SOPHEON
"Our work with Axway is making it easier to forge relationships with new prospects because we can show them that we already have standard connectors for their core applications."
Delivers
>170 reusable connectors for leading solutions
Reduces
operational costs associated with management and maintenance
Streamlines
the onboarding journey
Case study details
Headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, Sopheon delivers software solutions that empower global businesses to create innovations and products that change the world. One of the company’s key offerings is Accolade, an innovation management solution that helps organizations consistently identify, evaluate, and execute against the right strategic priorities.
Mike Bauer, Chief Product Officer at Sopheon, explains: “We have been at the forefront of our industry for more than 20 years. Looking ahead, our goal is to set the standard in innovation management for the next 20 years. To help us put that strategy into action, we’re looking for ways to make Accolade even more effective for our clients.”
Colin Tattersall, Product Manager Accolade Integration Engine at Sopheon, continues: “Many Accolade use cases require integration with third-party systems. For example, some clients connect Accolade to customer relationship management [CRM] systems, enabling sales teams to send ideas from customer conversations in the field back into the innovation platform. It’s also valuable to feed data from Accolade into other applications, such as enterprise resource planning [ERP], product lifecycle management [PLM], and issue-tracking systems.”
In the past, Sopheon built custom integrations as part of the Accolade implementation process. To inspire more organizations to adopt the platform, the company aimed to streamline the onboarding process by creating standardized, reusable integrations.
“One of the other big challenges with the previous approach was that there was a large amount of custom code to support throughout the client lifecycle,” adds Tattersall. “We saw an opportunity to cut time-to-value for new prospects while reducing the cost and complexity of support.”
To help new clients unlock the value of Accolade faster, Sopheon has embraced an API-driven approach to integration powered by Amplify Integration Builder, part of the Amplify API Management Platform.
“By using APIs, we avoid the need to install additional applications on each client’s Accolade server, which speeds up the deployment process and reduces ongoing management and maintenance requirements,” says Tattersall.
Bauer elaborates: “Axway delivered on all the capabilities we were looking for in an API management platform. The Amplify platform offers out-ofthe-box connectors for many of the most widely used software solutions, including SAP S/4HANA, Jira, Salesforce CRM, and more. And with the low-code interface in Amplify Integration Builder, it’s fast and simple for our consultants to adjust those connectors to meet the unique requirements of each client.”
Following a successful proof-of-concept, Sopheon has adopted the Amplify platform to integrate its Accolade deployments with third-party solutions via API.
Tattersall comments: “Every Accolade implementation is slightly different because no two clients’ environments are exactly the same. We can configure our APIs to support different use cases and requirements — and because everything is web-based, there’s no need for custom integrations that must be managed and maintained.”
By using the Amplify platform to support an API-powered approach to integration, Sopheon is confident that it can accelerate deployments and deliver value to clients faster.
Annette Lombardo, Product Marketing Manager at Sopheon, says: “Although we’re just getting started with the Amplify platform, we’re already seeing the benefits of having more than 170 reusable software connectors. For example, one of our clients is a Fortune 500 company that brings data from SAP ERP into Accolade to make cost decisions about its products. In the past, the client manually re-keyed this data into Accolade, increasing the risk of human error. Today, we offer them an API that delivers SAP data to Accolade every 30 minutes — saving many hours a month and helping them evaluate their portfolios effectively.”
Looking ahead, Sopheon plans to explore new ways to harness Amplify to enhance its offering — for example, by enabling event-driven services. “Our work with Axway is making it easier to forge relationships with new prospects because we can show them that we already have standard connectors for their core applications,” concludes Tattersall. “Accolade has been supporting clients around the world for more than two decades, and we’re confident that the Amplify platform will help us deliver even greater value in the decades to come.”
