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BEW moves from Microsoft Project Online to Oracle Primavera Cloud under time pressure

BEW Feature Image

INDUSTRY

Energy and District Heating

CHALLENGE  

BEW was using Microsoft Project Online as their primary scheduling tool. Yet, with the platform's retirement being announced, they had to find a new solution quickly. BEW needed to replace Microsoft Project Online before its retirement while improving control over a large portfolio of interdependent projects and schedules.  

RESULTS

More than 40 schedules, representing around 100,000 activities, migrated in approximately three months. BEW’s schedulers could continue working in Oracle Primavera Cloud while the wider rollout progressed. 

KEY PRODUCTS

Oracle Primavera Cloud (OPC)

bew.berlin →

3 months

From purchasing approval to completed schedule migration

 

40+ schedules

Migrated from Microsoft Project Online to Oracle Primavera Cloud

 

100,000+ activities

Transferred into the new scheduling environment

25 schedulers

Trained to work in Oracle Primavera Cloud

“At one construction site, we can have five or six connected projects. There are many dependencies between them, and Microsoft Project Online could not manage all of those interfaces in the way we needed, but OPC easily did that.”
Torsten Puls_LinkedIn

Torsten Puls

Team Leader Planning & Interface Management - BEW

Torsten Puls
“For me, a good consultant understands the problem, brings experience and helps find a solution. That is the benefit of working with Primaned.”
Torsten Puls_LinkedIn

Torsten Puls

Team Leader Planning & Interface Management - BEW

Torsten Puls
“The priority was to get the schedules into Oracle Primavera Cloud, check the data and enable the team to start working. The remaining work could then continue in parallel.”
Torsten Puls_LinkedIn

Torsten Puls

Team Leader Planning & Interface Management - BEW

Torsten Puls
“It became clear very quickly that Oracle Primavera Cloud was the right software for us. We needed to bring individual schedules together and connect them through their interfaces.”
Torsten Puls_LinkedIn

Torsten Puls

Team Leader Planning & Interface Management - BEW

Torsten Puls

About BEW

BEW Berliner Energie und Wärme GmbH supplies electricity and district heating to Berlin. Its district-heating network extends for around 2,500 kilometres, making reliable energy infrastructure central to daily life in the city.

As BEW works towards ending coal-fired heat generation by 2030, its project environment is becoming increasingly complex. The transition involves more than individual construction projects. A single site can contain several connected projects, each with its own schedule, contractors, milestones and technical interfaces. For BEW, planning information needs to do more than show the status of separate schedules. It needs to help the organisation understand dependencies, identify critical activities and provide reliable information for decisions.

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Chapter I: The Challenge
  
Chapter I

The Challenge

Microsoft Project Online’s retirement on 30 September 2026 created a clear deadline for BEW. The company needed to select, approve and introduce a replacement platform while its project portfolio continued to run.

The scale of the migration made this particularly demanding. BEW needed to move more than 40 active schedules, representing around 100,000 activities, without interrupting planning activity or losing the information required to manage ongoing projects. External contractors were also continuing to submit updated Microsoft Project schedules on a regular basis, meaning the team needed a practical process for managing recurring updates during and after the transition.

The underlying Project Controls challenge was equally important. BEW was managing around 45 active, interdependent projects. At a single construction site, several projects may be delivered in parallel, with dependencies between engineering work, construction activities, contractors, and technical interfaces. Microsoft Project Online did not provide the programme-level view BEW needed to bring these schedules together and manage their relationships in a structured way.

“We needed an overall programme schedule that could bring the individual schedules together. Managing all the dependencies between projects was difficult in Microsoft Project Online.” — Torsten Puls, Team Leader Planning & Interface Management, BEW

The migration therefore became an opportunity to improve the depth and quality of BEW’s Project Controls environment. The company needed a solution designed for complex infrastructure, construction and engineering projects, one that could support connected schedules and create a stronger basis for reporting, analysis and dashboards.

There was also a significant organisational dimension. BEW was moving from Vattenfall systems into its own IT environment at the same time. As an operator of critical infrastructure, the company needed to complete thorough purchasing, security and approval processes before introducing a new cloud platform. Data protection, cybersecurity and internal governance were essential considerations, not an afterthought.

