Driving digital transformation with Axway
Bosch is an engineering and technology innovator, employing more than 420,000 people worldwide and generating annual revenues of approximately 88 billion euros.
The company creates cutting-edge digital solutions across all lines of business: mobility solutions, industrial technology, consumer goods, and energy and building technology. For example, Bosch is creating smart home solutions powered by internet-of-things (IoT) technology, unlocking new, better experiences for customers.
The in-house IT service provider for the global Bosch business, Bosch Digital, plays a key role in enabling these new capabilities. Bosch Digital is responsible for building, maintaining, and protecting the IT platforms that support internal stakeholders, external partners, and customers all around the world.
Rainer Metje, Vice President IT Products/Services Data & Integration Platforms at Bosch Digital, confirms: “Our goal is to deliver products and services that become an indispensable part of our customers’ lives and our ongoing digital transformation is vital to enable that long-term strategy.”
As part of the digital transformation initiative, Bosch is moving to the next generation ERP SAP S/4HANA, that replaces monolithic IT systems with modular, flexible, and extensible architectures.
APIs are a crucial component of the new IT infrastructure, as David Geiger, Head of API Management at Bosch Digital, explains: “We see APIs as essential for digital transformation. For internal users, APIs provide access to the data, processes, and systems that allow us to automate our workflows and become more efficient. And for external users, APIs support our IoT solutions, business partner integrations, and other data-driven business models.”
Building on a decades-long partnership
For over 25 years, Bosch has relied on Axway B2B Integration Platform for mission-critical electronic data interchange (EDI) services. As its digital transformation initiative gained pace, the company engaged with Axway to help it build, manage, secure, and govern APIs throughout the lifecycle using Amplify API Management.
Metje comments: “A significant share of Bosch revenue is handled via EDI, which means B2B integration is truly a mission-critical capability for our business. Axway B2B Integration Platform has performed flawlessly for more than two decades, so we knew we could trust Axway to support our other integration use cases.”
As API adoption increases, it can be all too easy for developers to spend time building integrations that other teams have already created. Working with Axway, Bosch launched Amplify Enterprise Marketplace, bringing all APIs in the organization into one easy-to-manage catalog.
Geiger continues: “Today, we manage around 2,000 APIs using Amplify API Management, with an overall volume of about 200 million transactions a month. These APIs enable a wide range of use cases, from connecting SAP S/4HANA with other line-of-business solutions to supporting smart heating systems for office buildings. With Amplify Marketplace, there’s no need for developers to traverse the whole organization trying to find the right API; it’s going to save a huge amount of time.”
Taking the next step
As its digital transformation continues, Bosch is uncovering new opportunities to streamline mission-critical data flows. For example, the company is now replacing legacy solutions for internal file transfers with Axway Managed File Transfer — bringing new levels of control and governance to more than 1.75 million daily transfers in the future.
Metje elaborates: “Every integration use case is different, and we want to use best-of-breed solutions for each of those scenarios. In Axway, we’ve found the optimal partner to support our needs around B2B integration, API management and MFT.”
Looking ahead, the company will continue to work closely with Axway to realize its long-term vision.
“Bosch and Axway have a longstanding partnership with active collaboration on multiple levels, from strategy to research and development,” concludes Geiger. “The open and active collaboration between Axway and Bosch will help us deliver new, data-driven solutions to customers all over the world.”
