Apollo-Optik Sees Clear Benefits with SOA
Company Size
1,000+
Region
- Europe
Country
- Germany
Product
- Digital Business Platform
- webMethods
- Adabas Database Management Platform
- Natural Application Development Platform
Tech Stack
- Java
- Linux
- Microsoft Dynamics NAV
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Cost Savings
- Customer Satisfaction
Technology Category
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - API Integration & Management
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Connectivity Platforms
Applicable Industries
- Retail
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
- Sales & Marketing
Use Cases
- Inventory Management
- Supply Chain Visibility
Services
- Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
- Data Science Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
Apollo-Optik is Germany's largest retail chain for optical products, with 700 stores across the country. The company offers a wide selection of eyeglasses, contact lenses, and fashionable frames. Apollo-Optik's goal is to provide customers with the best possible optical products and services. The company operates in a highly competitive environment dominated by small and medium-sized businesses. To differentiate itself, Apollo-Optik operates by the motto “far more than glasses,” aiming to provide the highest level of quality in customized eyeglasses on time, every time. To accomplish this, Apollo-Optik relies on several different back-end systems and corresponding business processes.
The Challenge
Apollo-Optik, Germany's largest retail chain for optical products, was facing challenges in serving its customers with high-quality products and on-time delivery. The company's IT landscape was complex and consisted of several different back-end systems, leading to redundancy in data and functionality. For instance, retrieving all data on a customer required calling upon many relevant functions in different systems. This inefficiency prompted Apollo-Optik to transition to a more efficient Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and implement re-usable services across all systems. The company aimed to provide the highest level of quality in customized eyeglasses on time, every time, and needed a solution that could help achieve this goal.
The Solution
Apollo-Optik partnered with Software AG to develop an architecture concept that met all the requirements. Using webMethods, Software AG's leading SOA and Business Process Management (BPM) suite, a pre-configured, virtual SOA platform for service development, testing, and production was created and implemented. The SOA platform consisted of hosting or provision and control of services, monitoring the runtime environment, integration of one service into the company’s IT, and data storage. The company first looked at improving its order-quality service. The service checks lens thickness as soon as an optician enters an order, retrieving this information via the Internet from headquarters using webMethods EntireX. The service is hosted and controlled by webMethods Integration Server and has access to a number of “internal services.” These include communication with databases containing information on all frames as well as lens types carried by Apollo-Optik and a Java-based “logical service.”
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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