Process mining expertise has uncovered root causes and is driving revenue-focused decisions
What is our primary use case?
My name is Gulshan Mishra, and I currently work for a private company where I hold 4.5 years of experience in Celonis Process Mining. I did multiple projects including Order-to-Cash process, Purchase-to-Pay process, and Accounts Payable process. I have also worked on new functionalities of Celonis, including Object-Centric Process Mining, Action Flows, Process Simulation, and AI-related functionalities such as Agent AI, Agent C, Copilot, Annotation Builder, and others.
My total and relevant experience is 4.5 years, entirely focused on Celonis Process Mining since I started my journey in the IT industry. My main use cases for Celonis involve working on different scenarios, with most being business process-related and some being custom processes as well. The specific use cases depend on the client and the processes where I have worked, though I have majorly focused on business processes as well as custom processes.
Specific examples of business processes I have worked on using Celonis include the Order-to-Cash process and Purchase-to-Pay process. In those processes, my first step with Celonis was establishing connectivity and extracting the data. I extracted relevant tables and columns, and when required, I pseudonymized those columns and performed Vertica SQL transformation using case activity table creation. After that, I identified bottlenecks as well as automation-related tasks.
Regarding my main use cases for Celonis, whenever working on any business processes or custom processes, I ensure to first create a wireframe to understand how to proceed with dashboard creation and what KPIs are required for building those business processes. I identify the pinpoint areas where root causes are happening and determine what solutions can be implemented. These findings can be presented to the client. By identifying these areas through data analysis and connecting with stakeholders to highlight pinpoint areas or root causes, I can indicate that working on those areas will generate more revenue.
What is most valuable?
The best features Celonis offers, in my opinion, include Object-Centric Process Mining and Annotation Builder. Object-Centric Process Mining provides a depth of understanding of every object, while Annotation Builder allows for customization of free text columns. For example, if a resolution is provided but later the IT team finds it incorrect, Annotation Builder can be used to suggest the correct category or product name.
In Object-Centric Process Mining, I first create objects, which can be anything from products, invoices, categories, customers, or billing. After that, I identify the event log, which should consist of activities, such as creating purchase orders or purchase requisitions. Once I identify the objects and events, I define the relationships between them, which can be one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many. The benefit of Object-Centric Process Mining is that I gain a detailed view of every object. If I want to see the detail level for any particular object, I can do that. In case-centric process mining, however, I can only choose one case ID and see all the details related to that case ID, which is a more restricted view compared to the 3D layer of view available in Object-Centric Process Mining.
Celonis has positively impacted my organization as it holds a Titanium partnership with Celonis. Whenever I find myself stuck, I can directly connect with Celonis team, which offers many resources. For example, in my company, if I am not familiar with the data connectivity part, there is a dedicated team that can handle those tasks. Even when it comes to value realization, the Business Value Architect can take care of those needs.
What needs improvement?
There are a few things about Celonis that need improvement. One specific limitation is in the view module; when creating a filter bar, I cannot resize the filter section beyond the default size provided by Celonis. If I wish to include more than 15 filters, I cannot do so due to this limitation. Additionally, I feel that Copilot feature has several areas for improvement, as it sometimes gets stuck after providing a few responses, requiring me to restart the chat. For specific incidents, if I mention an incident with a certain service tier, the system uses the like operator and shows related results that may not be exactly what I need, which I have already raised with Celonis support team for resolution.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Celonis is stable. Celonis is reliable, and whenever there are downtime activities, they provide notifications. Generally, downtime occurs on weekends, and I have not experienced any significant issues during weekdays.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate Celonis's scalability at five to six.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have not previously used a different solution before Celonis.
What was our ROI?
In terms of return on investment, for money-saving KPIs, I would point to the importance of on-time delivery in the Order-to-Cash process. Other KPIs I focus on include investigating root causes, such as rework cases for late deliveries and identifying vendors that do not make payments on time. By analyzing these KPIs, clients can identify root causes and enhance their revenue generation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Regarding pricing, I find that the costs for Celonis are higher than other market products. However, the functionality it offers justifies the investment, as it provides numerous features and benefits that make it worthwhile for clients and stakeholders.
