Bots connect the cloud to SAP

June Bots connect the cloud to SAP

Everyone is talking about RPA technology. With YunIO, Theobald Software offers a tool that bot assistants use to automate input and output between the SAP system and cloud applications so that there is no need to switch back and forth.

With an automated cloud connector tool called YunIO, Theobald Software uses RPA (Robotic Process Automation) technology, that is, the use of bots to connect web or cloud applications to SAP systems. Cloud CRM systems, web collaboration tools, or business processes based on them can be mapped by interacting with SAP. “With YunIO, we’ve created a whole new type of transaction automation that captures users exactly where they feel at home: directly on the SAP transactions they’re working on,” says Peter Wohlfarth, Managing Director at Theobald Software. Access works completely without the SAP GUI. The Chinese word for cloud “yun” gives the tool its name. I and O stand for Input and Output thus for transferring data to and from SAP.

The technology behind it

Peter Wolfarth, General Manager, Theobald Software

Transaction automation works using technologies such as no-token control and RPA approaches. “The idea with RPA is to simply take on the role of the user and at the same time the role of the automation specialist by saying that what the user does in the user interface, let the technology take over automatically,” says the managing director. A typical example is creating a new master record for a customer. There is no such thing as a BAPI (Business Application Programming Interface) for this purpose i.e. there is no unified interface that SAP provides to the outside world. “These BAPIs are available for everything, eg to generate an invoice. But here the user has to manually create a client in SAP via the interface. Wolfart explains that it is precisely this step that can be “recorded” and automated, taking into account all business rules.”

Application examples

Specifically, it is always about ensuring that employees do not have to leave the environment they are familiar with. For example, if a salesperson spends most of the time in Salesforce or any cloud-based CRM system, he or she will have to occasionally check the status of the sales order or product inventory in SAP. Thanks to automation, it can survive in the Salesforce environment. Another example where YunIO can be used: An employee records a leave request in a collaboration tool, which is passed through the approval workflow via the admin directly to the SAP HR module and processed there.

Creating a business partner can also be set using tools such as PowerAutomate or Nintex using a freely designed input form in which the user enters the partner name, address, bank details and other information. “Compared to data entry in SAP with many input masks, the process is greatly simplified and made more user friendly – knowledge of SAP is no longer required. After form submission, reservation in SAP with YunIO is fully automated within a freely selectable workflow solution” , says Wolfarth.

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