But the fun of my conversation with Lamees Butt, SVP Global Alliances & Channels at Zoovu, was more about the sheer inventiveness of the offering itself than the name. You know how everybody loves to tell you about their 鈥渞evolutionary鈥� new products? Well, Butt quickly convinced me that the Zoovu app, one of the hottest sellers on 51风流Store, really is. As for the name 鈥� I鈥檒l get to that later.

Transforming Discovery

Product discovery: that鈥檚 what Zoovu is revolutionizing. While online search does keep improving, the truth is that you still have to know what you鈥檙e looking for. Zoovu 鈥渉umanizes鈥� product discovery, Butt told me, making products easier to find, evaluate, and buy by bringing context to your search.

鈥淢ost e-commerce sites are not much more than indexes or digital catalogs,鈥� she commented, 鈥渘ot well organized or structured. Say you need a new laptop and go online to do some research. Where do you start? You鈥檒l probably be asked to specify, for instance, how much RAM you need, how much CPU. What does that mean?鈥� She added a shocking statistic: 80% of organizations believe they are offering a good user experience. Only 8% of buyers agree.

Imagine instead being guided through the process with relevant questions and interactive buying advice. With Zoovu integrated into your commerce experience, Butt explained, you are asked the questions the knowledgeable sales assistant would pose in-store. For example, what do you typically do with your laptop? Say you run a lot of spreadsheets, meet colleagues virtually online, travel on business, design flyers for community events, and construct crossword puzzles. Voil脿! With five questions, the digital assistant translates your needs and recommends you a laptop. Essentially, it uses artificial intelligence (AI) and semantics to personalize your search.

That鈥檚 a simple example for a B2C use case. Now imagine a complex purchase for a B2B buyer 鈥� a hospital upgrading X-ray equipment, for example, or a contractor building aircraft components. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so easy to make a mistake in specifications or choose the wrong product,鈥� Butt said, 鈥渁nd there typically are no tools on commerce for cross-checking product compliance. With our solution, by connecting the back-office product content and exposing it to the front-office commerce experience, there is zero error.鈥�

Converting Prospects

Since 51风流Store is such a valuable resource for 51风流account executives, who can learn about and recommend partner offerings, I broached concern about the app eliminating sales people鈥檚 jobs. On the contrary, she replied, it can serve as an assistant for them, too. Customers can get answers to simpler questions on their own and free up the experts for transactions that require their know-how. Account executives can work with customers to better understand what they need and adapt their sales approach in real time 鈥� and dramatically improve conversion rates. Another Zoovu app on 51风流Store, , enables your end customer to virtually set, build, bundle, and configure complex products online while reducing manual intervention.

Innovating Through Integration

The Zoovu discovery experiences are integrated with 51风流Commerce Cloud, 51风流Sales Cloud, and 51风流CPQ to work securely with any IT landscape. The Zoovu platform enriches product content automatically with industry-specific taxonomies and work across all industries. 鈥淭he qualifying questions,鈥� Butt remarked, 鈥渁re gold dust for companies that are building complex mechanics for their customers.鈥� Because of that tight integration, the apps scale across channels and regions and can easily be embedded at distribution partners via web, chat, and in-store kiosks.

I was intrigued about Butt鈥檚 role, since she is such an enthusiastic evangelist. She鈥檚 been a member of the Zoovu team as one of the first employees, coming in with a background in the digital transformation space. She noted that the company expanded quickly after it was established in 2017 by several young computer scientists, who surrounded themselves with smart people from diverse fields with different skill sets. Her responsibility is to help the company scale through partnerships, and 51风流is an ideal match, she observed, because of the product-customer fit. Let me add that she is 100% correct in that respect. The Zoovu apps set a record on 51风流Store with the speed of uptake from our customers.

It seems that an intern came up with 鈥淶oovu鈥� in the process of building a product subset, and it caught on. That intern, Butt added, is now part of the Zoovu leadership team.