What other advice do I have?
My advice for others looking into using Celonis is to become familiar with SQL functionality as well as the ETL concept—extract, transform, load. A basic understanding of data warehousing is also essential. Although Celonis is not overly complicated, understanding the basic level of SQL, data warehousing, and ETL is beneficial. Only a familiarity with the UI is required for effective utilization. I would rate my overall experience with Celonis as an eight.
Careful process mapping has guided our adoption and provides clear end-to-end execution insights
What needs improvement?
I have chosen a rating of eight out of ten for Celonis because of the pricing factor, and I believe much can be improved in the visualization.
I do not have any other improvements I would like to see in Celonis besides pricing and visualization.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others looking into using Celonis is to ensure before evaluating the product that your use case or process can fit into the tool. You might need to understand the business complexity, and you may need to split your use case into multiple processes, and then you can feed the smaller one to Celonis. Then you can understand how it can be executed end to end.
I have given Celonis an overall rating of eight out of ten.
Process mining has transformed invoice prioritization and reduced duplicates across finance workflows
What is our primary use case?
I have more than four years of experience with Celonis process mining and more than one year of experience with Signavio.
I have created numerous use cases around Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Purchase to Pay. These are the three main processes I have worked on, with a primary focus on the AP side.
One of the challenges we identified was that invoices were not being posted in SAP. To address this, I created an invoice prioritization use case in Celonis where we prioritize all invoices according to vendor type and other ranking criteria. This became one of my major use cases. The second significant use case I developed was a duplicate checker that I customized according to our company's specific needs, which resulted in substantial savings.
Another process I worked on involved the HTR side, where we identified the hiring procedure for candidates. We discovered that the process contained numerous steps and was taking more than two weeks to complete. Through Celonis, I identified an issue where there was no communication between two interviews, and this became another use case I successfully identified.
What is most valuable?
One of the valuable features is Action Flow. Another feature I appreciate is the Simulation Report that Celonis provides, which allows me to identify and predict future analysis. Celonis has also moved into Views, which is very interactive for business users, and these are the features I appreciate the most.
With Action Flow, I addressed an issue where vendors were not receiving real-time status updates on their invoices. I created an Action Flow that provides vendors with real-time status information on their current invoices sent to our company. After implementing this Action Flow, our normal ServiceNow ticketing has been reduced by 70 percent, and vendors are utilizing the Action Flow extensively.
Regarding the Simulation Report, I used it to show the business what would happen if we changed some automation rates in the process, added more FTEs, or removed FTEs. I demonstrated to the business that if they changed these parameters by a certain number, they would see projected outcomes. Through this simulation, we identified that our cycle time was reduced by two days in one of the AR processes. Additionally, our invoices became prioritized, and the number of duplicate invoices was drastically reduced because we check for duplicates before posting and remove any duplicates. There have been many other savings, including P&L savings and cost reductions during the implementation of Celonis use cases.
What needs improvement?
One challenge I can identify is their OCPM model, as there are many things that a data engineer or the back-end team need to address. Celonis needs to work on simplifying these aspects.
There are several other aspects that Celonis needs to improve. I have observed data mismatch issues in Celonis. Additionally, on the technical side, there are challenges such as difficulty in making changes, and these are areas where I believe Celonis needs to focus. This is why I have given a rating of nine.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Celonis for the last four and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Celonis is stable. I have observed some issues around certain regions, but I have not experienced significant stability issues otherwise.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Celonis can handle substantial scale. I recall that when we started using Celonis, we had a space of five terabytes and around one thousand users, and Celonis managed all of that easily.
How are customer service and support?
I have experienced lags in response times from customer service. We are not always receiving responses on time. I remember a particular use case where I raised requests to Celonis, and it took more than two weeks to receive a response. This was the worst experience I have had with Celonis until now.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We started initially with Celonis, so I have not used any previous solution before Celonis. I did not explore other options initially.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was perfectly fine. We connected Celonis with SAP and Snowflake, and the integration was not difficult to implement or connect. The integration between Celonis and other systems is very good.
