Opacc Connect 2024: Step by step to becoming a digital champion
On November 21, Opacc invited around 500 visitors to Connect 2024 at the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne. The customer event offered exciting insights into the latest innovations and applications of the Opacc platform as well as inspiring customer stories. Companies of all sizes learned how they can reach the next level of digital evolution step by step and become digital champions.
The evening was kicked off by Ramon Häfliger, Communications Manager at Opacc, who warmly welcomed the guests. "It's a wonderful sight to see how full it is - and that's how it has to be. Today I have the pleasure of accompanying you through the individual phases of the digital evolution," he said. True to the motto 'Step by step to digital champion', the guests were treated to a varied program full of insights into Opacc applications and their possible uses.
Marc Haller, alias "Erwin from Switzerland", provided a humorous interlude between the content blocks. With his magical interludes, which cleverly referred to the topics of digitalization, he made the audience marvel and laugh.
Beat Bussmann's last Connect as CEO
After the welcome address by Ramon Häfliger, Beat Bussmann took to the stage. He founded Opacc 36 years ago and has since shaped the company with vision and passion. He addressed the guests with a personal retrospective and clear visions for the future. "We always see many familiar faces at Connect who have been with us for many years. And we also see new faces who place their trust in us," he said. Bussmann spoke about the challenges of digital evolution and the rapid change in the IT industry: "It's brutal how quickly everything is developing. Every day there are new companies, new services, new software products, new competitors. And you never know: have I missed something or overlooked an opportunity?"
Opacc is responding to this change with a clear strategy: evolution instead of revolution. The basis for this is the Oxas platform, which provides homogeneous and centralized data for all processes. As it was probably his last Connect as CEO, Bussmann gave the guests a personal wish: "Take at least three ideas with you that could work in your company."
Focus on innovation: Insights into the Opacc platform
Over the course of the evening, Opacc employees presented the latest developments and applications of the platform. Supported by videos and customer reports, the audience was guided through a variety of innovations. The customer examples impressively demonstrated how Opacc customers are already successfully shaping their digital evolution on the basis of Opacc applications. The highlights included Nytron, which combines a modern user experience with a proven application concept, marketing automation for customized email campaigns and Cloud Integration Services, which allow external services to be seamlessly integrated into the platform. The latter enables companies to benefit from the innovation dynamics of the cloud without having to worry about technical details.
Approval management was also presented. It automates the approval of business objects, improves process quality and saves time - regardless of location and completely digitally. This module shows how repetitive tasks can be made more efficient so that companies can focus on strategically important issues. These are just a few examples of the many possibilities that were presented on this evening. The variety of innovations impressively demonstrated how Opacc supports companies of all sizes in their digital evolution.
Change of baton at Opacc: Beat Bussmann hands over the helm
A key moment of the evening was the announced change of management at Opacc. Bussmann took the opportunity to look back on the development of Opacc. "We started in 1998. We weren't thinking about the big issues back then. We had completely different concerns. We were trying to find out: Where is our place? What works? What's not working?" he said. Bussmann emphasized how important the team is for success: "You can't do everything on your own. Opacc now has 25 partners who take on additional responsibility and support the company."
Looking to the future, Bussmann presented the new management model, which focuses on continuity and independence. A rotating system of Executive Partners, in which the Managing Partner changes every three to seven years, plays a central role. Bussmann's successor Cris Wouters was introduced as the first Managing Partner. Wouters, who has been with the company since 1998, brings with him many years of experience from various management positions. Beat Bussmann will remain with the company as principal owner and in his role as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
A look back and ahead
After his speech, Beat Bussmann handed over to Cris Wouters. Together they reflected on the past, present and future of Opacc. "They say that the first 100 days are important. What signs do you want to set from January 1 to April 10?", Bussmann asked his successor. Wouters replied that he would initially continue to look after existing customers and at the same time drive forward the new quality and corporate goal of Fit for AI: "That will be a central focus of my new role."
Wouters asked what the secret of Opacc's long-term success was. Bussmann explained that Opacc is characterized by the bundling of knowledge under one roof. This not only enables innovation, but also creates a major competitive advantage. Added to this is the team's passion: "We love what we do and are really interested in our customers' problems. That makes the difference."
In emotional video messages, customers, business personalities and representatives from the worlds of sport and politics conveyed their best wishes to the outgoing CEO.
After the break: innovation and insights
The second part of the event was dedicated to future topics. Feedback from customer surveys and an insight into Opacc's personnel development showed how Opacc responds to the needs of its customers and is constantly evolving. Various innovations were then presented, including how customers have opened up new fields of activity, success stories of the Commerce Suite and progress in the area of AI and the Data Science platform.
Sport meets business: Roman Röösli as special guest
Another highlight was the appearance of Roman Röösli, bronze Olympic medal winner from Paris 2024. The exceptional athlete provided exciting insights into his career as a rower and talked about his new professional direction as a budding farmer.
A joint finale
At the end of the day, Opacc presented an outlook on the innovations planned for the coming year. He then succinctly summarized the highlights and thanked all participants for their trust in Opacc.
