Interview with tangro's Managing Director Andreas Schumann
In an interview with the SAP-journal S@PPORT the tangro Managing Director Andreas Schumann talks about his company, SAP business and how to approach to digital transformation.
S@PPORT: Mister Schumann, Providers of special archives and then also providers of DMS for SAP have been around for more than twenty years, starting with companies like Ixos. Do you consider yourself as one of these companies and if not, what distinguishes you from them?
We are neither a provider of archives nor DMS. At tangro, as with most providers, archives are linked using SAP ArchiveLink. We see ourselves as drivers of innovation for modern solutions for the automation of document-based business processes. We help companies to access business information in the areas of financial accounting, purchasing and customer service without any modal fragmentation and therefore to fully automate procedures. We are therefore putting into practice today what is postulated as digital transformation.
S@PPORT: How would you characterise yourself in the SAP partner ecosystem, are you a provider of product enhancements, a consultancy firm or a system integrator?
Without a doubt, we are providers of product enhancements. Our consultancy work concentrates on the product launch. This is a very pleasant compulsory exercise because a standard launch takes around 15 days of work.
S@PPORT: What are the greatest challenges facing medium-sized firms in terms of transformation? Where do the pitfalls/sources of mistakes lie?
This hasn't really changed much over the course of evolution. For companies, it is still the case that they need to be attentive, challenge traditional approaches and, if necessary, respond. There are no clever formulas for how to correctly deal with digital transformation. But one thing is for sure: not every company will succeed with the often quoted approach taken by the likes of Uber, Airbnb etc. Most don't need to fully change direction when it comes to overall company strategy. In fact, it is often not at all advisable to be the first follower of a new strategy and thereby expose oneself to high levels of risk. Optimising existing processes is often much better advice.
