Acclimation zaps Powerlink SAP upgrade into the cloud

SAP specialist consulting firm Acclimation has managed a Queensland electricity network provider’s transition from an on-premises Oracle-based system over to a cloud-based Azure solution. 

Acclimation moved Powerlink’s SAP ECC6 on Oracle solution over to the cloud-hosted Business Suite on HANA hosted in Microsoft Azure, with the provider claiming this was due to Powerlink wanting to adapt to change in the national electricity market. 

The SAP upgrade was delivered on schedule remotely by the firm over an eight-month period, during COVID-19 lockdowns and travel restrictions.

Mark Pozdena, Powerlink general manager for business IT, said the two companies worked together during the process. 

“Our teams worked very closely together to ensure the solution was sustainable in the longer term,” he said. 

“We were even able to navigate the obstacles presented by COVID-19 including delivering the migration and a smooth Go-Live while operating remotely from locations across Australia.” 

According to Acclimation, this was also the first step for the provider to transition over to S/4 HANA, which is part of a broader modernisation program. 

Powerlink CFO Darryl Rowell claimed the firm's work has provided the foundations of a “more flexible environment for the future”. 

“With the completion of this migration, Powerlink has taken a big first step on the journey to be better positioned to run projects, drive procurement, and implement greater efficiencies for field delivery teams," he said.