Sturdy partnerships are key to serving to shoppers enhance operations and increase productiveness throughout their enterprises. A yr in the past, IBM Consulting and Celonis joined forces to embed the execution administration system capabilities of Celonis on the core of IBM Consulting’s finance transformation enterprise. Because the inception of the partnership, IBM has delivered better flexibility and selection in how its shoppers deploy workflow intelligence expertise, and it’s altering the way in which worth is delivered to shoppers.
This partnership is crucial for each firms. IBM Consulting has set the agenda for data-driven consulting and moved shoppers to worth quicker by embedding Celonis into enterprise transformation workstreams. For Celonis, IBM Consulting introduces their platform’s course of mining, automation and execution administration capabilities to its clients. IBM and Celonis have additionally developed industry-specific functions for a number of use instances together with provide chain, procurement and accounts payable and receivable.
IBM initially got down to certify 2,000 consultants on Celonis and hit that mark forward of schedule. Because the inception of the partnership, the businesses have made nice strides. A number of consultants shared insights and mirrored on the outcomes of this partnership.
Scott Kim, a Class Supervisor for IBM Consulting, stated “Celonis has given shoppers a possibility to repair issues they by no means knew existed. Course of innovation offers such an enchancment alternative, and the information offers you plenty of concepts for initiatives and creating KPIs.”
Kristina Dreher, Affiliate Marketing consultant at IBM, has centered on being a course of mining advisor for the final 18 months. When Dreher initially labored with a consumer utilizing legacy techniques, she needed to map out processes and uncover alternatives with out the capabilities of Celonis. “After a few months, I knew there was a greater approach,” she stated. “With the information supplied by Celonis, it’s unbiased. One of many points I had was that each time we tried to get a course of locked, there can be a brand new concept, modified minds and the consumer was not sure how the method would run.”
Dreher added that Celonis permits IBM consultants to point out processes based mostly on information. “When you may present them with information and never phrases, minds are extra open,” stated Dreher. “I desire to inform story based mostly on information, not basic concepts.” With a data-driven method, Dreher stated she will be able to begin with a workshop to stipulate objectives based mostly on information: “If all goes effectively, I obtain the information rapidly or connect with core techniques and rapidly get one thing visible in Celonis for the consumer.”
Purchasers might have time to course of and perceive what they’re seeing, however sometimes they turn into curious and search for deep dives into processes. Dreher’s recommendation: “Be interested by processes and the underlying information in addition to the complete worth chain. You may join dots from completely different departments, analyze them collectively and drive actual enhancements. Assume massive and don’t cease.”
Dreher’s supply tasks embrace IBM friends in addition to Celonis specialists. “We act as one workforce, and it feels just like the household has grown,” stated Dreher. “IBM and Celonis have mixed forces.”
Cazzie Williams, IBM Supply Mission Government, is a strategic-sourcing veteran who had positions at Honeywell, Electrolux, Microsoft and Whirlpool. When the IBM and Celonis partnership was introduced, Williams stated it was clear he “needed to leap proper in.”
After about two weeks of tutorials, Williams started integrating Celonis into his procurement engagements. Williams’ shoppers are in a number of industries. “It’s about effectivity with my shoppers,” stated Williams. “What used to take every week or extra for info gathering now takes lower than 5 minutes.”
As an example, if a consumer is looking for out why suppliers aren’t getting paid, Celonis can present the acquisition order course of, present methods to repair it after which deploy an answer. Williams stated his Celonis utilization has ramped from a bi-weekly verify of consumer processes to trying on the information each different day.
A lot of Williams’ private effectivity from Celonis is on the entrance finish of an engagement. “You may convey information in with information fashions and say, ‘Listed here are the gaps, right here’s what’s good and listed below are the alternatives,’” stated Williams.
In comparison with handbook course of mapping and discovery approaches, Celonis has lower the time to make suggestions in half. Information-driven consulting with the assistance of Celonis signifies that IBM can do extra with much less and give attention to excessive precedence tasks ranked by worth.
“The way forward for consulting is having available info to inform a narrative and drive a course a lot quicker,” stated Williams.
Williams’ recommendation for veteran consultants seeking to higher serve their shoppers: “You may construct a tradition and create a neighborhood round Celonis utilization the place everybody helps one another. Course of mining can be a part of the tradition in case you create the atmosphere.”
Oliver Wilhelm, Affiliate Marketing consultant, joined IBM Consulting with an automotive background and a powerful curiosity in bettering processes leveraging expertise. Wilhelm found Celonis and shares, “I began with classical course of mapping to find enchancment potential. Two years in the past, I began working with Celonis as its data-based view on processes that gives an goal perspective on processes whereas figuring out automation potentials.”
Wilhelm added that Celonis permits him to evaluate course of KPIs earlier than he even talks to the consumer in workshops. “It quickens the method so much when you could have a primary session with the enterprise and hand over an inventory of calculated alternatives backed up by precise course of information,” he stated.
In response to Wilhelm, Celonis is operating in each challenge he has throughout industrial and automotive shoppers. Because the IBM Celonis partnership launched, Wilhelm stated he has seen sturdy technical assist from Celonis colleagues. “We’ve got a private connection and data change,” stated Wilhelm. That relationship makes it simpler to customise as wanted for shoppers.
Wilhelm stated his tasks have been a mixture of shoppers that already use Celonis and ones the place the expertise is new. “When Celonis is new to the engagement, we are able to showcase some easy issues, ask extra exact questions and calculate advantages,” he stated. “The place Celonis has been applied, we are able to start speaking a couple of world technique and rollout.” The assets IBM brings will help shoppers perceive the method, evaluate it with {industry} benchmarks and implement applicable course of enhancements.
One other perk of working with Celonis is that Wilhelm can hone his technical expertise since he likes working with numbers and code. He added that he has an curiosity in each SQL and the Celonis PQL, in addition to IT system migration tasks.
The purpose for Wilhelm is to maneuver shoppers extra into automation and motion flows through the Celonis Execution Administration System (EMS) as they increase past course of mining and discovery.
Wilhelm’s recommendation: “There can be a time when each firm has course of mining in place. There’s excessive potential for private growth and your profession in case you can at all times level again to numbers and really clear measurements.”
IBM has over a dozen functions accessible within the Celonis Market for customers to discover, together with these masking practical areas corresponding to procurement, file to report, provide chain, and buyer and IT providers. Many of those apps have been particularly designed for key industries together with banking, insurance coverage, industrial, engineering and extra.
Furthermore, IBM Storage leap begin periods with Celonis EMS provide a lot of our shoppers an ideal place to begin for course of exploration — and we’re discovering that our consultants can speed up time to worth realization by means of these engagements too. “The exploration course of with Celonis EMS offers our consultants new capabilities and in flip, they’re figuring out cost-reductions for a big selection of enterprise shoppers which can be a lot wanted,” feedback Juan Jimenez, Associate Advertising and marketing, IBM and Celonis.
“In as we speak’s unstable financial atmosphere, each alternative to enhance the bottom-line issues. IBM and Celonis share a typical imaginative and prescient across the energy of clever workflows, and we take a scientific method to uncover hidden inefficiencies — in order that we will help our clients cut back prices,” added Juan.
Even probably the most mature organizations can lack the instruments and expertise to look past blind spots. To make sure shoppers are effectively served, encompass them with practitioners that may function in partnership throughout their particular area and know methods to orchestrate all of it.
