Many organizations think of one-off projects with a clear start and end when it comes to process optimization. According to Dee Houchen, product and global marketing leader at SAP Signavio and LeanIX, this way of thinking is outdated. In an exclusive interview with Techzine during SAP Sapphire in Orlando, she shares her vision: “Transformation is not a project, it is a capability. A capability or skill that you need to build within your organization.”
In our conversation with Houchen, she explains how SAP’s business process management (BPM) portfolio helps organizations optimize their business processes. SAP helps organizations implement this transformation through four essential components: people, processes, applications, and data. This approach enables organizations to optimize their processes continuously.
The four dimensions of business process management
“Given the change and volatility in the market, you are faced with constant change and therefore need to transform,” says Houchen. The portfolio she represents offers a complete toolkit for this.
WalkMe: accelerating user adoption
Last year, SAP acquired WalkMe, an important addition to its BPM portfolio. WalkMe offers a platform for user adoption. “At SAP, we believe that you can’t get value from your applications unless users use them as intended,” explains Houchen. We previously spoke with Thomas Pfiester about software adoption and functionality.
WalkMe provides users with real-time guidance within applications and eliminates the need for traditional training. “Nobody wants to take courses anymore. Do you take a course to learn how to use your iPhone? No, you don’t,” says Houchen. According to her, WalkMe ensures that users embrace and use new features and software much faster, resulting in faster and more efficient work.
Signavio: optimizing processes with AI
For process optimization, SAP relies on Signavio, a tool primarily aimed at organizations’ management layers. “Signavio helps you understand your processes, where they work, where they don’t, and how you can optimize them,” says Houchen.
Signavio also plays a major role in S/4HANA migrations, helping customers benchmark and improve existing processes. This enables it to identify hotspots where process improvement delivers the most value.
Most striking is the role of AI in the future of process management: “In five years’ time, no one will be drawing process diagrams by hand anymore,” predicts Houchen. “AI already generates 90% of the process model for you, leaving you to refine the last 10%.”
LeanIX: mapping the application landscape
The third element in the portfolio is LeanIX, which focuses on the application landscape. LeanIX integrates with Signavio and Cloud ALM and automatically discovers the application infrastructure.
“As an enterprise architect, processes are not necessarily your starting point. In LeanIX, you can see which applications have which capabilities and, from there, which processes in Signavio are linked to them,” explains Houchen.
Fast implementation, concrete results
A common concern with process optimization tools is implementation time. Houchen emphasizes that customers see results quickly: “At LeanIX, we are proud that you can derive tangible value from the implementation within 12 weeks. With Signavio, you can identify the hotspots in your processes within a few weeks using Process Insights.”
Process optimization at SAP is no longer optional but included
Earlier this week, SAP introduced a new pricing strategy for its SaaS solutions. It also made a significant change to process optimization. Previously, you had to purchase the tools described above separately. Under the new pricing strategy, all these tools are included as standard because they are necessary to achieve good results. All SaaS customers can therefore start using Signavio, LeanIX, and WalkMe immediately.