AI Enabler and Automator
E3 Magazine: What will Ososoft focus on this year and in the future?
René Ott, Ososoft: We have two clear goals for the next few years. First, the massive expansion of our ProcessBridge suite, which provides concrete solutions for use cases that every SAP customer has. And second, the acquisition of further large SAP projects with the combination of good consultants plus innovation as a project accelerator.
E3 Magazine: You mention innovation—what have you been investing in lately?
Ott: Our largest investments have been made in the fast-growing AI business. With our ProcessBridge suite, we have developed a holistic, AI-enabled platform that enables companies to intelligently analyze, efficiently control, and extensively automate their processes. With processes in 140 languages, international companies can work in a globally standardized way and save an enormous amount of time and money. ProcessBridge paves the way for a whole new level of process efficiency and transparency—across the entire organization.
E3 Magazine: Can you give us an example of where ProcessBridge is being used?
Tilmann Richl, Ososoft: The most recent example is a large retailer’s S/4 transformation: with ProcessBridge we were able to automatically generate test cases, comprehensively document processes, and provide customized training material for key users. The result was a significant increase in efficiency, an on-time go-live, and a reduction in employee workload. The customer also benefits in the long term: thanks to ProcessBridge, documentation and training are always up-to-date. As a result, knowledge is better anchored, software implementation is accelerated, and employees can focus on their core tasks. This is a game changer for customers in terms of S/4 implementation.
E3 Magazine: The challenge of adequate documentation has always been an ambivalent topic among computer scientists. However, Ososoft has chosen to address this issue. How?
Richl: With ProcessBridge, we solve a core problem found in many IT projects: the lack of documentation, which delays projects and, in the worst case, forces reverse engineering of system parts. Our AI-supported platform documents every process fully automatically in three variants:
- As technical documentation with all changes and adaptations
- As user-centric documentation including background knowledge
- As a step-by-step user guide with screenshots
This provides companies with seamless documentation—both technically and professionally. This additionally saves a good deal of time and effort, eliminates errors, and ensures that knowledge is not lost in the minds of individual employees.
E3 Magazine: Documentation is the basis from which training material can be derived. Ososoft even offers this step in several languages. How does it work and what is the added value?
Richl: Multilingualism is no longer a problem with our platform because the training materials are generated directly in the target language—not translated. For companies with global production and supply chains, this means that a central team can create training for the global rollout that is perfectly tailored to each region. Employees are optimally prepared for new processes and systems. This accelerates the rollout of new software, increases user adoption, and improves ROI.
E3 Magazine: You offer an entire suite that also helps with standardization and automation, including multilingual documentation. Please explain this process model.
Richl: Richl: The key to our approach is the single point of truth. We capture each process once in the system and then use this data consistently for testing, training, documentation, and process analysis. Companies benefit from a 360-degree view of their processes—both technical and business, as a step-by-step guide or for performance analysis. Changes to the process are entered only once, and all documents, such as training materials and documentation, are automatically updated. This saves a tremendous amount of time, effort, and stress in day-to-day operations. This approach also allows companies to establish a standard for documentation and training, as all output comes from a central source and thus has a consistent look and feel.
E3 Magazine: Automated documentation and AI have also led to the ability to automate testing. How do you achieve that?
Richl: Automated testing is another step towards process efficiency. Our platform generates not only test cases for a process, but also test data based on the master and transaction data. This allows reliable user acceptance and regression tests to be carried out fully automatically—whether that’s with Tosca, UI Path, or an intelligent, autonomous bot we are currently developing. This bot can already—experimentally—navigate through SAP systems on its own to perform tests autonomously. This enables companies to test more processes in less time with significantly higher test coverage. Errors are detected earlier, before they can cause damage in the production system. At the same time, manual testing effort is massively reduced.
E3 Magazine: Many of Ososoft's products are based on AI. What tools do you use and how do you develop your solutions?
Richl: We use a whole arsenal of state-of-the-art AI technologies—from image recognition to generative language models. But while we are fascinated by the technical possibilities, we always focus on the specific benefits for our customers. That's why we build AI solutions that solve real business problems and deliver measurable value to our customers. Transparency is a key factor. We do not develop "black boxes", but solutions that can be understood and controlled by humans at any time. This is the only way to embed AI in a sustainable and secure way.
