We were delighted to discover that we can create UI5 applications quickly and easily with Simplifier.

Dr. Harald Dörnbach

Managing Director at Viessmann IT Service

12 apps

in just six months

replaced by AppMaker

Efficient

despite limited resources

through the use of non-developers in the creation process

Maximum flexibility and sustainability in application development

Air conditioning and refrigeration specialist Viessmann replaces Lotus Notes and Google AppMaker applications and drives the implementation of its digitization strategy with Simplifier

Digital transformation is a key topic at Viessmann. The internationally active family business from Allensdorf (Eder) in Hesse develops and produces integrated air conditioning and energy solutions for people, companies and local authorities worldwide. Thanks to its many years of experience with Lotus Notes, Viessmann relied on Google AppMaker as part of its digitization strategy to modernize its outdated applications. The news that Google would no longer be offering the service from January 2021 therefore presented Viessmann with an immense challenge.

There was an urgent need for action for the expert in air conditioning and energy solutions: the twelve existing AppMaker applications had to be migrated to a new platform within a period of just six months. To make matters worse, Viessmann’s internal resources – particularly in terms of developer capacity – were also limited. As a result, efficient deployment and expansion of existing skills were necessary. In order to manage the migration in the best possible way, non-developers also needed to be involved in the application creation process.

As Viessmann was already using a low-code development platform (LCDP) with Google AppMaker and was familiar with the advantages of the technology, the new platform was also to be based on the low-code approach and thus enable the smooth reusability of existing functions.

The Hessian air conditioning and energy expert found both the optimal platform and the right partner in Simplifier. This enabled Viessmann to achieve a precision landing in the first joint project: the migration of the twelve existing applications was successfully completed one day before Google AppMaker was shut down and the apps subsequently went live. Viessmann was also able to connect to various Google services and integrate the user directory. In this way, the company has ensured the reusability of these components and can use them for all other applications in the future without any problems.

Overall, the low-code platform Simplifier was a convincing overall package: the technical expertise and optimal support from the team as well as the flexible and future-proof technology. During the tendering process, Viessmann placed a particular focus on reducing dependencies based on the experience gained. Simplifier also met this requirement, as the expert for climate and energy solutions retains sovereignty over the source code created (source code ownership). This flexibility was a unique selling point of the low-code platform during the selection process.

The platform is also ideal for developing SAP and Google Workplace apps thanks to its high compatibility factor. The quick and easy creation of SAP Fiori applications based on the UI5 framework offers a future-proof perspective. The flexible integration into the Google ecosystem also enables a high level of reusability and therefore sustainability of the applications created. By involving employees from the specialist departments, Viessmann is also able to shorten the time-to-market of the applications and thus accelerate the digital transformation.

Viessmann is already planning the implementation of further applications based on Simplifier. Particularly in view of the S/4HANA migration that has already been completed, the low-code platform offers the necessary flexibility to easily develop tailor-made SAP Fiori applications. Viessmann can also deploy new applications much faster using Simplifier and make functional and design changes without major effort.