Before installing Panaya, Warburton's IT only had time to test and patch mission critical applications in a cycle. Unlike most firms, 'mission critical' in the bakers' case did not include payroll or customer orders, but simply the systems 'that make and deliver bread', business systems manager, Simon Green admitted.
A test cycle in a typical patching plan previously lasted four weeks. But since using Panaya to test for any glitches prior to a patching cycle, the team has been able to target potential problems and has reduced the reparation to three weeks.
For example, Warbuton's process team have more time to test and patch systems ranging from controlling bread pallet load order and delivery to a customer like Tesco, to telesales authorisation.
Further, it can do this on a day-to-day basis, rather than three times a year, Green added.
Individual employees have reported an 80 percent reduction in their workload during the patch cycle, Green said.
Warburtons' documentation is now much clearer, Green added. This means management have a clearer view on the progress and can store tests in a streamlined library so employees can use Panaya's semi-automated replay feature to re-use tests where appropriate.
In October last year it created a 'testing centre' through the Panaya dashboard by creating a project portal where all tests and change requests (which come from request management tool AtTask) can be monitored and re-cycled for the wider SAP team. It is hoped it will be used on all its other business applications across its IT architecture.
Upgrading to SAP EHP 7
The bread manufacturer is planning to migrate from its EHP 2 to SAP's latest EHP 7, Green revealed. To do this, it will use Panaya to test the impact and potentially assist the upgrade.
Guardian News and Media (GNM) was able to upgrade its Oracle E-Business Suite to R12 in half the expected time using automation software-as-a-service (SaaS) from Panaya.
Image: Warburton's best-selling white bread. Credit: Warburtons