Introduction of risk management software in times of Corona

Last year we were able to win Marquard & Bahls AG, an independent holding company based in Hamburg, as a new client in the area of risk management. The company, which employs around 6,700 people worldwide and has subsidiaries in over 30 countries, operates in the energy & chemicals sector. We talked to Mr Leif H. Graf, the person responsible from Controlling, about the introduction of our opportunity and risk management software antares RiMIS® at Marquard & Bahls, which took place in the middle of the Corona pandemic.

antares: Mr Graf, you decided in favour of antares' ERM solution in the first quarter of 2020. Before that, you had started a selection process together with Horvarth & Partners. What were the 3 decisive reasons for choosing antares?

Leif H. Graf: The user-friendliness of the ERM tool was a high priority in our selection process. antares RiMIS® convinced us with its guided step-by-step process for identifying and assessing risks. Furthermore, it was important to us that risk managers can view their risk portfolio quickly and easily in self-service via automatically generated evaluations and reports. Last but not least, a close support during the tool configuration, the rollout and the first tool-based risk cycle was important for us and in this point the antares team credibly communicated its customer orientation.

antares: Due to the current Corona crisis in the world, many companies, including antares and Marquard & Bahls, are sending their employees to the home office as a protective measure. Therefore, all project activities, which are usually carried out on site by antares consultants, had to be solved by other means. How did you feel about the introduction of antares RiMIS® at Marquard & Bahls?

Leif H. Graf: Despite the challenging special situation of Corona, the trio of M&B project team, Horvath & Partners and antares managed our project of the global ERM rollout completely remotely and nevertheless "on time" and "in budget" to success. Important for this were short coordination cycles, open and direct communication between us and the service providers, as well as the willingness of those involved to go the virtual extra mile. antares continuously ensured this.

antares: Did the communication between Marquard & Bahls and antares also work smoothly from the home office?

Leif H. Graf: From my point of view, there is no such thing as a problem-free project. As already described in the previous question, it was important in the remote constellation to ensure more points of contact than would have been necessary in an "on-site" project. antares was at our beck and call during the entire implementation period and also approached us proactively regarding content-related or technical coordination needs - an important factor for adhering to the milestones and the go-live date.

antares: You are currently about to go live with the application. How many employees will work with antares RiMIS®?

Leif H. Graf: The global risk organisation consists of about 70 risk officers who are responsible for entering and maintaining risks in antares RiMIS®.