©2015 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
SAP Business Transformation Study | High Tech | Runbook
Runbook Company: Building Powerful
Finance Software Certified to Integrate
with SAP HANA®
Since 2001, Runbook Company has been innovating software that helps global companies
that run SAP® solutions achieve the highest level of finance automation. Central to
Runbook’s success is gaining SAP certification for its add-on solutions that use the
ABAP® programming language – such as SMART Close and TRUE Reconciliation –
through an SAP Integration and Certification Center (SAP ICC).
SAP Business Transformation Study | High Tech | Runbook
Executive overview
Partner
Runbook Company
Headquarters
Ede, The Netherlands
Industry
High tech
Products and Services
Finance software that runs on
the SAP HANA® platform and
other solutions
Employees
60
Web Site
www.runbook.com
BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION
Objectives
•• Accelerate customer adoption by obtaining SAP certifications for add-ons
using the ABAP® programming language
•• Become the vendor of choice for finance add-on solutions
•• Enable faster finance transformations
Resolution
•• Ported SMART Close and TRUE Reconciliation to the SAP HANA® platform
•• Obtained SAP integration certifications for both products, verifying 100%
compatibility with the SAP® Simple Benefits running on SAP HANA
Benefits
•• Provided customers piloting SAP Simple Finance with closing and
reconciliation functionality in their SAP HANA software environment
•• Elevated Runbook’s value by enabling the company to help customers
move to a central ledger in SAP Simple Finance
•• Gave customers confidence that their software will perform as expected
•• Reduced the need for implementation testing and verification
3 products
Certified by SAP
Stronger
Competitive edge through
certification
Faster
Adoption of new software
by customers
Read more
“Getting our add-on solutions certified by SAP to integrate with SAP
Simple Finance on SAP HANA has accelerated customer adoption and
positioned us as the vendor of choice.”
Joe Kuncharia, Vice President, Sales and Strategic Partnerships, Runbook Company
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© 2015 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
SAP Business Transformation Study | High Tech | Runbook
Executive overview
Company objectives
Resolution
Business transformation
Future plans
Building on the power of the SAP HANA®
platform for finance
Based in The Netherlands, Runbook Company
specializes in software add-ons that automate and
streamline the financial close and reporting process
for global corporations using the SAP® ERP application.
By delivering smarter software that tightly integrates
with their enterprise resource planning (ERP)
environment, Runbook adds a new dimension for
finance to customers’ SAP software. For example,
the company’s Runbook ONE platform powers
add-on solutions like SMART Close, which simplifies
and automates the close-to-disclose cycle, and
TRUE Reconciliation, which simplifies the account
reconciliation process and automates it from
preparation to reconciliation.
A gold-level SAP software solution and technology
partner and long-standing member of the SAP
PartnerEdge® program, Runbook makes it a priority
to deliver solutions certified to integrate with SAP
software. “We find that SAP customers prefer solutions
that have been tested and certified by SAP because
it speeds up and simplifies testing and validation by
their internal IT teams,” explains Joe Kuncharia, vice
president of sales and strategic partnerships at
Runbook Company.
When several of Runbook’s customers began piloting
the SAP Simple Finance solution on the SAP HANA®
platform, they expressed an interest in SAP-certified
integration for SMART Close and TRUE Reconciliation
solutions. “We heard from our customers that our
SMART Close and TRUE Reconciliation products
would make perfect choices for their pilot because
our products have a long track record of certified
integration with SAP software,” he adds. “So we
worked with the SAP ICC to establish an integration
certification path.”
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© 2015 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
SAP Business Transformation Study | High Tech | Runbook
Executive overview
Company objectives
Resolution
Business transformation
Future plans
Differentiating by obtaining SAP ICC
certifications
To meet the customer demand for SAP-certified
integration of Runbook’s add-ons, an SAP Integration
and Certification Center (SAP ICC) and Runbook
cooperated closely. Runbook first took advantage
of an assessment service offered by SAP ICC designed
to ensure that Runbook’s software can fully exploit
SAP HANA to deliver extraordinary processing speeds.
