Metrobus gets rolling with Oracle, Atos KPMG Consulting

Atos KPMG Consulting has completed a successful upgrade of Oracle applications at the Johannesburg Metropolitan Bus Company (Metrobus). Metrobus deemed the upgrade from Oracle 11.03 to Oracle 11i to be necessary as it faced some challenges within the business, notably integrating Oracle Financials with its core fleet management system, which tracks costs related to its fleet of 743 buses.

Says Michele Buson, Associate Director and Oracle Business Unit manager at Atos KPMG Consulting: "Metrobus benefited from the upgrade and systems integration as its staff are empowered to maintain improved financial and administrative control and better understand the integration between Oracle technology and the fleet management system."

According to Buson, Atos KPMG Consulting`s mandate for the implementation of the upgrade to Oracle 11i necessitated a response to information challenges, with a focus on the following business processes, among others: achieving payroll legislation compliance, minimising system downtime during the upgrade, implementing best practices through the additional functionality offered by Oracle 11i, migrating the fleet management system interfaces, and producing comprehensive project documentation and end-user training.

Trek to the summit

00Days

:

00Hrs

:

00Min

:

00Sec

Oracle Advanced Product Services handled the technical implementation of the upgrade remotely. Says Ian Beaton, Country Consulting Director at Oracle: "The Metrobus upgrade and enhancement project is a reference case which shows that remote upgrades do work. Working in partnership with the Atos KPMG Consulting team of consultants who attended to project issues at the client site, Oracle consultants were able to connect and remotely handle all the technical requirements. This resulted in efficient response times and an increased quality of service to Metrobus."

Vinod Naidoo, the Acting Executive Finance Officer of Metrobus, says: "I believe that the team from Atos KPMG Consulting performed an exceptionally well managed and efficient Oracle upgrade to 11i. Having come out of a previous implementation by another service provider which did not meet with our expectations, this upgrade was a breath of fresh air in terms of the levels of professionalism shown by Atos KPMG Consulting."

Asokan Naidu, the Managing Director of Metrobus, concurs: "The Atos KPMG Consulting team was fully committed to ensuring the system works for us as a business. We believe the upgraded Oracle system can take care of our information and management needs, and we are now looking forward to the fruits of our investment."