Chiesi: Delivering on a compulsion for continuous innovation through a far-reaching transformation to advanced ERP in the cloud
How Chiesi built a future-fit business landscape
At a time when the pharmaceutical sector is rethinking traditional models and embracing bolder, patient-centric innovation, Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A. has kicked off a large-scale digital transformation. Migrating to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition through the RISE with SAP journey is helping the company improve the lives of others through innovation.
| Industry | Region | Company Size | Partner |
| Life sciences | Parma, Italy | >7,000 employees | IBM |
to complete a large-scale business migration to the cloud.
reduction in data migration downtime, from 40 hours to 10 hours.
of tasks completed by the end of the migration project.
Global CIO, Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A.
Driving potent healthcare breakthroughs through digitalization
Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A. is an international, research-oriented, biopharmaceutical group engaged in developing and commercializing innovative pharmaceutical solutions that improve the quality of human life. Established in 1935, its operations span 31 countries across the globe, and it exports to more than 100 nations worldwide.
Focused on research, development, and commercialization of treatments and patient support services in respiratory health, rare diseases, and specialty care, the heart of Chiesi’s work lies in caring for others. Accordingly, the company abides by the principle of “Do good, do well, repeat.” This philosophy underscores its commitment to creating successful business solutions (“do well”) that benefit society (“do good”) and reinvesting in impactful initiatives (“repeat”).
The company’s ambitious goal is to create a ripple effect of positive change, demonstrating that doing good and doing well are not only compatible but mutually reinforcing.
The area of research and development plays an important part in Chiesi’s growth, with the company investing 24% of its turnover in this practice, ranking it first* among Italian pharmaceutical companies for R&D investments. Chiesi’s significant contribution to research and development combined with its focus on digital transformation in the cloud places the company in a strong position to deliver on its lofty goal.
What’s more, in achieving certification as a “B Corporation” in the biopharmaceutical sector, Chiesi is counted among a handful of pharmaceutical businesses that are leading a global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy.
*European Commission, Joint Research Centre, EU Industrial R&D Scoreboard 2023.
Inspiring a foundational shift to the cloud
As a long-established customer of SAP, Chiesi’s growth has been underpinned by SAP solutions for quite some time. Embarking on a three-year digital transformation program, Chiesi prioritized a foundational shift from SAP ERP powered by SAP HANA to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition through the RISE with SAP journey. RISE with SAP provides a tailored transformation path with a standardized framework, an integrated tool chain, and expert guidance, as well as extensibility options using SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP).
In a project that it called SPIRE, with the motto of “Be InSPIREd,” the scope of the transformation touched 26 countries. It required integrations with its business landscape featuring the SAP Business Warehouse application, SAP SuccessFactors solutions, the SAP Concur portfolio, and SAP BTP. It also included integrations with SAP Integrated Business Planning solutions, SAP Information Collaboration Hub, and the SAP Advanced Track and Trace for Pharmaceuticals application for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition.
To guide the technical transition to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, Chiesi joined forces with IBM and worked with a team of experts from SAP. The team set the stage to migrate its historical data toward the to-be data model on advanced ERP by accessing system landscape optimization service offerings from the Data Management and Landscape Transformation (DMLT) team.
To shore up overall program governance from a technical and functional standpoint, the premium engagements portfolio of offerings from SAP Services and Support proved invaluable in achieving the go-live on time and within budget. Activating specific consulting services, including the selective data transition service for SAP S/4HANA provided by the DMLT team, contributed to the smooth transition to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition. This allowed Chiesi to optimize business downtime to only one weekend, with data migration downtime reduced from 40 hours to just 10 hours.
Another key factor contributing to the success of the project was strong governance through 19 operating committees and 5 steering committees who oversaw 222 test sessions held with key users and 2,000 transactions tested by affiliates.
Establishing robust and future-ready global business operations
Chiesi’s transformation team realized a smooth transition to the new cloud operating model, with almost 100% of migration support tickets solved in one day. As part of the project, more than 400 users were trained, more than 300 obsolete business transactions were detected, 2,500 transactions were remediated, and approximately 600 interfaces were mapped and optimized using SAP Fiori apps.
Having successfully completed its migration to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, Chiesi is now operating on advanced ERP in the managed cloud environment, with nearly 2,000 users performing their daily business activities in the upgraded environment.
Chiesi also integrated other on-premise SAP solutions and third-party systems into its new cloud environment, including its instance of the SAP BW/4HANA solution and SAP solutions for business planning. New architecture, built on Amazon Web Services, is now hosting the company’s instances of SAP Process Orchestration software, SAP Advanced Track and Trace for Pharmaceuticals for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, and SAP Solution Manager.
Having created strategic, technical, and operating pillars to frame the company’s digital transformation, Chiesi is in the process of building a center of excellence to help maximize value from its new technology foundation. This involves setting up a competence center focused on SAP BTP to enable and advance innovation on the platform and expedite experimentation with SAP Business AI. This playground provides the perfect foundation for continuous improvement and innovation.
Global CIO, Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A.
Embracing more automation to support continued breakthroughs
In the months ahead, Chiesi is looking to kick off new projects as part of its continued digital transformation journey. Over the next two years, the company plans to take advantage of new process innovations, including migrating its warehouse operations to the RISE with SAP advanced logistics package that features the SAP Extended Warehouse Management application. Other priorities include adopting the SAP Master Data Governance application.
Elsewhere, the company is automating expense report monitoring processes using AI embedded in SAP Concur solutions. This will help Chiesi eliminate manual control of employee expense reports and strengthen compliance while allowing it to analyze spend with advanced capabilities that can help identify inefficiencies and correct them.
In parallel, Chiesi plans to set up more integration flows throughout its business landscape using SAP Integration Suite.
For Chiesi, its foray into AI experimentation is just the beginning. The company is continuing to analyze opportunities that could be enabled by AI.
Featured partner
With over half a century of partnership experience, IBM is a global leader and an SAP platinum partner. As one of the largest implementation providers worldwide, the firm has tens of thousands of world-class practitioners who’ve completed more than 6,500 projects around the globe. IBM supported Chiesi by leading the migration to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition through RISE with SAP.