SAP ICC deployed both SMART Close and TRUE
Reconciliation in a system running SAP Business
Suite powered by SAP HANA, complete with the most
recent release and service pack. Static code checks
that focused on the performance aspects of SAP HANA
looked for problematic code lines and performed
intensive Structured Query Language (SQL) analyses
based on realistic test data. Armed with the insights
gained from the assessment, Runbook made the
necessary changes to its software.
Runbook then went through the same testing
process to gain SAP-certified integration with
SAP Simple Finance on SAP HANA. For example,
the add-ons had to conform to SAP standards
and conventions for ABAP® programming language
packaging and deployment, and all custom ABAP
objects, database tables, fields, and data elements
had to exist within a registered namespace. “Because
the software was already certified to run on SAP HANA,
minimal changes were needed to gain certification
with SAP Simple Finance,” notes Rob Leesberg,
Runbook’s founder and chief technology officer.
“This was a test-and-validate process – and by the
end, we earned the right to promote the certification
for both products by using the ‘Integration with
Applications on SAP HANA’ certification logo.”
“With SAP ICC certification, we can show customers that Runbook technology
is built to run on SAP solutions. Certification gives customers confidence
that deployments will be fast and efficient.”
Rob Leesberg, Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Runbook Company
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© 2015 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
SAP Business Transformation Study | High Tech | Runbook
Executive overview
Company objectives
Resolution
Business transformation
Future plans
Becoming the vendor of choice by
offering a broader vision
Now SAP ICC has certified Runbook’s SMART
Close and TRUE Reconciliation products as 100%
compatible with SAP HANA and SAP Simple Finance.
This will help customers accelerate their pilots of
SAP Simple Finance by eliminating the need for
most testing and validation by IT.
SAP certification also gives Runbook a strong
competitive edge in the marketplace. “It’s a fact
that customers moving to SAP Simple Finance
– or planning to – prefer an already tested and
certified solution,” explains Leesberg. “So our
certification will help accelerate customer adoption.”
At the same time, certification further solidifies
Runbook’s position as an innovator that aligns itself
with the strategy of SAP and its customers. “Companies
usually choose our software because they have a
specific issue or goal – for instance, they want to
close their books faster. And Runbook addresses
these needs better than any other company,”
Leesberg says. “But now, when we see customers
that have multiple SAP and non-SAP financial
systems, we can help them think more strategically
by proposing that they move to a central ledger in
SAP Simple Finance that brings together all of their
financial data. We can help them leap ahead in their
architecture, functionality, and way of working – and
realize a whole new level of benefit. And by offering
this broader value proposition, we immediately
position ourselves as the vendor of choice.”
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© 2015 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
Runbook
Executive overview
Company objectives
Resolution
Business transformation
Future plans
Creating a mutually
beneficial partnership
Runbook’s first certification was for an ABAP add-on
for SAP software integration in 2003, and the company
has continuously worked with SAP ICC since then.
“We work with the largest SAP customers – many of
whom are early adopters of SAP software,” remarks
Leesberg. “When SAP started offering ABAP add-on
certifications, we were first in line, as our customers
needed confidence in our solutions. Ever since,
we’ve been true partners and collaborators, helping
customers drive finance transformation by simplifying
implementations and reducing risk.”
Looking ahead, Runbook aims to be first to market
with new finance add-ons certified by SAP. “As we
innovate new products, we’re leveraging everything
we’ve learned from SAP ICC about SAP software
standards,” concludes Leesberg. “We can design
from the ground up to be fully compliant with SAP
quality standards. The goal is to get it right the first
time, gain SAP certifications, and deliver solutions
that are good for customers, SAP, and Runbook.”
Studio SAP | 36643enUS (15/04) © 2015 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
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