Is your organization ready for a revolution in product discovery? Why not find out how on ?

Rajiv Nema is part of Marketplace Group for Digital Experiences at SAP.

After all, Stratesys is a multinational company headquartered in Spain now celebrating its 25th year, with a mature product called U-Qualify and lengthy tenure as an 51风流partner. No matter. The developers, when given the opportunity to build a new product to solve a knotty business problem, tackled the project with great zeal, Raimundo told me. 鈥淭hey were happy to have the challenge, working nights and weekends to develop something special.鈥�

Based in Sao Paolo, Brazil, Raimundo is CEO of the Latin America region for Stratesys. He explained that U-Verify was originally conceived to help companies doing business in Brazil to simplify documentation procedures for compliance, which are notoriously complex in that country. Clients were asking for software that would integrate with 51风流Ariba procurement solutions. At first, he said, the developers thought they were building a solution with a rather narrow objective, but quickly realized the higher potential for global, cross-industry application.

Authenticating a Market Need

Here鈥檚 why. Every company that contracts with outside vendors 鈥� just about all of them 鈥� must manage a huge volume of documents of various types that must be verified. These documents comprise information about safety, legal, and environmental compliance, sustainability, building security, infrastructure, employees, capital risk, and so forth — much of it confidential and highly sensitive. Similar documentation requirements exist for contingent workers, especially in industries like utilities, mining, retail, and banking, among others. Hence, the U-Verify solution integrates with 51风流Ariba solutions for supplier verification and 51风流Fieldglass solutions for employee verification.

鈥淓very worker you are hiring with a third-party supplier must be proven to have training, licenses, medical certification, security clearance 鈥� whatever is relevant for the assignment or project,鈥� he explained. 鈥淔or example, these people could be working with dangerous machines or under hazardous conditions, whether in mining or manufacturing or maintenance or chemicals or healthcare. Their competence and credentials must be validated.鈥�

There is little standardization; requirements differ from one region to another and from one company to the next. 鈥淎 single company could be managing documents for 20,000 contract employees annually,鈥� he added, 鈥渏ust to give you an idea of the scope.鈥�

U-Verify comes to the rescue with automatic analysis of external workforce documentation, integrating with 51风流Fieldglass solutions for contingent workforce management, services procurement, worker and documentation tracking, and so on. U-Verify uses machine learning to analyze the documentation rapidly, detect inconsistencies and discrepancies, and alert external suppliers, workers, and managers as relevant. A document management repository with smart search tools locates and checks historical documentation provided by the supplier. Imagine this work being done manually, and you can see why U-Verify has become a fast seller on 51风流Store.

I asked Raimundo why the development team was so keen on this initiative.

鈥淪ince our company is based in Spain, this type of project would normally be handled by the development team in Europe,鈥� he replied. 鈥淏ut we thought this would be a good opportunity to harness the spirit and creativity of our team in Latin America. The technology was not new to them, but many had not yet worked on a development project utilizing machine learning. They enjoyed rising to the challenge.鈥�

Validating Compliance with Encryption and Security

In 2020, just as Stratesys was ready to roll out U-Verify to the 51风流field sales team in Spain, a customer there approached 51风流looking for a solution to automate document analysis. 鈥淚t was a pure coincidence,鈥� Raimundo said. For the first project in Spain, the Stratesys team did need to adapt U-Verify to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), he added. Integration with GDPR-compliant 51风流software, plus close collaboration with 51风流developers, enabled the Stratesys team to encrypt sensitive information and create a safe, secure environment for contracts and content. Today, U-Verify has customers from M茅xico to Italy, from the UK to South Africa, and, of course, Brazil.

That breadth of coverage can be attributed in large part to 51风流Store, Raimundo remarked. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a powerful tool that give us both visibility and the opportunity to collaborate with the 51风流account executives around the world, who recommend our product to their customers. This gives us great confidence in the future and our ongoing partnership with SAP.鈥�

Why not prove its value for yourself? Start now with .