  
Chapter II

The Solution

Oracle recommended Primaned to support BEW’s evaluation of Oracle Primavera Cloud. Primaned guided the team through a five-to-six-week Proof of Concept (PoC), beginning with a kick-off and a one-day introduction to the platform’s fundamentals.

This gave BEW’s schedulers the understanding needed to test Oracle Primavera Cloud against their own business case. With direct access to Gent, they could explore functionality, ask questions and assess how the platform could support their requirement for integrated programme schedules connecting individual project schedules and their dependencies.

Following the successful PoC, BEW selected Oracle Primavera Cloud and chose Primaned as its implementation partner. The implementation could therefore build on the requirements and working relationship established during the evaluation.

Primaned helped establish a consistent planning structure across user roles, calendars and project settings. The purpose was to create a common foundation for more standardised scheduling and the subsequent development of integrated programme schedules.

The rollout followed a phased approach. BEW and Primaned prioritised the schedules and functionality needed to continue supporting active projects, with programme scheduling, reporting and dashboards developed in subsequent stages. This sequencing balanced the retirement deadline with BEW’s longer-term planning requirements.

The migration was managed as a controlled data transition. Iterative validation combined Primaned’s migration expertise with BEW’s knowledge of its projects to check that transferred planning information remained reliable and usable in Oracle Primavera Cloud.

Building internal capability was also part of the approach. Primaned initially provided hands-on expertise while progressively transferring knowledge to BEW’s scheduling team. Early training and practical guidance prepared schedulers to take increasing responsibility for recurring activities, including checking and migrating the Microsoft Project updates that contractors continued to submit.

“When we had questions, Primaned responded quickly and directly. That was especially important because we were completely new to Oracle Primavera Cloud.” — Torsten Puls, Team Lead Scheduling, BEW

  
Chapter III

The Results

BEW completed the initial migration of more than 40 schedules, containing over 100,000 activities, in approximately three months. The core environment and scheduling-team training were complete, and users were working in Oracle Primavera Cloud while their infrastructure projects continued to run.

The transition established a more consistent basis for project scheduling. BEW now has a shared planning structure and is developing the internal capability to check and migrate recurring contractor updates. This is particularly valuable for the monthly Microsoft Project schedules that remain part of existing delivery agreements.

The team is also gaining experience in the new platform. Weekly exchanges and support from colleagues with previous Primavera experience help schedulers resolve practical questions. At the time of interview, users were still adapting; efficiency gains had not yet been measured.

BEW assessed the overall delivery scope as approximately 70–80% complete at that point. The remaining priorities were integrated programme schedules, reports, dashboards and supporting documentation.

“The migration is complete and the training is finished. We are now working on the remaining elements: programme schedules, reports, dashboards and documentation.” — Torsten Puls, Team Lead Scheduling, BEW

The next phase focuses on connecting project schedules at each construction site so that BEW can assess dependencies and their consequences across the programme. The associated reporting and dashboards are intended to support clearer information for project management and governance.

As BEW takes greater ownership of routine scheduling activities, it can continue to rely on Primaned for specialist input from a partner familiar with its planning environment. This provides continuity as the teams address the remaining scope and consider further development.

Longer-term ambitions include connecting scheduling more closely with risk, resource and task management. These steps remain subject to internal decisions and further evaluation. The common planning structure and growing capability within BEW provide a foundation for that work, and for continued collaboration as its Project Controls requirements develop.

Expert consulting and implementation for Project Controls software Learn more about our ideal Project Controls software that supports your company in gaining insight, managing, and planning your project portfolio. Oracle Primavera Cloud Oracle Primavera P6 EPPM Oracle Aconex PMWeb Safran Risk

Expert consulting and implementation for Project Controls software

Learn more about our ideal Project Controls software that supports your company in gaining insight, managing, and planning your project portfolio.

Oracle Primavera Cloud
Oracle Primavera P6 EPPM
Oracle Aconex
PMWeb
Safran Risk

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Project Controls with Oracle Primavera Oracle Primavera software tools allow companies to consolidate all project employees, data points, and processes to provide a unified and consistent picture of project, program, and portfolio status.

Project Controls with Oracle Primavera

Oracle Primavera software tools allow companies to consolidate all project employees, data points, and processes to provide a unified and consistent picture of project, program, and portfolio status.

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