sonnen GmbH standardizes
contract management with
bs one: contract
Successful harmonization of IT systems ensures compliance and efficiency in processes
A development from a small start-up to an internationally successful company with over 1.300 employees brings its own unique challenges. Organically grown solutions must gradually be standardized across the entire company, not least to efficiently meet legal requirements. With the document management and workflows that come with the product bs one: contract, sonnen has made significant progress in harmonization—thanks to seamless integration with MS 365 and especially MS SharePoint. The pilot project, which standardized contract management for HR, the legal department, and procurement, was completed on time and within budget and will be available to all users from January 2025.
Our dynamic growth has brought its own challenges, as each department implemented its own tailored concepts. This, among other things, complicates certification according to ISO27001. The standardization and automation of processes with bs one as a central document management system, integrated into MS SharePoint, saves time and costs and simplifies everyday work.
sonnen GmbH, Wildpoldsried/Germany
Founded in 2010, sonnen is now one of the world’s leading manufacturers of intelligent energy storage systems and has been repeatedly recognized for its innovation and growth. With six locations in Germany, Italy, the UK, the USA, and Australia, the company employs over 1.300 people.
bs one & SharePoint in operation for the ongoing task of optimisation
Standardization through document management
New application introduced with virtually no training required
Standardization is currently one of the top priorities at sonnen. This is driven by economic reasons—maintaining and further developing similar systems is inefficient—but it is also essential for the implementation of an Information Security Management System (ISMS) based on ISO27001. Compliance with legal requirements, such as NIS‑2, must be demonstrable, which requires defined processes and a document management system (DMS).
The decision to choose bs one as the DMS at sonnen was made after comparing various solutions, for several reasons. The proposed solution, the capabilities of the modules, the price, and the proximity to the company’s headquarters were convincing as a complete package. In addition, sonnen had already come to appreciate baliosoft through a previous service project focused on introducing templates and rules for the use of MS Teams.
User-friendly contract process for all use cases
In the DMS pilot project, sonnen focused on contract management (CM) for the HR, Legal, and Procurement departments, whose use cases differ significantly. In Human Resources, the system currently manages framework agreements, bonus memberships, and other general employee benefits. Procurement oversees a wide range of contracts with suppliers, covering everything from materials for research and production to service providers and software procurement. In the Legal department, the traceability of terms and conditions and other declarations in communication with business partners—and especially customers—is of primary importance.
Despite all the differences, the contract management system is uniformly structured. A new contract is created in the system at the push of a button, the form is completed, and all contract-related documents—whether PDF, Word, PowerPoint, etc.—are attached. Everything is archived automatically.
“At first glance, the contract management system offers an easy-to-use interface that makes navigating data integrated within MS SharePoint very simple. bs one takes care of the rest in the background. Users are automatically notified of termination dates or required contract renewals,” explains Jürgen Frankenberger. “More than a brief live coaching session on screen wasn’t necessary — it should always be that easy.”
The next steps
The requirements from Energy Operations have already been gathered, and a concept for implementation has been developed. Additional departments will follow.
There are also discussions about using bs one workspace to optimize document storage for suppliers through so-called supplier workspaces. For this purpose, data from the SAP supplier master is also automatically imported, ensuring that all information about a supplier from all departments is centrally available—while access is controlled according to permissions.
“I’ve come to really appreciate the authentic, equal-footed communication and the flexibility in our collaboration,” says Jürgen Frankenberger, looking forward to the upcoming projects.