E3 Magazine: You were a successful exhibitor at the DSAG Annual Congress 2023 in Bremen. How did SAP customers react?
Ott: With several follow-up orders for quite extensive projects and several direct orders for the ProcessBridge Suite despite the early stage of the demo, we exceeded our expectations for our debut as an exhibitor at the annual congress.
E3 Magazine: To what extent are your products standardized and ready for release?
Ott: Our solutions are designed in such a way that any existing SAP customer can use them directly—whether on ECC or S/4. ProcessBridge is completely comprehensive; non-SAP systems are possible as well as other SAP systems such as EWM, TM, SuccessFactors, etc.
E3 Magazine: Do you stick to "keep the core clean" and does Ososoft use SAP BTP?
Ott: "Keep the core clean" has become the standard, especially in S/4 projects. We try to adhere to it whenever possible. If you know what you are doing, this is usually possible. We gained experience with BTP quite early on—when it was still the SAP Cloud Platform—and now we are quite familiar with it. So if our customers have a BTP strategy, we are happy to utilize it.
E3 Magazine: This year you are participating in the E3 Magazine’s SAP Competence Center Summit in Salzburg as a sponsor and keynote speaker. What are your expectations?
Ott: I personally spent several years in Salzburg on customer projects and have very pleasant memories of the people there. We will show what is realistically possible with AI in SAP and which major problems we have already solved with our platform. The response so far has been overwhelming, and we are looking forward to the talks and discussions that will follow. Based on last year's experience, many SAP customers from both on-prem and cloud will be present at the CC-Summit 2024.
E3 Magazine: What do you think about the discussion between private cloud as an on-prem model and public cloud? What do you expect to see in the future?
Ott: Ott: Well, SAP has a clear cloud-first strategy and will continue to pursue it consistently—customers will increasingly be "kindly forced" to use at least the private cloud, coupled with RISE and BTP. So we expect that many customers will gradually move to SAP's new ecosystem.
E3 Magazine: What questions and challenges should SAP customers bring to the CC Summit 2024 in Salzburg?
Richl: SAP customers should ask themselves three key questions at the CC-Summit 2024:
- How can I massively accelerate my SAP projects with AI and thus realize real competitive advantages?
- How can I unlock the full potential of process intelligence to drive operational efficiency and business agility to new levels?
- How is the role of IT and business departments changing in a world where AI is taking over more and more routine tasks?
E3 Magazine: How will the use of AI evolve in the SAP community?
Richl: AI will spread rapidly in the SAP community and gradually permeate all areas as an enabler for better decisions, more efficient processes, and innovative business models. But getting there is not a sure thing. Organizations must overcome three key challenges:
- Data quality: AI needs data—and clean data, at that. Organizations must consolidate, structure, and enrich their data assets to provide a reliable foundation for AI-driven analytics.
- AI expertise: The sustainable integration of AI requires new skills and roles, such as data scientists and AI architects. This expertise needs to be built and embedded in hybrid IT and business teams.
- Change Management: AI is fundamentally changing work processes and job profiles. For the technology to reach its full potential, employees must be empowered and fears allayed—a mammoth task for leadership and HR.
E3 Magazine: To summarize: According to our interview, why should an SAP customer contact Ososoft?
Ott: As a strategic partner, we help SAP customers drive their digitalization holistically and support them with comprehensive strategic consulting, future-oriented digital strategies, and successful project implementation from a single source. Our strength lies in bridging the gap between innovative technical possibilities and real business benefits—from vision to implementation. By combining in-depth SAP expertise and strategic AI know-how, we develop the right forward-looking solutions for each customer's specific challenges.
E3 Magazine: Last question: What does Ososoft represent in the SAP community?
Ott: Our many years of SAP expertise and project experience form the solid foundation on which we think in new ways and shape the future—with fresh ideas, an agile mindset and a pioneering digital spirit. For our customers, we are a trusted advisor who integrates new technologies such as AI or process mining into SAP landscapes in a way that creates direct business value. With this "SAP Plus" approach, we prepare companies for the future and help them realize their full digital potential.
E3 Magazine: Mr. René Ott, Mr. Tilmann Richl, thank you very much for the interview.