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, as well as SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP). And to accelerate time to value, the company took advantage of packaged service options, including preconfigured services, methodologies, accelerators, and knowledge.
The approach also enables Groupe Qualiconsult to revolutionize its operations by harnessing the power of SAP BTP as a key element of its clean core strategy. With SAP HANA Cloud to centralize data management, the SAP Analytics Cloud solution to enhance business intelligence, and the SAP Build Apps development environment to support low-code application development, the company creates a connected ecosystem. The use of SAP Integration Suite strengthens this by helping ensure robust connectivity and process automation. By providing a single sign-on experience, the solutions enhanced process automation and provided an agile platform for building enterprise-ready applications.
And because of the scale of the change, Groupe Qualiconsult worked with the premium engagements portfolio from SAP Services and Support to deliver a nuanced approach to skill and knowledge acquisition.
David Bizien, director of applications and innovation at Groupe Qualiconsult, says that flexibility, scalability, and extensibility to meet specific business requirements were key factors influencing the decision to use these solutions. He comments, “The integration capabilities offered by SAP BTP were particularly important for unifying data across our ecosystem of SAP SuccessFactors solutions, the SAP Concur portfolio, and SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition. This allowed us to optimize our data management processes.”
Director of Applications and Innovation, Groupe Qualiconsult
Reinforcing its reputation through modern business capabilities
By investing in the RISE with SAP journey for its transformation on SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, Groupe Qualiconsult is now operating with newfound speed and efficiency. With a freshly defined framework for its operations across the group, the greenfield migration mitigated the reliance on siloed data and fractured systems embedded in its legacy environment. As well as achieving faster cycle times, the organization now has real-time data transparency for decision security and comprehensive analytics at its fingertips, allowing for more-informed decision-making.
Since the go-live, Groupe Qualiconsult has seen marked operational improvements across the organization, including enhanced productivity and the ability to adapt swiftly to changing business needs, further solidifying its competitive standing in the industry. There’s also robust security, a regular upgrade cycle, reliable availability, and expert data-center monitoring provided by RISE with SAP.
With around 80% of the company’s building-verification work conducted for French government organizations, Groupe Qualiconsult now exchanges invoices electronically using the SAP Document and Reporting Compliance solution. The move to electronic invoices has significantly eased financial management and improved cash flow. And by taking advantage of the SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity solution with three banks, the organization has simplified and secure connectivity for transacting with multiple financial institutions.
Furthermore, keeping with Groupe Qualiconsult’s clean core strategy, innovations developed on SAP BTP to date include single sign-on management, business intelligence analytics, application development functionality, and automation—all of which have delivered measurable productivity enhancements.
Building and sustaining growth and operational success
As Groupe Qualiconsult focuses on innovation and stabilization of its business foundation, the company is looking to test use cases for SAP Business AI across its operations. Specifically, the organization wants to experiment with SAP Build Code and SAP SuccessFactors to create process automations that support consistency and efficiency. The company is also planning to create innovations around existing processes, such as introducing new technologies and developing a portal. These strategic initiatives will not only help deliver measurable productivity gains but also position the company as a leader in modern business capabilities, ready to swiftly adapt to evolving needs and sustain its competitive edge.