Cloud Case: Adidas controls IT spending through cloud computing

The Adidas Latin American subsidiary has decided to deploy cloud-based sourcing software to strengthen internal compliance and expense Management as a regional subsidiary of the Adidas Group's sports product empire, which boasts famous brands such as Adidas, Reebok and Le step.

Although the purchasing costs of Adidas, a Latin American subsidiary, amounted to $1.4 billion, the company's procurement was extremely complex, involving currencies and languages from different countries, which were not linked to each other. Procurement departments in some countries use their own developed procurement procedures, while in some countries procurement departments use paper-based forms in the procurement process.

"If we are a small company, it may be possible to continue working properly in this situation," said Christian Bader, an IT director at Adidas Latin America. But we are growing very fast, which leads to the inability to get the visibility we need. "Bader joined the Adidas Latin American subsidiary in 2004.

In order to improve the compliance of internal audit and make expenses more reasonable, Bader has evaluated multiple expenditure management solutions. Through the comprehensive evaluation of Cross-border support, total cost of ownership, integration with ERP system and customization capability, Bader finally chose Coupa.

With the choice of managed systems, Bader spent six weeks this year deploying Coupa at the company's operating headquarters in Panama. Bader chose Panama because they had already deployed the most advanced procurement procedures in the country, and 80% of the people supported the decision.

Bader said: "You can never use a system to solve all the problems encountered." We just want to use them to handle some of the most commonly used programs and keep them simple. "For example, we can't handle the cash advance on business trips through Coupa." Bader said: "We would rather deal with this matter alone and not be willing to add them to the system." ”

Bader the next step will be to deploy Coupa in Chile. Since the company has not deployed suitable software in Chile, the deployment time may be longer. They are ready to start with the Human resources department, and then a departmental deployment. Then it was Argentina, Peru, Brazil, and finally Mexico, because the company had already deployed a warehouse management system on a large scale. IT departments can remotely manage the deployment of these cloud systems from Panama City, thereby enabling project costs to be at a lower level. Bader also decided to increase the deployment of Coupa's business intelligence tool spend Optimizer. This way, employees can look at the items they spend and spend.

"We are handing over ownership and workloads (related to these matters) from the Finance department to the people who actually deal with procurement matters, because the Finance department should not deal with these matters," Bader said. "In the future, Adidas Latin American subsidiaries will be able to focus on spending management, strengthening business with specific vendors to lower costs."

The complex account structure of Adidas Latin American subsidiaries makes it difficult for companies to integrate between Coupa and SAP. Bader said: "This brings us some pressure, but we have solved these problems." We should solve this problem before we start the project so that our transition will be faster. ”

For Bader, change management is the biggest challenge they face. "Our experience is that, especially in Latin America, you have to deploy throughout the company, including inventory management, marketing, human resources, and it." In order to solve everyone's worries and concerns, Bader convened a number of staff meetings.

"You can neither wash your hand nor force your deployment, especially in Brazil," he said. You have to communicate with them, take the time to convince them, or you will fail. ”