Acquisition of Make

Celonis acquires Make and takes the next step towards an all-in-one process solution. What exactly this means and what we can expect from Celonis, Make and the world of automation in the future - you can find out.  

Celonis already announced the good news last autumn: the software giant was buying the Czech company Make. The goal? To complement and complete its own software for process mining (Celonis calls it Execution Management System) with connected process automation. But let's start again: What is Celonis anyway and who exactly is this Make?

Celonis is a German software company. Founded in 2011, it achieved unicorn status in 2016 - a company valuation for young companies of more than $1 billion. Wow. Celonis has developed software based on so-called process mining. This means that digital business processes are analyzed and evaluated. This sometimes requires huge amounts of data to break down cross-departmental processes. So it is no wonder that Celonis is closely linked with SAP and other large ERP manufacturers. The goal is to uncover inefficiencies and potential for improvement.

So, short version: Celonis' software analyses your processes, visualizes them and shows you what's wrong. So far so good, but what follows?  

And this is where Make comes in. Make is a Czech company that has created a platform for automation. You can think of it as an interface where you plug together all your different software: Outlook, One Drive, HubSpot, maybe Slack or your Wordpress website. Data that is needed or processed in all these applications is automatically transferred through the links. The goal here is to let digital processes run independently. Of course, this is especially true for standardized, recurring processes.  

This is exactly why the symbiosis of Celonis & Make works so well: Make finishes what Celonis started.  

Celonis has created powerful software that gives medium-sized and large companies in particular an overview of their own processes. Because especially in huge companies with cross-departmental processes, at a certain point it is almost impossible to know the entire process, let alone understand it. Once the weak points have been identified, Make comes into play. Because: Celonis also issues recommendations on how these inefficiencies can be eliminated. Make does exactly that: By linking the applications used, an automated data flow and efficient processes are created.

So What Does The Celonis & Make Merger Mean for The World of Automation?

Celonis has succeeded in becoming a real market power in just a few years. While process mining has already arrived at many companies, automation is still in its infancy. With the acquisition of Make, Celonis is sending a clear signal: process automation is the future. This is worth a lot of money to Celonis. The takeover sum is said to be in the three-digit million range.  

This is how Celonis & Make create a comprehensive solution for processes: From analysis and visualization to optimization and automation, Celonis' customers now receive the complete package. A complete control of business processes is thus possible. However, there is still one hurdle to overcome: Bringing together the two target groups of the tech companies. Celonis is particularly committed to the large and largest companies: Customers like Deutsche Telekom, Lufthansa, Siemens or Uber trust in Celonis Execution Management System. Make, on the other hand, has built up a strong community of IT enthusiasts, developers and small and medium-sized enterprises. However, these companies have very different software requirements than large corporations.  

Merger of Make and Celonis: More Focus on Enterprise

Cloud automation is reaching for new stars. This is because the relatively young technology is still missing the final step in the direction of large companies. This can be achieved by Celonis, which has already won over this very target group. In addition, Make is based on so-called cloud automation, which means that only software that is cloud-based can be connected there. This is a clear declaration of war in the direction of RPA, the competing technology. RPA or Robotic Process Automation enables individually developed automations for on-premise software.

On the other hand, Celonis also sends a message to medium-sized companies: process mining is not only useful for large corporations. Medium-sized companies can also benefit from it and receive a comprehensive solution for optimizing their own processes with Celonis & Make. However, it is currently more realistic that Make will approach the large companies than Celonis the smaller ones.  

So What Does The Acquisition of Make by Celonis Mean for The Bottom Line?

Celonis has succeeded in what every takeover wants to achieve: improving the market position of both companies. Celonis and Make are not competitors, on the contrary. One technology cannot do without the other. This results in even more comprehensive possibilities to fully improve business processes and the growing industry of automation gains a major player.

Psst, stay tuned for more. We might have something big planned.