Choosing and implementing the right applications with the ability to manage its massive volumes enables Sanlam to consistently meet and exceed its business requirements.
Jannie van den Berg, Manager Financial Systems, Sanlam, says the company`s volumes test the limit of all applications. "Each month, 28.1 million entries are received from the various sub-systems," he says. "After summarising them according to business rules and specific requirements, 8.5 million entries are posted to the general ledger. Two million entries go through the reconciliation module."
The decision to standardise on the Tamaris mainframe financial application from Walker International, distributed in SA by Bateleur Financial Solutions, has stood Sanlam in good stead. The company recently became one of the first in the world to upgrade to e-2, the latest version of Tamaris. A leading provider of enterprise-wide business solutions in finance, procurement and business intelligence, Walker is now known as Arelon Limited.
"Arelon is extremely successful in providing e-business solutions to Global 2000 organisations. The unique design of the business applications allows us to timeously adapt to the changing needs of business," Van den Berg says. "Their solutions remain scalable, extensible, robust and adaptable."
Commenting on the benefits of e-2, van den Berg says Sanlam`s 4 200 users need nothing more than a browser on the desktop to operate their business transactions via the Internet or the corporate intranet. In addition, a full conversion process is provided with the Web interface, thereby protecting Sanlam`s investment in e-2.
"Because e-2 is at the hub of our e-business environment, we are able to continuously develop our e-business strategy knowing that the unpredictable growth can be handled by the infrastructure," he points out.
Other benefits include a total open solutions approach, full integration of analytical reporting solutions with the core application data and an adaptable user interface.
Sanlam`s upgrade to e-2 was the first step towards making collaborative commerce a reality. The company has chosen an evolutionary approach, releasing value in the short-term and allowing rapid adaptation to change.
"Arelon and Bateleur Financial Solutions meet our vision of conducting e-business with customers as well as between autonomous businesses within the group," Van den Berg says. "e-2 is a user-friendly system that will provide full inter- and intra-company integration, especially with the integration of new technologies in other areas of our core business."
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