GROW with SAP in AWS launches at AWS re:Invent & Celonis appoints new CFO

PEX Network’s weekly bulletin rounds up the latest industry vendor news including product releases/updates, mergers and acquisitions, partnerships and leadership changes.

This week includes:

• GROW with SAP in AWS launches at AWS re:Invent
• Alibaba Cloud revamps global partnership ecosystem to fuel AI-driven growth
• Celonis appoints Benoit Fouilland as new CFO
• Appian announces 2024 APJ Partner Award winners
• Digital Workforce Services refines business strategy, raises profit targets

SAP & AWS launch GROW with SAP at AWS re:Invent

At AWS re:Invent, Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) and SAP SE announced GROW with SAP on AWS offering organizations a streamlined path to modernize their operations and unlock new business opportunities. GROW with SAP on AWS will allow customers of all sizes to rapidly deploy SAP’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution while leveraging the reliability, security and scalability of the world’s most broadly adopted cloud, according to the announcement. The collaboration will simplify and accelerate the adoption of SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and unlock new generative AI-assisted innovation for customers.

GROW with SAP will make it easier for customers to streamline business operations to better serve their end users and build secure generative AI applications by combining their SAP data with AWS industry-leading generative AI services, such as Amazon Bedrock, read a press release.

“Our collaboration with AWS will provide customers of all sizes a simplified path to deploy cloud ERP with powerful automation and insights via Joule embedded across our business applications,” said Muhammad Alam, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, SAP product engineering. “Today’s announcement will allow customers to transform in the cloud more easily with the proven security, reliability and availability of AWS. By using Amazon Bedrock via the generative AI hub capability from SAP, customers can unlock even more business AI innovation.”

Alibaba Cloud revamps global partnership ecosystem to fuel AI-driven growth

Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, announced the launch of its revamped AI-focused partner ecosystem plan. The “Alibaba Cloud Partner Rainforest Plan” features a series of new initiatives including an AI partner accelerator program, an enhanced incentive program and a revitalized global strategy for service partners, according to a press release. The initiatives aim to foster the growth of global partners and accelerate the development and deployment of cutting-edge AI and cloud computing solutions for businesses across various industries worldwide.

“At Alibaba Cloud, we believe that collaboration is the key to unlocking innovation and driving growth,” said Selina Yuan, president of international business at Alibaba Cloud Intelligence. “Our global partners are not just participants, they are the architects of a new digital landscape in the AI era. With our revamped global partner ecosystem, we are committed to supporting our global partners to jointly reap the benefits of the AI era and meet the diverse business demand of global customers.”

Watch Andreas Welsch, author of the AI Leadership Handbook, discuss getting started with agentic AI

Celonis appoints Benoit Fouilland as new CFO

Process mining and process intelligence vendor Celonis appointed Benoit Fouilland as its new chief financial officer (CFO). Fouilland will be responsible for the global finance organization and strategy as Celonis extends its global growth, technology innovation and market leadership, according to a press release. Fouilland joins Celonis from digital experience analytics firm Contentsquare, where he also held the role of CFO.

“Benoit is a forward-thinking executive with extremely relevant tech-industry experience, an international outlook and a proven track record leading global Finance organizations,” said Bastian Nominacher, co-CEO and co-founder of Celonis. “Benoit is the right leader to help us drive and expand our market leadership being fueled by our latest product innovations like the Process Intelligence Graph which creates unparalleled levels of value for our customers and delivers effective enterprise AI.”

Watch Tony Benedict, president of the Association of BPM Professionals International, reflect on breaking down silos in process management

Appian announces 2024 APJ Partner Award winners

Process automation vendor Appian unveiled the recipients of its 2024 Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) Partner Awards, recognizing industry excellence across six categories. The awards celebrate high-impact and committed partners who have contributed to growth in customer engagements along with delivering key value with the Appian Platform. This year’s winners are:

• WNS Vuram (delivery)
• Deloitte (growth)
• Cognizant (innovation)
• KPMG (transformation)
• Accenture (value)
• Via Appia (channel partner)

“We are thrilled to celebrate our partners and the significant role they play in transforming businesses across APJ,” said Steve Gillett, regional VP, APJ alliances at Appian. “The Appian Partner Awards highlight the tremendous impact our partners have on organizations in the region, showcasing their expertise and dedication. These partners have shown unwavering commitment to deliver outstanding value to our shared customers.”

Watch Tariq Munir, APAC financial planning transformation lead at PepsiCo, discuss measuring the impact of automation

Digital Workforce Services refines business strategy, raises profit targets

Business process automation solutions provider Digital Workforce Services refined its strategy and raised profitability targets for 2026. The firm has “successfully executed a profitable growth strategy based on holistic business process automation” with its Board of Directors revealing intentions to accelerate the company’s profitable growth.

According to a press release, the cornerstones of Digital Workforce Services’ strategy execution towards the end of the strategy period 2022-20266 are:

• Expanding continuous services business and the Outsmart automation platform with enterprise AI agents by creating unique, measurable customer value to knowledge work automatization.
• Transforming Outsmart automation services’ core business, maximizing customer benefits from a productized service offering.
• Becoming a market leader in social and healthcare care pathway solutions.
• Accelerating growth through acquisitions.

The refined company financial targets for the strategy period are:

• An annual revenue of €50 million (more than US$52 million) in 2026.
• The company aims to reach an adjusted EBITDA level of over 15 percent by the end of 2026.

“The company is exploring acquisition opportunities that support its strategy,” commented Jussi Vasama, CEO of Digital Workforce Services. “These may include acquisitions that, for example, increase in-depth knowledge of the company’s key growth markets, like the US and the UK, healthcare processes and operations, or technological know-how. Our goal is to complete one to three transactions to achieve €10 million revenue growth through acquisitions.”

READ MORE PEX VENDOR NEWS

• NVIDIA’s explosive growth fades, IBM & AWS accelerate responsible AI partnership

• Microsoft, Accenture & Avanade launch AI Copilot business transformation practice

• SAP Signavio launches November 2024 release & BPX collaborates with SAP to enhance process mining