Business Problem & Desired Outcomes
What customer problem are we solving with Celonis?
The customer has an Order-to-Cash process that spans multiple systems and teams, but no single operational truth. Sales orders originate in CRM, pricing and fulfilment live in ERP, case and exception handling sit in ITSM or shared services tools, and finance closes the loop downstream. As a result, leaders see outcomes too late and operators cannot consistently prevent failure in-flight.
Symptoms: long order cycle times, blocked orders, invoice disputes, manual touches, unbilled revenue, missed customer SLAs, and high working capital tied up in process friction.
What are the target business outcomes and value story?
The TCO argument is straightforward: instead of funding multiple disconnected reporting, workflow, and consulting efforts, the customer invests in a single process intelligence layer that can be reused across Order-to-Cash, Procure-to-Pay, Inventory, and customer service operations.
Core Solution Components
What are the main Celonis components and how do they solve the challenge?
Data Integration
Connects SAP, Salesforce, ServiceNow, databases, flat files, and cloud sources to create a unified event log and common process model.
Process Intelligence
Reconstructs the actual process from transaction data, exposes variants, bottlenecks, conformance gaps, and root causes with drill-down transparency.
Action Flows / Automation
Triggers operational actions such as notifications, ticket creation, workflow initiation, or record updates when process thresholds are breached.
Business Apps & KPI Layer
Delivers role-based views for finance, operations, customer service, and IT with KPI trees tied directly to business outcomes.
Object-Centric Process Intelligence
Supports cross-object complexity such as orders, deliveries, invoices, disputes, and cases without forcing an oversimplified one-object process view.
Governance & Security
Supports secure authentication, role-based access, environment isolation, and auditable access to process data and insights.
Reference Architecture
How does the proposed Celonis architecture fit a hybrid enterprise?
The architecture follows a hybrid integration model: enterprise systems remain the system of record, while Celonis acts as the process intelligence and execution layer above them. This allows the customer to gain value without replacing ERP or CRM platforms.
What connectivity, integration, and SLA considerations should IT care about?
Connectivity: enterprise SSO via SAML/OIDC, role mapping to business functions, and least-privilege access to data extraction endpoints.
Integration protocols: native SAP connectivity, JDBC/ODBC, file-based ingestion, REST APIs, and webhooks depending on source maturity and change tolerance.
Transfer pattern:
SLA framing: executive reporting can tolerate scheduled refresh windows, but operational use cases should be aligned to business response windows, such as 15-minute, hourly, or same-day intervention thresholds.
Security, Data Privacy & Control Design
How do we address security and privacy requirements?
Security approval depends on showing that Celonis consumes the minimum required data, protects it in transit and at rest, and enforces controlled user access to process insights.
How should Celonis be positioned against BI tools and workflow tools?
| Capability | Celonis | Traditional BI / Workflow Stack |
|---|---|---|
| Process reconstruction | Rebuilds actual end-to-end process from event data | Usually limited to static dashboards or manual workflow logic |
| Root-cause depth | Variant, bottleneck, conformance, object-level analysis | Typically needs custom modeling and analyst interpretation |
| Execution layer | Action Flows and operational triggers | Usually separate automation platform required |
| Business value model | Ties insights directly to throughput, cash, cost, and SLA impact | Often descriptive rather than action-oriented |
| Cross-system visibility | Purpose-built for process spanning many enterprise platforms | Often siloed by dataset or application domain |
Implementation Approach
What steps does the customer IT team need to follow?
Likely Panel Questions & Talking Points
“Why not just use Power BI?”
Because BI reports outcomes, while Celonis reconstructs process behavior, isolates root causes, and enables operational intervention.
“Will this duplicate our data platform?”
No. Celonis complements the warehouse by specializing in process mining, object relationships, conformance, and execution use cases.
“How do we keep data secure?”
Use scoped extracts, SSO, RBAC, encryption, environment controls, and auditable admin practices. Start with data minimisation.
“How fast can we show value?”
Lead with a narrow, high-friction process slice and measurable KPIs, then expand once the first automation or exception reduction is proven.
“What does IT need to own?”
Connectivity, security approvals, data extraction support, release governance, and operational ownership of the supporting workflows.
“What is the long-term vision?”
Create a reusable process intelligence backbone across finance, supply chain, customer service, and shared services rather than a one-off dashboard project.
Known Risks & Credible Caveats
Data Readiness
Weak source-system data quality or inconsistent business definitions can slow time-to-value unless addressed early.
Insight Without Ownership
If the business sees insights but no team owns action, value stalls. Execution use cases need clear operational owners.
Cross-System Complexity
The platform becomes most valuable in complex environments, but that also means stakeholder alignment across ERP, CRM, ITSM, finance, and security is essential.
Executive Close
Celonis should be positioned as the process intelligence and execution layer that sits across the customer’s existing application estate. It does not replace SAP, Salesforce, or the warehouse; it exposes how work actually flows across them, quantifies value leakage, and enables targeted intervention. The recommendation is to start with one high-value Order-to-Cash use case, prove measurable business impact quickly, and then scale the platform into a reusable enterprise capability.