“The new functionality in Avantra 24 and our forthcoming copilot continues our commitment to driving repetitive, time consuming activities out of SAP operations. This enables junior team members to take on responsibility for functions that previously required senior developers and frees the senior people to unlock more of SAP’s enterprise control functionality through automation,” said John Appleby, Avantra CEO.

Security note handling

SAP provides security updates in frequent Notes, but it has been up to the user to scan them, determine which applies to them, and implement recommended protections. Avantra 24 automates the process, presenting users with the SAP Notes that are most relevant to them and assisting with implementation, resulting in greater security and improved operational resilience.

Automated certificate updates

Expired certificates can cause critical business processes to fail without warning, causing major business disruption. If the certificate on a third party component of an invoice to cash system is out of date, that function stops and no invoices will go out. Avantra 24 solves this by detecting which certificates will need updating, linking them to an appropriate workflow, and notifying operators when done.

Easy access to enterprise Add ins

Avantra 24 also automates the discoverability and installation of SAP enterprise Add ins such as operating system patches, Microsoft Outlook integration, and payment systems. Instead of having to search to find out which Add ins are available, download the files, and upload them into their systems, Avantra 24 users will receive alerts on relevant add ins and can download templates directly into their systems. This saves hours and reduces time to value, delivering the benefit of the Add ins more quickly.

Hundreds of other automation enablers

In addition to the above examples, Avantra 24 also includes hundreds of other platform improvements in areas such as loop management, workflows for notes implementation, security fixes, digitally signed code downloads, and SAP HANA updates, including Near Line Storage expansion.

Coming Soon: Avantra Air copilot 

Avantra has also announced that its breakthrough Avantra Air copilot will be available next year. Avantra Air optimizes AIOps applications by monitoring SAP environments and recommending best practice improvements, like having a senior SAP automation expert watching over your developers’ shoulders. It is a cloud based, real time intelligence feed that can save countless hours of development time and reduce business disruptions. 

“Because of staffing shortages, senior IT people are having to do more menial work, such as applying patches, managing certificate upgrades, and system refreshes. By automating these activities, we free software engineers to devote more attention to improving operations and getting solutions online faster,” said Bernd Engist, Avantra’s Chief Technology Officer. 

Avantra 24 will be available for download by November 2023. For more information or to arrange a technical preview of Avantra Air contact sales@avantra.com.