Lantmännen successfully transitions to the cloud with Columbus as its partner

On April 3, 2019, Lantmännen Maskin began its transition from on-premises to the cloud with Infor M3, going live on January 9, 2023. In the later stages of the project, Lantmännen decided to focus on user training to address the significant changes introduced by the new solution. By using Columbus' education package and test management, Lantmännen established a structured approach that continues to deliver benefits today. 

Within the agriculture division, Lantmännen Maskin had been using an on-premise M3 system since 2007, which had served them well. However, increased growth and risk meant the company needed to modernise and upgrade its M3 system. In late 2018, Lantmännen Maskin started moving to the cloud, partnering with Infor to conduct a brief feasibility study and choosing M3 Cloud Edition Equipment as the solution.

During the initial phase, the project was led by Infor. In January 2021, Lantmännen Maskin decided to take over project management with an internal resource. Since May 2021, Louise Nilsson, CIO of the Agriculture Division at Lantmännen, has been leading this major project which impacts 800 Lantmännen Maskin users across Sweden.

When planning the education component of the project, Lantmännen chose to collaborate with Columbus for education packages and test management.

“With extensive experience and expertise in the Infor M3 system, Columbus felt like a natural choice for us,” says Nilsson. “Columbus provided the project with the calm and security we needed for the education component, as well as for the tests during our testing phases. They have senior consultants, and the knowledge required for this project, meaning they can jump right in and know what to do. In the end, it's the knowledge and experience that you're acquiring.”

Building a solid foundation with Columbus’ Education Booster Kit 

The education package included pre-made training materials covering the basics of M3 CE which all employees had access to. Columbus also created a structure in SharePoint that mirrored the project's process flows, making it easier to use the application and and quickly find the information they need.

“We now have a process and structure to follow, along with a solid foundation of materials that we can use and reuse for future projects,” says Nilsson. “With many new hires, the documents and files we created with Columbus are still heavily used during onboarding. It’s an investment that continues to deliver value. Moving forward, we will focus on maintaining, ensuring quality, and updating our materials and processes while encouraging their use across the organisation.”

Successful go-live paves the way for business growth

For Lantmännen, the project of switching its business support system was an extensive process involving many employees from the beginning. The training was necessary to give users experience with the system before the launch, and testing was crucial to minimise issues. With the help of Columbus' extensive experience in successfully conducting testing work, a large number of tests were performed to make sure that the system was robust and secure.

“Determining what needs to be tested and how extensive it should be can be challenging, but Columbus provided excellent support. Together, we conducted approximately 16,000 tests. During go-live, which spanned five days and involved significant data conversion and registration, the system felt secure and stable. I've experienced many go-lives and been responsible for some of them myself, but this was probably the smoothest go-live I've ever been part of, despite the large number of users involved.” 

Nilsson adds, “I would highly recommend Columbus to other companies. Choosing to engage Columbus was the right decision for us, and I’m grateful for the expertise and experience they brought to the project.”