Sunvigo, a Cologne-based energy start-up, reached out to Alta Vita for a complex NetSuite customisation. The start-up is a decentralized energy provider. Sunvigo is revolutionizing the use of solar power for homeowners. In contrast to sellers or renters of PV systems, the company is an energy provider and owes homeowners an electricity contract inclusive of the PV system. This means that with Sunvigo, the customer only pays for the electricity consumed, but not for the components of the PV system. If desired, solutions for battery storage and charging devices for electric cars can be integrated into the electricity contract. Sunvigo installs, operates and maintains PV systems and provides 100% renewable electricity to customers.

NetSuite was the chosen ERP to move forward, and we started a very lean project to go live with accounting, procurement and inventory management. Sunvigo has multiple legal entities, and NetSuite records all the transactions within them. Having a centralized system for an otherwise decentralized energy provider was the right way to go. Sunvigo is decentralized from an operational perspective, while NetSuite offers a centralized solution from a process management perspective. A lot of automated processes were introduced using NetSuite’s SuiteFlows and SuiteScript technologies.

Today, their NetSuite platform is well integrated with Salesforce (to bring sales data, and trigger relevant purchases or inventory movements), and also with an external supplier’s system (through EDI, to manage purchase transactions with autonomy). Sunvigo can electronically communicate with their large suppliers in this vertical and send details of the approved purchase orders. In turn, they receive information about approved orders, and delivery notes (good receipt notes). This saves a lot of time for personnel while adding so much accuracy to the process.

Alta Via’s SuiteSucces-Team supported Sunvigo throughout their NetSuite implementation. It is a matter of pride for us to add value to their business operations with our services.

Here’s what Sunvigo has to say about it:

In the summer of 2018 Mesa Labs, a US-based medical company, called us because they needed support for translations between the German and US Teams. They had just acquired a German subsidiary and the Implementation would start soon. At that time Alta Via had the free capacity and we started the collaboration on the same day.

A few calls and several cups of coffee later we sat together in a meeting room in Munich: Three Americans, five Germans, and one consultant from Alta Via. For several days we discussed every process which was subject to the implementation in detail. These detailed conversations were the key to a smooth and on-time go-live.

A high focus was put on order entry. Existing processes needed to be adapted and eventually slightly aligned between the two merging parties. They also had to fit into the broader concept for EU companies to be acquired in the future. 

Master data management and item setup took some effort too, to be able to integrate the manufacturing processes in the best way possible. For this, the German team had to communicate their item structure and understand the concepts of NetSuite. The task of translating between the two was strongly supported by a knowledgeable interpreter who was a subject matter expert for NetSuite processes.
For training plans, Alta Via aligned with Mesa Labs. Our team members scheduled weeks for being onsite and provided go-live support to mitigate the frictions you usually have in the beginning.

Concord is an independent worldwide leader in the development, management, and acquisition of sound recordings, music publishing, and theatrical performance rights. Founded in the US, with offices in the US, London, Berlin, and staff in Toronto, Tokyo, and Melbourne.

Concord approached Alta Via after an unsuccessful attempt in bringing their German subsidiary live. The Concord team needed a partner in Germany that would be able to lead the implementation and support the local team.

The project was a joint effort of the Concord UK team, the German team, and Alta Via.
Alta Via managed the project, the integration, and the communication between all parties. During the project, Alta Via learned about Concord’s processes and their existing NetSuite implementation and rolled it out to Germany. The six-month project was structured with milestones – kick-off, pilot, acceptance test, deployment, and the go-live support – by a team of four Consultants.

“Our Team consisted of three consultants and one project manager. The German team supported the translation between the UK team, so when something was not clear in the meetings to the German team, we paused and allowed the German team to fully understand the topics. This guaranteed the quality of the collaboration between Concord UK, Germany, and Alta Via. The right project setup and structure enabled the project to go live on time and on budget.” (Dikla Zilberberg, Alta via Project Manager)

Waterdrop Implementation

The last months showed: Cloud-based tools are the need of the hour. But a successful project needs more than that.

How do IT projects change as a result of the Corona crisis? After a few months of project work under “Corona conditions” with our long-term partner Sodastream, it is worthwhile to sum up and share the experiences for successful remote project work.