Home › Blog › Articles posted by Arno Lais

SupplyOn Blog

Arno Lais

Vice President IT-Operations

As the person responsible for the operation and global customer support of the SupplyOn Platform, my focus is on ensuring 100% system availability, integrating modern technologies and continuously improving processes and service quality. With decades of experience in the IT industry, I am firmly convinced that success in IT depends not only on technology, but also on clear structures, effective communication and a strong team spirit.

Posts by Arno Lais:

Inside · Technology

Intelligent support: More than just a hotline

Since its launch more than six years ago, the SupplyOn Support Center has been very popular among users. With more than a million clicks per year, it offers users a comprehensive range of help pages, tutorial videos and individual customer portals. But that's not all - the support portal is constantly evolving and setting new standards in digital support. Groundbreaking technologies for maximum efficiencyThe SupplyOn Support Center uses the latest technologies and intelligent services to resolve support queries faster and more accurately than ever before.✅ AI-powered problem analysis: Artificial intelligence recognizes patterns and analyzes support cases in real-time to provide targeted solutions.✅ Semantic search: Users find relevant answers and solutions in seconds thanks to intelligent algorithms that understand natural language and deliver contextual results.✅ Observability: Our proactive monitoring components analyze user behavior and automatically derive improvements.✅ Proactive notifications: Early warnings alert users to potential problems before they occur, helping to prevent outages.✅ Omnichannel support: Users can get help through a variety of channels, including the AI-powered chatbot, the self-service portal, email, or phone.The next stage of evolution: AI-powered assistance botThe next major milestone is the introduction of an intelligent AI assistance bot. This will be integrated directly into the application and will use linked customer data to provide personalized assistance in real-time. Rather than being reactive, the bot will automatically recognize what help a user needs and proactively suggest solutions.Features of the new AI assistant botAutomatic error detection and correction: The system identifies potential problems at an early stage and offers solutions before the user needs to take actionPersonalized recommendations: Based on previous requests and usage data, AI suggests customized supportSeamless application integration: Users no longer have to switch between different systems-the bot provides help right where it's neededAdvanced speech and text processing: Using state-of-the-art NLP technologies, the bot understands natural language and provides accurate answers in real-timeConclusion: A next-generation support experienceThese innovations make the SupplyOn Support Center one of the most advanced of its kind. It goes far beyond traditional support to provide an intelligent, seamlessly integrated and proactive help experience. Users benefit from faster solutions, intelligent error prevention and unique, personalized support.The future of support is here - and it's smarter than ever!
Arno Lais · April 3, 2025 - reading time < 2 Min.
Intelligent support: More than just a hotline
Technology

Observability: A step towards 100% SLA availability

In today's digital world, high service level agreements (SLAs) are a key competitive advantage. When using internet platforms, customers expect them to operate without interruption. For many businesses, even short downtimes can have serious consequences. Of course, no technology is immune to failure. So 100% availability is a very ambitious goal. A key component in achieving this goal is the implementation of observability as a core principle of system monitoring and optimisation.What is the key success factor of observability for 100% availability?Unlike traditional monitoring systems, monitoring methods are usually "reactive". In the worst case, this means that a failure is only detected when it has already occurred. A comprehensive observability strategy detects potential problems before they cause failures. Teams quickly identify and resolve anomalies in metrics like latency or memory usage.If a problem occurs, observability helps to quickly identify the possible cause. Traces provide precise information about where delays or errors occur, while logs provide the necessary details to analyze the cause. By continuously analyzing system metrics and logs, bottlenecks and vulnerabilities are detected before they affect availability. This means that optimization is proactive. In practice, logging an application is a major challenge. Logging data must be defined and implemented by the application developers together with the operating units, among others. Here, the DevOps concept plays an important role again, which must be implemented “hand in hand” in practice. Observability should therefore be an integral part of the DevOps workflow.Modern IT systems often use microservices that run in both the cloud and on-premises data centers, with different teams managing them based on the application. Observability creates transparency and provides a better understanding of dependencies and potential vulnerabilities in these complex architectures, promoting a culture of continuous optimization.Challenges in implementing observabilityThe most common problems include selecting the right tools for analyzing mass data. Key technologies include APM (application performance monitoring) tools with AI functions developed specifically for observability. Due to the high volumes of data generated by monitoring, it is necessary to use high-performance databases and event bridges to bundle events and provide detailed control over the delivery of messages to different recipients.ConclusionObservability is an indispensable tool for companies striving for the highest availability. It is not a one-off task, but an ongoing process. It enables organisations not only to react to problems when it is too late, but also to counteract them proactively. Teams can overcome potential organizational resistance by clearly communicating the benefits and added value. The investment in observability pays off: it increases the stability and performance of systems, bringing you a decisive step closer to the goal of 100% SLA availability.
Arno Lais · January 27, 2025 - reading time < 3 Min.
Observability: A step towards 100% SLA availability