Next Generation Sales

Osram, headquartered in Munich, Germany, is a leading global high-tech company with a history spanning more than 110 years. Its predominantly semiconductor-based products enable a wide range of applications from virtual reality to autonomous driving, and from smartphones to networked intelligent lighting solutions in buildings and cities. In the area of automotive lighting technology, the company is a global technology and market leader.

Osram is undergoing a transformation from a B2B components business to a project and solutions business. The previous B2B components business was characterized by established products with long product life cycles, long-term customer relationships, and sales via distributors and agents.

Data exchange followed rigid patterns and specifications, and the development of interfaces involved longer lead times.

The journey from LED to digital solution and the associated project, on the other hand, requires a constantly changing product portfolio with a focus on ever new customer relationships based on detailed market knowledge. To support this in the best possible way, modern API technologies are needed in the area of business integration: Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are the decisive contribution of business integration to the success of the Osram Next Generation Sales (NGS) project.

The NGS project initially involves the introduction of the cloud-based Salesforce solution. Osram Information Technology (IT) uses APIs to link this solution via the central integration platform Seeburger Business Integration Suite (BIS), which has been used for years primarily for B2B/EDI, to the internal merchandise management systems and the electronic product catalog, among other things.

This makes it possible to serve customer-specific inquiries about prices and availability as well as orders in real time. Modern API technology controls the dynamic interaction of the various data sources and data consumers.

Performance and integration

IT's business integration department supports the NGS project with its API-first strategy by providing demand-driven information via the central integration platform.

The Salesforce implementation in particular benefits from this, with access to internal SAP systems and the product catalog. Osram integrates IT business partners, employees, applications and systems via various APIs. These accesses form the basis for the fully automated exchange of up-to-date information in real time.

Since "classic" integration is still needed for Osram systems that are not yet API-enabled, the company was looking for a modern platform that offers a wide range of functions similar to a Swiss Army knife and at the same time keeps pace with the rapidly growing integration requirements like a race car including its affiliated team.

During a proof of concept with various vendors, Osram IT identified the Seeburger API Solution as part of the Business Integration Suite (BIS) as the most suitable tool for implementing the new integration challenges.

As an "all-in-one solution", it allows any integration pattern to be used or even combined. The BIS platform has already been successfully serving Osram for years for classic B2B/EDI integration.

It could be extended in a very short time by the two modules BIS-API Integration Solution and BIS-API Management with Portal and Gateway in order to be able to operate REST and SOAP-based APIs.

Osram now has a powerful standard solution out of the box that combines all necessary integration patterns on one platform and thus offers the highest possible flexibility. In the heterogeneous Osram IT landscape, the Seeburger platform supports key integration technologies.

The comprehensive BIS integration platform is used by Osram to integrate data from a variety of sources such as SAP or non-SAP systems, internal and external applications, cloud solutions or business partners using both classic and modern integration patterns.

Changes in integration requirements are made possible at short notice by adding further standard functionalities in the Business Integration Suite.

APIs as a business booster

Osram recognized the importance of APIs early on and uses them to its advantage. As the basis of modern business integration, Osram provides information via APIs in real time and thus supports business processes in the face of new challenges.

The use of APIs ensures that this information is always up to date, regardless of how and by whom it is accessed. With APIs, business partners, employees, mobile apps or websites alike access central APIs easily and securely and retrieve, for example, product data, prices, availability, market data in real time.

At Osram, the APIs run on the central Seeburger BIS with the API gateway and the API management solution. The backend systems communicate via APIs and are simultaneously protected by them, since no direct access (i.e., past the API facade) is possible. This means that systems that are not API-capable can also be integrated securely.

The API-first strategy pursued by Osram-IT strengthens the Next-Generation Sales project and leads to a win-win situation for all parties involved. It brings added value for business partners and employees in the form of relevant information in real time. Business departments benefit from the avoidance of redundant data and lower error rates.

The IT department gains noticeable efficiency through the multiple use of secure interfaces. The data-based sales processes promote the new digital sales and reduce expenses.

Strengths of API technology

• Easy provisioning and management of APIs in API management and the API catalog
• Use of JSON on REST services, XML on SOAP services and OData services in SAP
• Easy provision of data such as product data
• Bidirectional communication with qualified response, such as the result of the availability check in real time
• Reusability, i.e. one API for all use cases
• Protection of back-end systems through an API facade
• Securing access, for example through the use of API key or basic authentication
• Integration of non-API-capable systems through the use of conventional technology