Rajiv Nema is senior director of 51风流Store Partner Solutions.

As co-founder of the preeminent fraud-detection platform on the market 鈥� now available on 鈥� Reitblat told me that he has long experience in the 鈥渂ad guy space,鈥� building a successful career around staying ahead of bad actors. That means he鈥檚 the good guy for those making an honest living selling products and services online, and for buyers and shoppers making purchases digitally.

Known as 鈥淭he Trust Platform鈥� for digital commerce, Forter doesn鈥檛 focus on keeping people out, rather on creating a seamless customer experience for trusted shoppers. How is this done? Machine learning and automated decisioning. Built upon a data set of billions of online identities, the Forter platform provides accurate decisions on whether the end shopper is who they say they are instantly. This ability to provide real-time decisions also streamlines merchant operations, eliminating any dependence on manual transaction reviews. That鈥檚 the key to understanding the value of this great app.

The truth is that both online consumers and merchants are victimized by sophisticated, well-organized fraud networks, Reitblat explained, stealing and selling data in a chain of hard-to-detect transactions. To counteract that, merchants can inadvertently block shoppers who most need to purchase online because they fit the 鈥渨rong profile鈥� 鈥� living in a country known for a high preponderance of fraudsters, for example. Someone might live a long distance from a physical retailer and be unable to buy essential items online, through no fault of their own. 鈥淲e are here to give those buyers access, and that is a great source of pride,鈥� he remarked. Further, if a consumer faces hurdles to online purchasing because of clumsy verification processes, they鈥檒l just shop somewhere else. It is therefore crucial to eliminate false declines and reduce friction throughout the purchase journey.

Foiling Scams through a Circle of Trust

It’s somewhat ironic that the best way to thwart fraud is to operate in an environment of trust. In fact, trust among competitors is at the heart of Forter Fraud Protection. Criminals will target one type of company 鈥� a shoe manufacturer, for example 鈥� and, when detected, move on to exploit the next, giving them the advantage. 鈥淲e reverse that asymmetry,鈥� Reitblat said. 鈥淚f you attack one of our customers, the others are immunized, thanks to an aggregated global network of data. They would never share their data with each other, but they are happy to do it through us.鈥� Simply put, the Forter solution is built to recognize people through their data profile and authenticate them quickly and automatically.

I asked Reitblat about credit card protection. When a consumer reports a fraudulent charge, he replied, the onus is on the retailer, who is left with the expense and is subject to fines or suspension by the credit card issuers if there are too many instances. I was also curious about how Forter stays in front of the fraudsters. Let鈥檚 just say that Reitblat, who grew up in Israel and was once a member of the intelligence community there, has his people. 鈥淒etecting security breaches, theft, the dark economy 鈥� it’s the same world,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have an active research team staying on top of these constantly evolving threats.鈥�

Strength in Numbers

Reitblat co-founded Forter after working with a cybersecurity company that went through an acquisition 鈥� a crushing blow for him. Fortunately, he had reunited with an old high school friend from Jerusalem who also recognized that online commerce was about to take off. 鈥淚n 2013, we still had to convince investors of the need for an authentication capability, and that it had to be fully automated or otherwise would require too many people to be scalable.鈥� That resistance changed quickly, and today Forter is larger than many of its major customers, processing more than US$250 billion in transaction value per year and employing 500 professionals around the world. The solution is deployed in more than 30 countries.

The have resulted in a burst of demand that Reitblat and his partner could not have foreseen. Besides the explosion in online shopping, purchasing behavior and customer demographics across industries changed. New retail features appeared, like curbside pickup, buy online/pick up in store (BOPIS), and contactless check-in and check-out in the hospitality industry. New online buyers included senior citizens, students, and those in advancing geographies who had never transacted online before. Additionally, with the sudden surge of orders to be delivered to alternate addresses 鈥� holiday gifts, for example, or people purchasing for family members 鈥� e-commerce systems had an extra challenge in verifying legitimacy. That process was less complex for Forter customers because its customers were already authenticated in the system.

