Founded in 1978 and listed in 2007 (ASX:SXE), SCEE has grown into a diversified powerhouse operating across infrastructure, commercial, and resources sectors, focused on the global electrification and decarbonisation initiatives of their clients, therewith contributing to the decarbonisation of Australia through the timely and cost-efficient delivery of renewables, recycling, and energy efficiency projects. Their portfolio includes projects in urban hubs and remote regions alike, demonstrating their adaptability and technical excellence. 

These large-scale initiatives require more than technical expertise — they demand a strong and reliable technology foundation. Imre Szabo, the Group ICT Manager, soon realised that there is a need for a harmonised approach to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) service and support. And SCEE Electrical’s former bi-modal ERP support model wasn’t keeping up as the business evolved. 

Breaking away from an inefficient bi-modal ERP support model 

SCEE Grosupported their Oracle environment with two vendors covering L1 through L4 support and professional services, but the arrangement was far from ideal. “Neither of them delivered high-value support.” Imre Szabo, Group ICT Manager at SCEE Group acknowledged. “When we submitted a ticket, we didn’t have a lot of faith that we would get the action, that we needed.” 

The inefficiencies were affecting the entire organisation. “We’re an internally facing IT department, and the amount of staff frustration we had with our old support vendors was through the roof,” Szabo described. He and his staff were dealing with long response times and limited support creating dissatisfaction among his internal customers and among his staff. Further, the vendors’ professional services fees did not roll over year-over-year, so they often faced wasted spend. “In addition to that, our L3 and L4 support vendor was pressuring us to upgrade our ERP version. It would’ve put us in a real tough spot. Not only would it have been expensive, but also tremendously disruptive,” he explained. “Out of necessity, we sought a vendor who could support our existing ERP into the foreseeable future. We also needed a provider that could improve the level of support that we were receiving so that we could consolidate all of our support and eliminate that bi-modal complexity. The answer to our ERP challenges was Rimini Street” 

Making a strategic pivot 

With a reputation for exceptional service, Rimini Street quickly became the partner SCEE Electrical needed. “We discovered that Rimini Street had a fantastic reputation in the industry,” Szabo said. “After a discussion with Paul Hill, we found that support for CNC services would immediately meet the mark and stop us from needing to do the ERP upgrade. Shortly after that, we added Rimini Manage™ and started using Rimini Consult™, their professional services division too. The relationship quickly developed and deepened. And to this day, we are still supporting the same version. Our business is doing better than ever, and we were able to avoid that requirement to move to cloud or to upgrade the ERP version without a strong ROI for doing so.” 

For SCEE Electrical, the benefits of consolidating support for Oracle with Rimini Street went far beyond cost savings. It delivered stability at a critical time. “As our ERP version is older, it encounters some issues, particularly as modern technology started to flow through – new web browser versions, new versions of operating systems – so our ERP version needed a lot of tender loving care to stay operational,” Szabo noted. 

This stability was crucial for large-scale projects like the Collie Battery Energy Storage System. “We were in a point in time at SCEE where we had won some major projects, and it was imperative that the ERP remained operational for financial management, procurement, and scheduling. By having an active partner in Rimini Street delivering value and quality, we were able to ensure that the ERP remained stable and was not disrupting our staff, making our customers exceptionally happy,” he said.   

The improvements were not only operational; they were also cultural. “Employee satisfaction drastically increased,” he revealed. “Our staff know that when they reach out to Rimini Street, they’ll get the response times that they were after and the quality that they need to resolve the case completely. This confidence creates a smoother journey for our internal support teams and for our customers.” As a result, the team’s satisfaction with Rimini Street is unwavering. “Our IT team consistently rates Rimini Street support as five out of five. Rimini Street engineers go above and beyond to help, and their customer success team has been instrumental in building and nurturing a strong, long-term relationship.” 

Innovating around the edges 

With the foundational challenges resolved, SCEE Electrical could turn its focus to innovation. “Rimini Street helped us deliver a seamless, high-quality ERP service, which led to strong stakeholder satisfaction and ultimately contributed to my recognition as a 2023 Info-Tech CIO award winner,” Szabo shared proudly. 

The partnership has allowed SCEE Electrical to reframe its approach to technology. “You have to understand as a business where you want to go and what it is you want to achieve. In many cases, the business isn’t interested in updating its ERP if it doesn’t have to, because it is such a complex beast that could cause a lot of business disruption for minimal reward. You need to sit down and agree on the basics of what you’re after. Is it connectivity? Automation? AI? Then that’s not necessarily the same thing as updating your ERP. You can keep what you have and get the best of both worlds by keeping the existing and adding new capabilities around the edges. You’re not just looking at it as tech debt but as a platform for innovation. And that’s where having Rimini Street as a strategic partner becomes invaluable.” he explained. “Rimini Street helps reduce wasted effort. By minimising friction and focusing on outcomes, I can channel my resources where they matter most.”  

Data is one of those areas that matters to SCEE Electrical. According to Szabo, each business within SCEE Electrical has its own ERP systems configured for its industry. He’s now able to invest in leveraging the data from all these systems to improve visibility of performance and costs.  

Paving the way for the future 

The successful partnership between SCEE Electrical, and Rimini Street was about more than solving immediate pain points — it was about laying the groundwork for large-scale initiatives. According to Szabo, SCEE Group is “actively supporting Australia’s push towards clean energy and decarbonisation. A key example is our involvement in the Collie Battery Energy Storage System, which helps ensure a stable, sustainable energy supply,” he said. “This project, along with other future initiatives in renewable energy and infrastructure, demand a high level of focus and agility from our teams,” he said.  

“With Rimini Street delivering steady and responsive ERP support, we can maintain our momentum in innovation and efficiently deliver solutions that add real value to our customers and the broader community,” Szabo continued. “This extraordinary level of dependable support frees us to invest in more strategic areas, ensuring that we remain leaders in our field.”