SUPERB: Modernization of support processes in the federal administration

To address the end of support for its legacy SAP system, the Swiss government launched a large-scale modernization program called “SUPERB.” The initiative centers on a full migration to SAP S/4HANA - the latest generation of the software, with the aim to standardize and optimize all core processes. A full data migration was required to ensure access to decades-old records.

With a budget of 420 million Swiss francs, the program is one of the largest IT undertakings in Switzerland. The ERP system handles up to 1.2 million transactions annually and supports time tracking for 48,000 users. In total, it affects about 40,000 federal employees.

Increasing complexity

With over 500 contributors across federal offices and more than 20 parallel projects at its peak, SUPERB demanded strong planning, resource management, and reporting to ensure coordinated, cross-agency execution.

Initially, the team relied on Excel for resource planning and financial tracking, but the scale and complexity quickly overwhelmed spreadsheets, which lacked the functionality to manage baselines, coordinate stakeholders, or align teams.

Agile at scale

SUPERB was managed using the SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) methodology. With multiple Agile Release Trains operating under one program, coordinating parallel teams on interconnected initiatives became more challenging. Aligning efforts, managing dependencies, and maintaining visibility across workstreams grew steadily more complex.

A crucial need for baseline management

Government programs must justify every coin spent. To stay on budget, allocate resources effectively, and report transparently, the SUPERB team needed clear visibility into funding usage throughout the multi-year initiative.

Effective financial management requires tracking multiple financial baselines, such as parliamentary credits, annual budgets, and internal plans, and comparing them against actual spending and progress.

In early 2021, Program Manager Patrik Riesen and PMO Dominique Mallow introduced Planview ProjectAdvantage (formerly Sciforma Vantage) to the SUPERB program. The tool was configured to support key functions, including:

Master planning

The team uses Confluence and Jira for task and risk management, while high-level, resource planning, and milestone tracking are handled in ProjectAdvantage. Each SUPERB initiative has a detailed project plan in ProjectAdvantage, with clear milestones and roadmaps. This approach provides cross-team visibility and enables leadership to steer the program within budget, scope, and timeline.

Milestone and baseline management:

ProjectAdvantage's ability to seamlessly track multiple baselines was essential. In addition to the master baselines at project-level, SUPERB also created additional baselines to measure—and report— the performance of each of the 10-week product increments as part of the SAFe process. ProjectAdvantage enables clear, multi-dimensional comparisons and flags deviations automatically—making it easier to manage performance across multiple baselines.

Resurs- och kapacitetshantering

All contributors now report and track their time within ProjectAdvantage, supporting both Agile cadence (10-week Program Increments) and centralized financial planning. Essential to steer the program, visibility into effort has enabled resource planning, management, optimization, and improved tracking of budgets and costs to enhance financial management.

Scheduled for official completion end 2026, the SUPERB program was completed early, having met and exceeded all expectations. The ERP systems of the Swiss federal administration have been migrated to SAP S/4HANA one year early, leaving the remaining time for fine-tuning and optimization.

The program was successfully delivered not only ahead of schedule, but also under budget: it will close with approximately 10% of the budget unspent.

ProjectAdvantage played a critical role in achieving these results through the following capabilities:

• Seamless Management: ProjectAdvantage reduced admin effort by centralizing planning, time tracking, and milestone monitoring.
• Reporting: ProjectAdvantage delivers real-time reports for oversight and performance tracking of the entire program as well as the individual projects. The reports have been used to monitor burn rates, track milestone deviations, and evaluate program performance over time.
• Team Accountability: Improved visibility helped teams feel supported and stay on track. Alerts and milestone tracking enabled early issue detection—key in a SAFe setup with distributed responsibilities.