Case Veolia

The French multinational company, Veolia, is a global leader within water, waste and energy management and aims to be the benchmark company for ecological transformation.

With nearly 218,000 employees worldwide, Veolia delivers groundbreaking solutions for managing vital resources.

In the Middle East, the French group operates in nine countries, providing clean drinking water to 10 million people, managing 2.5 million tons of industrial waste, and generating 42,500 refrigeration tons for district cooling systems. Veolia has over 10,000 employees in the region and the focus is on streamlining and digitalizing business processes to provide the best solutions for the region’s needs, especially in water treatment.

Veolia’s Middle Eastern headquarters in Dubai began collaborating with twoday to upgrade their IT solution. Veolia wanted to improve and digitize core processes and decided to upgrade their existing NAV system to Microsoft Business Central Cloud.

Automating manual processes

Initially, the focus was on minimizing manual processes. Through its partnership with twoday, Veolia has digitalized multiple processes such as its banking processes.

Previously manual payment methods have been replaced with a solution that enables electronic payments directly to the bank. This integration has streamlined the payment flow, reduced the risk of errors, and ensured smooth integration with Veolia’s systems. The integrated solution with the bank HSBC is described further in this article.

From local challenge to regional solution: Efficiency and increased IT security through centralization

When the collaboration began, Veolia had only 3-4 users on their Business Central at its Dubai headquarters. Today, there are more than 200 users spread across the Middle East. The solution has been implemented in 9 business units, with plans to expand to a total of 30 by 2025. Given this pace, standardized processes are essential, as the solution from the Dubai headquarters is being rolled out across the region. By centralizing IT operations in Dubai, Veolia has optimized redundancy, streamlined processes, and enhanced IT security across its business units.

Seamless integration of new business units

One reason Veolia can implement solutions at this speed is their use of Multi Entity Management (MEM) by XtensionIT, which standardizes master data processes across units. This means that when Veolia acquires or opens a new business unit, it can quickly integrate it into the existing processes. MEM ensures that new units can easily adapt to the same procedures as the others. This uniformity reduces complexity and ensures that all business units operate with consistent data and processes.

Franck Gilbert, CFO Veolia Near & Middle East, states: "The use of Multi Entity Management (MEM) has proven to be a smart solution for us. It has simplified the integration of new business units and ensured a quick rollout of standardized processes. The unified reconciliation of finances across all business units has streamlined our financial operations and the reporting to the group, providing clearer oversight and faster decision-making. The master data management across all business units not only saves time but also ensures consistent operations. We can now scale quickly and efficiently to support our growth strategy and manage greater complexity without compromising quality."

Strategic partnership: More than just a system

An important factor in Veolia choosing twoday as their IT partner was the strong, strategic partnership twoday offers. Even though many of the newer business units were already using Microsoft Business Central, Veolia selected twoday as their partner because of twoday’s methodical approach and understanding of Veolia’s business. twoday’s consultants provide trusted strategic advice tailored to Veolia’s specific needs.

twoday’s approach isn’t just about implementing a system; it’s about delivering a comprehensive method that reduces the cost of moving to the cloud by reusing templates and implementation methods. This has made it easy to upgrade and standardize processes, lowering the cost of adding new units. Additionally, having both the finance and IT departments working with the same processes promotes effective collaboration across the region.

“twoday’s reliability and ability to deliver have been a key strength in our partnership. Their commitment ensures that deadlines are always met, and we can count on receiving our deliveries on time. This is crucial for us," continues Franck Gilbert, CFO Veolia Near & Middle East, Veolia.

Franck Gilbert, CFO Veolia Near & Middle East, states: "Our collaboration with twoday is based on a high level of mutual trust and collaboration. They have not just delivered an effective IT solution; they have also acted as a strategic partner. By optimizing our digital processes, we can focus on our core competencies – ensuring water resources for the Middle East. twoday’s deliverables have been invaluable in our efforts to provide sustainable solutions in a region where water is a scarce resource."

The partnership has been – and continues to be – a success. Veolia is more than satisfied with the support and solutions twoday delivers. Going forward, the focus will be on expanding Microsoft Business Central to even more business units and continuing to digitalize processes for Veolia in the Middle East, strengthening their position as a leader in sustainability and efficient resource management in the region.

Strong results and future plans

With the cooperation with twoday Veolia has achieved several benefits:

Strategic advisory

twoday delivers strategic advice with a focus on business processes first – then systems – ensuring efficiency and optimization.

Standardized processes

All business units now operate with the same systems and processes, ensuring streamlined operations.

Scalability

New business units can quickly get up and running on the solution in under a month, becoming integrated faster and it is now possible for group and shared resources to support individual business units across borders.

Veolia supports growth in the Middle East with twoday’s IT solutions