Embarking On Digital Transformation Journey: Reliance On ERP

But why ERP Digital transformation is the new buzzword in the market and a key topic of discussion for businesses around the world?

The year 2020 was not much appreciated globally due to the Covid-19 pandemic that hit hard on the economies of almost every country. It did not only bring with it a severe medical and political crisis but was also escorted by epoch-making unemployment records and shutdown of numerous businesses. The entire world shifted to online facilities accelerating digital transformation that has been underway for decades. Children started attending class remotely, employees began WFH (work from home), meanwhile, scientists and researchers started employing AI (Artificial Intelligence) in the pursuit to learn more about the coronavirus and its remedy, several organizations adopted digital business models to accelerate their operations which in turn boosted their revenue flows. These activities demonstrated the tremendous potential of ERP digital transformation and highlighted the burgeoning prominence of digital technologies and communication infrastructure in our day-to-day lives. Even the governments were progressive in including digital strategies at the center of their policy agendas. They devoted more attention and gave recognition to emerging digital technologies such as AI, Blockchain, IoT, and 5G infrastructure (which is critical to promote enhanced mobile broadband, IoT devices, and AI applications).

Covid-19 actually raised the stakes around digital engagement approach, buttressing the fact that the connectivity and use of digital technologies are dynamic goals. The pandemic acted as a catalyst and continued to apply pressure on establishing superior-quality connectivity and boosting the use of sophisticated digital solutions among people and firms.

Achieving Digital Transformation with Enterprise Resource Planning System:

Often, the buzzword “Digital Transformation” is confused with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications. Nevertheless, the latter has a significant impact on the former with its capability of generating revolutionary changes in various processes of modern business. ERP digital transformation strategies are all about leveraging technologies to realize efficiencies in your organization and ERP can be the most effective and operative approach to accomplish this. A robust ERP solution can have a considerable impact on businesses striving for digital transformation. Simply put, ERP systems act as a powerful tool for digital transformation, and well-configured ERP solution benefits organizations in strategically advancing their digital maturity and driving transformation.

Digital Transformation utilizes disruptive technology rather than automating the status quo while the ERP system is implemented to help organizations utilize integrated applications and modules to better manage the business, and automate numerous back office functions, in short, maintaining the status quo. This implies that ERP system provides incremental enhancement, whereas digital transformation focuses on materially disrupting the existing business model.

Cloud ERP is one of the ongoing trends that truly helps businesses transform digitally. It is a Software as a Service (SaaS) that runs on the vendor’s cloud platform rather than On-premises networks. A cloud ERP offers great opportunities for your digital transformation strategy.

• It helps to reduce costs.
• Greater computational resources provided by Cloud providers
• Flexibility and scalability to run up and down as per your business needs
• It also provides the ability to handle the enormous amounts of data coming from IoT (Internet of Things)-related digital sensors.
• It offers support for the use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and other systems that identify business opportunities, help solve operational problems and provide winning digital customer experiences.

Whatever the reason, digital transformation is demanding enterprises to shift much of their computing infrastructure from their own data centers to those operated by cloud providers. One thing is certain here: the ability of cloud infrastructures to support ERP digital transformation initiatives.

IoT (Internet of Things) and Cloud Computing are seen as the cornerstones to digital transformation in the industry. However, due to the lack of expertise in information and communication technologies and restricted by inadequate resources, SMEs find digitalization of their business difficult. A cloud enabled IoT solution is going to bring considerable improvements so that every business are able to take advantage of it and start to harvest the fruits of digitalized business. You can also go through the detailed article posted on IoT-ERP Integration, and how it helps companies to attain digital transformation.

Whatever the reason, digital transformation is demanding enterprises to shift much of their computing infrastructure from their own data centers to those operated by cloud providers. One thing is certain here: the ability of cloud infrastructures to support digital transformation initiatives.

Most businesses use outdated business models and assumptions which are now brittle, cobbled, and hard to meet the needs of today’s businesses to compete in a highly competitive, digital business environment. It is not a sustainable situation. This is high time that business leaders replace their today’s systems of records with intelligent assets and capabilities. This transformation mostly occurs in the platform tier across a gamut of core software applications like marketing automation, customer service and support, sales and commerce, i.e., the pace is primarily pronounced in ERP application suite. Therefore, IDC (International Data Corporation) beckons this enhanced ERP portfolio as “intelligent ERP” or “i-ERP” that will help tomorrow’s business run in a progressively digital world. Few promises of i-ERP and intelligent applications are :

• The inclusion of machine learning (ML) and natural language processing is about to have a far-reaching impact on enterprise applications. These intelligent systems will leverage ML on massive data sets to enable innovative products and services so as to maximize return on information assets and ensure higher employee productivity.
• As discussed above, i-ERP is also utilizing cloud deployment features to manage massive and heterogenous data sets.  
• i-ERP systems via ML and predictive analytics, will become capable of learning from exceptions, allowing users to discover insights, predict and plan outcomes in a better way, recommend next best steps and automate processes.
• User experience will be enhanced by using assistive and collaborative conversational styles (Mobile ERP) driven by advances in ML, AI, and IoT.

The new generation of intelligent ERP applications is set to be the next wave in the history of ERP, supporting the digital transformation companies at the core of their enterprise systems.

It is true that DT is critical to the success of all enterprises, but no one claims that the transformation journey would be simple. The challenges are complex and multidimensional which can make the head of even the most experienced business professional spin and gyrate. But the benefits derived are so fundamental to the success of your business that you won’t believe that you thought of forgoing them. They are worth your efforts!

Exploring the benefits of ERP Digital Transformation:

Learning ERP Digital Transformation Lessons: Story of Uber

Uber is perhaps the first word that comes in the mind of people when they think of “sharing economy” or “ride-sharing service”. From Argentina to Uruguay to United States to India, Uber has been remarkable, to say the least. Undoubtedly, Uber made hiring a cab easy and it is one of the few companies in this space to have successfully magnified its offerings beyond the typical cab hiring problem. The stress of walking down to the main road, waiting for a taxi, and flagging it down were all addressed by Uber.

It harnessed the potentials and capabilities of smartphone and GPS technology and connected drivers via its network and as a result, now taxis would come straight at the doorstep. It became the most preferred mode of transport and most importantly, it offers a variety of payment options which ultimately made Uber a forerunner in cab aggregation platforms.

It also offered disruptive services like Uber Eats, Uber Pool, even UberCARGO which wouldn’t have been possible without high-order intelligent mapping systems of the real world. It also acquired Geometric AI Lab to excel in cognitive science and ML techniques.

• Uber provided a hassle-free on-demand taxi service. It did a tremendous job by addressing the general need for a service, in this case cab-hiring, and took care of the functional elements for consumers.
• When local cab aggregators were busy paving their path across multiple countries, Uber continued its pursuit to find innovative ways to delight customers by not just being a ride provider but also rides for logistics and food delivery.
• Facilities like Instant feedback and ratings made both consumers and drivers feel responsible. Perks offered in the form of discounts and financial benefits for drivers arose a feeling of camaraderie.
• The customers felt empowered as they could easily plan their travel, travel routes within the city or otherwise, and enjoy a sense of safety and well-being by providing customers the details and feedback of the driver. All these boosted their loyalty towards the brand.

This is truly an example of new-age digital disruption that can metamorphose business and customer perceptions. Companies that succeed in using digital technology, especially in their core ERP systems, not only differ in their capability but also in the clarity of their mission. ERP is one of the powerful tools that combines automation, machine learning, AI, IoT, predictive analytics, and big data to help you get one step closer to your ERP digital transformation strategy.