In 2015, Circle K invited a selection of international specialist JD Edwards vendors and system integrators to tender for the support, maintenance and standardization of their ERP instance. Redfaire was chosen for their deep knowledge of JD Edwards and expertise in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
The team continues to optimize the system, automate processes and leverage Oracle's investment in innovation. JD Edwards at Circle K runs on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure which delivers stability and scalabilitiy.
Circle K Europe is currently integrating JD Edwards in four new countries where service stations have been purchased from Total Energies.
"Oracle Cloud supports our growth in a way that we can scale up the system, we can get more data in and the performance is still good. "
After a formal RFP process and evaluation, we decided to move our support from India to Europe. Redfaire International offered a support model that is competitive in terms of quality, service level and cost.
Circle K is part of Couche-Tard a global leader in convenience and mobility, operating in 24 countries and territories, with more than 14,300 stores.
It is one of the largest independent convenience store operators in the United States and it is a leader in the convenience store industry and road transportation fuel retail in Canada, Scandinavia, the Baltics, as well as in Ireland. Approximately 122,000 people are employed throughout its network.
122,000 Employees
Operating in 24 Countries
14,300 Stores
Millions of customers per day
"Reverting to standard"
During the original implementation, the system had been heavily customized and since going live, further customizations were added to resolve incidents or respond to evolving business requirements. Some customizations had been made without a wholly integrated approach, or by analyzing the root cause of open incidents.
The high number of customizations, and high volume of recurring incidents, rendered the system unstable. In addition, the system's Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) rose to unacceptable levels due to additional maintenance costs and the added expense of keeping the install and its many customizations code current.
Management knew that to reduce ongoing costs and revert to standard, they would need a new way of working to avoid ad hoc updates and involve a more strategic and holistic approach to fixing issues.
Minimize disruption. Commitment to standard.
Considering the vital role JD Edwards held in Circle K’s business operations, Circle K Europe wanted a partner with the technical capabilities and capacity, to minimize disruption and enable business process needs to become operational from day one.
Committing to a more standardized version of JD Edwards was key. Any potential partner would need to prove excellent JD Edwards competence and demonstrate sufficient available resources to not only stabilize, extend and improve the JD Edwards install on an ongoing basis, but concurrently untangle the web of existing customizations. Circle K also wanted to work with a partner who had expertise, not only in JD Edwards but also in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
Management wanted lower support costs, better system knowledge internally and increased efficiencies in incident resolution. To reduce TCO, it was important that a new partner could solve any issues that may arise, and communicate the root causes back to Circle K Change Managers, I.T. and Super Users, and train them to fix and avoid repeat incidents.
After a formal RFP process and evaluation, Circle K decided to move their support from India to Europe. Redfaire International offered a support model that was competitive in terms of quality, service level and cost and demonstrated experience and expertise in ERP for the Oil and Gas Industry.
Circle K was very clear about what it wanted from its ERP partner:
Redfaire proposed an innovative Managed Services and Operations solution which would provide a dedicated 24x7x365 Support Team based in Europe, to work in tandem with Circle K Super Users. The program would provide a mixture of proactive and reactive support activities and gradually wind Circle K’s installation back to a standardized version of JD Edwards.
The proposed solution was designed to “do more with less” by splitting the support team into First and Second lines of response, only calling on the more experienced professional support consultants when necessary.
By delivering against a ‘Credit Guaranteed’ SLA, the team would be incentivized to solve issues as quickly as possible and being fixed price, put solutions in place which would avoid recurrences, leading to more stable long-term fixes.
Working with a specialized JD Edwards partner has really made a difference to Circle K. Redfaire's deep knowledge of JD Edwards and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure means that they continually propose solutions and work with the Circle K team to deliver continuous improvement.
Redfaire International took a key leadership role in the team that upgraded us to 9.2 and moved us to OCI at the same time, with no fuss or hassle. Their Code Current as a Service layer means that we will always be on the latest version of JD Edwards and are able to take full advantage of the new tools and innovations coming from Oracle.
When surveyed, Circle K’s JD Edwards Super Users reported that they "appreciate the knowledge and experience of the Redfaire International support team members”.
They also believe that the Redfaire International team "seek to provide permanent solutions to recurring incidents”.
System is more stable
Volume of Incidents Reducing
Improved Delivery of Enhancements
OCI Delivering Performance & Stability
IMPROVED STABILITY & SCALABILITY
CONTINUOUS ADOPTION & ENHANCEMENTS
REDUCED VOLUME OF INCIDENTS
FASTER, MORE STABLE AND FUTURE-PROOF INFRASTRUCTURE
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