What was our ROI?
Regarding time saved and cost saved, we have seen improvements. However, in the initial year, it takes time before seeing a return on investment. After implementing the process successfully and deploying the use cases, then a return on investment becomes visible. In the first couple of years, I would not expect a return on investment because the initial setup will take more than a year if the process requires significant customization.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I am not heavily involved in that particular aspect, but I have heard that Celonis is somewhat expensive.
What other advice do I have?
It will take some time to become comfortable with process mining using Celonis because completing the training alone does not provide real-time usage experience. There are many error-handling scenarios that take more time when starting work on real-time projects. I would say it is neither very difficult nor very easy.
First, you need to determine which process you need to mine. Otherwise, you will lose your money and not receive a return on investment. If your company knows which process to mine first, you will get your investment back as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will take time to see a return on investment.
I am a customer of Celonis. Celonis is faster compared to any BI tool. Customization is possible with Celonis. Since my process has already been customized, I have used Celonis extensively for customization according to our usage requirements.
I have given this review a rating of nine.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Intuitive, but Could Be More User-Friendly for Business Users
What do you like best about the product?
I like that Celonis offers the ability to see the complete flow in process mining, which I find very valuable as it helps to understand the full lifecycle of business processes. Additionally, the interpretation of this flow is easy, which is essential for making informed decisions quickly. Celonis is quite intuitive, meaning there is no steep learning curve, allowing me to adapt quickly and use the tool effectively without needing other support tools.
What do you dislike about the product?
I think Celonis could be a bit simpler for the business user. Although it is quite intuitive, simplifying it even more would be beneficial.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I use Celonis for process mining, which helps me understand the complete lifecycle of our processes in an intuitive and easy-to-interpret way.
User-Friendly, Effective for Process Optimization
What do you like best about the product?
I really like that Celonis is very user-friendly, which makes it easy to navigate through its features. Its user interface is very nice, providing an aesthetically pleasing and intuitive experience. Additionally, the library of knowledge offered by Celonis is extremely good, providing me with access to a wealth of information and resources that are valuable for effectively utilizing the software.
What do you dislike about the product?
Sometimes, the data sources do not work well, though this seems to be more of an issue with external data sources from other companies rather than with Celonis itself.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I use Celonis to create a digital twin of our processes, helping us fix processes and find bottlenecks within our company.
Amazing tool, quite messy sales strategy
What do you like best about the product?
This is a very comprehensive tool for process optimisation. You can achieve value quickly, all you need is to have strong sponsorship and the right use case.
What do you dislike about the product?
Seems that the licensing structure is always changing, all newest capabilities are always an add on for your current contract.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Transparency, conformance, standarisation.
Impressive Results, But Adoption Can Be Challenging
What do you like best about the product?
So much impact and so much results compared to my work before
What do you dislike about the product?
How tricky it is to convince my own management and colleagues to use it
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Connect several systems (sap old and new) - provide context to data - give ability to dive deep
Empowering Platform for Building Custom Apps
What do you like best about the product?
That you can build your own app, Celonis is basically becoming a Software for everything.
What do you dislike about the product?
Currently not really anything, as I‘m just getting started.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Shortening leadtimes from service processes
Outstanding Alerting Features with Action Flows
What do you like best about the product?
Alerting feature via action flows. Help us eliminator repetotive reporting tasks
What do you dislike about the product?
Copilot not being AI enough. All kpis I want to query about need to be pre defined
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Currently were still looking for benefit opoortunities
Excellent for Process Visualization and Customization
What do you like best about the product?
Celonis helps in visualizing and underatanding processes. It is very usufull for a lot of basic processes but you can add also custom process
What do you dislike about the product?
It is quite difficult to use the ocpm. Anyway the academy is a wonderful way to learn on your own
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
It helps me company to perform and improve the customer experience