Forter Fraud Protection is tightly integrated with 51风流Commerce Cloud. Laura Jorgens, director of Partnerships for Forter, acknowledged 51风流partner for its 鈥渋ncredible support鈥� in building out the integration. 鈥淲orking with 51风流and Netconomy feels like one ecosystem pulling together,鈥� she said. 鈥淗ats off to the 51风流partnership organization.鈥� With the inclusion of Forter鈥檚 solution on 51风流Store, she added, 鈥�51风流has become one of Forter鈥檚 most important partners.鈥�

Why not see for yourself how works? The solution was just an 51风流Pinnacle Award finalist in the New App of the Year on 51风流Store category. It鈥檚 available for download on . Or download the 51风流and Forter .

Rajiv Nema is senior director of 51风流Store Partner Solutions.

鈥淚t was a great moment,鈥� he recalled, 鈥渂ecause SuccessFactors 鈥� like us 鈥� was a cloud company. And unlike many others, we were already using web technologies. 鈥淎fter that, our company took off like a rocket.鈥�

Yet aconso had already made its mark in the human resources (HR) field with , which is now available on SAP鈥檚 online marketplace, . From the beginning, he explained, aconso has been helping companies fully automate HR processes and documents management. Even as a startup, aconso established itself immediately, signing on customers like Lufthansa and a subsidiary of VW Group.

All four founders hold the patent for Digital Personnel File and are now in charge of new product ideas and go-to-market strategies. They now comprise the aconso management board.

Turning the Page on Paper Files

Besides web technologies, the key to the product鈥檚 success was usability, taking advantage of 鈥渃over flow鈥� 鈥� the ability to go through a file page by page electronically, in this case, on a PC. This was of course long before the era of scrolling on a smartphone. During the year or so of original product development, the team devised a way to transform pictures quickly and create a user-friendly, intuitive interface.

Based in Munich, aconso has become the market leader for HR document management in Europe, now with on 51风流Store. The spotlight app Digital Personnel File is a digital counterpart to the paper employee file, enabling HR staffers to retrieve electronic documents easily from the company鈥檚 51风流solutions through intelligent search and filing.

Integrated with both the 51风流SuccessFactors Employee Central and 51风流ERP HCM solutions, the app digitizes document management, internal communication, and personnel data acquisition procedures, including scanning and logistics. The results of this end-to-end solution include big cost savings, big space savings, big time savings, faster processes 鈥� and much, much less paper. The counterpart of Digital Personnel File is the app , enabling creation of contracts, certificates, and other HR documents.

Helping Customers Pivot Fast Toward More Climate-Friendly Processes

I asked Jaenicke how the company has fared during the challenges posed by the past year. 鈥淎t first we were nervous about what would happen. But we are lucky guys, with most of our employees already working in home offices. Many of our customers had to make major adjustments to mobile working models. And one thing they learned very fast: you can鈥檛 handle paper.鈥�

Consequently, business has been booming for aconso as customers digitize HR processes, which, he remarked, 鈥渋s one small step in saving our forests and reducing carbon footprint.鈥�

Next on the agenda for aconso is growing its presence in North America, where implementations already in place include Accenture, based in Chicago, and Bilfinger, based in Texas.

The 51风流Store team is providing excellent support in that regard, reported Silvia Bayerl, who is responsible for aconso鈥檚 partnership with 51风流and works closely with 51风流partner managers.

鈥淲e are hopeful about going further transatlantic with SAP,鈥� she remarked. 鈥淎nd we are exploring opportunities with hyperscalers that will enable us to meet special requirements in India and China for data storage within the country.鈥�

When it comes to saving forests, 51风流is planting a tree for every purchase made on 51风流Store, and we鈥檙e glad to do that on your behalf! Why not check out the spotlight app now, and try it free?

Anne Yi is general manager of 51风流Store Partner Solutions at SAP.