<img src="https://secure.leadforensics.com/133892.png" alt="" style="display:none;">

CIOs Know: Without the Cloud, You Can’t Capitalize on Next-Gen Technologies

Columbus
Nov 30, 2022
Columbus
Home
  • Blog
  • CIOs Know: Without the Cloud, You Can’t ...

CIOs know they need to move to the cloud.  

Legacy on-premise ERP systems simply can’t keep pace with business needs today. 

“Be prepared for the cloud to be the dominant way, where all of our data platforms are service-provided, where all cyber platforms are service-provided, where (the tools) we develop with will be in a hyper-scale cloud environment,” Barry Brunsman told CIO Magazine. He is the leader of the CIO Advisory Center of Excellence at KPMG and a principal in the firm’s CIO Advisory practice. 

According to CIO Magazine, a robust cloud environment will be “mandatory for capitalizing on other technology trends expected to be in play in 2025.”  

Those trends include: 

  • Ongoing growth in ecommerce 
  • Advanced automation of finance, procurement and HR functions 
  • Hybrid or remote work environments 
  • The rapid growth of data (and the persistent struggle to wrap your hands around it) 
  • Hyper-personalized customer experiences 

Nearly all (94%) organizations worldwide are embracing a next-generation ERP strategy that involves migrating to cloud platforms and adopting high-end analytics such as artificial intelligence to overcome the limitations of legacy applications and modernize their businesses, according to a survey of 1,675 IT executives by Boomi.  

Gartner has forecast that by 2023, 65% of organizations will adopt ERP applications that encompass AI, have a data-centric design, can be used out of the box and are designed to make people more efficient. 

Why the cloud – and why now? 

Most CIOs believe that the switch is essential if you want to keep up. Here’s what they’re facing. 

1.    An Urgent Need for Visibility

More than ever, companies need visibility.  

Visibility into their supply chains (when will that widget arrive?).  

Customer demand (is the economy having an impact?).  

Production (is anything slowing our timeline?).  

And their team’s productivity and needs (can we do anything more efficiently?). 

Without this visibility, companies are left floundering or piecing together workarounds to meet these needs – or they’re falling behind. That makes businesses vulnerable to costly inefficiencies and inconsistencies. 

Cloud-based solutions can break down silos for financial leaders and provide top-to-bottom supply chain visibility for operations teams. 

An example of a technology that is transforming visibility and requires the cloud is blockchain. Blockchain technology allows organizations to streamline shared workstreams by exchanging and tracking assets and transactions on a shared ledger. Each partner then gets real-time visibility into every transaction and can also reject incorrect transactions before they’re applied to a ledger, simplifying auditing and reducing fraud. (Source: Microsoft) This technology has been leveraged to increase visibility and compliance in supply chains. 

Another great solution for visibility and planning is the rise of Digital Twins, a cutting-edge technology. For example, you might create a digital twin of your supply chain and test it with scenarios for unexpected events. What you learn helps you plan for crises – in turn improving resiliency.

2.    A Desire to See the Future

It’s not just about visibility into the now. More and more, companies are embracing predictive analytics. This is a branch of advanced analytics that predicts what’s to come using past data, statistical modeling, data mining and machine learning. 

A key piece of predictive analytics is getting data out of silos (which the cloud enables), so that it can be mined using machine learning for critical business insights. Machine learning uses algorithms and statistical models to create systems that automatically learn, adapt and improve over time based on data and experience. Algorithms identify patterns, enabling applications like predictive analytics. 

Some practical applications of predictive analytics enabled by machine learning include: 

  • Forecasting 
  • Recommendations 
  • Equipment monitoring 
  • Customer churn analysis 
  • Worker churn analysis 
  • Anomaly detection 

These types of capabilities are available through modern cloud-based solutions such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance. They are changing the game. One example: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance now includes Finance Insights, a set of AI-powered features, including Intelligent Budget Proposals. This replaces the guesswork associated with budgeting with AI-powered insights, mining years of data to enable better decisions. That’s just not possible with legacy solutions.

3.    An Expectation of Real-Time Data

If you’re operating on even days-old data, you’re already behind. Increasing the accuracy and timing of data improves a company’s ability to accurately forecast outcomes, make better decisions around production or service delivery, and drive consistent customer experiences. 

These days, employees, customers and suppliers expect it. In part, this is driven by consumer life. When you can see in real time how many shirts are left in stock during an online shopping trip, your team comes to expect the same kind of visibility at work. 

The cloud enables real-time data, eliminating the need to synch up manually to get a view of what’s happening. 

Many companies have long used data warehouses for analytical purposes and decision-making in departments. That’s often been siloed, however. But the data-warehouse landscape has changed – supporting the need to consolidate systems, scale operations and enable mobile self-service. Data warehouses are capturing data from cloud SaaS applications, and now include data outside of applications such as social media data, Internet of Things sensor data, weather information and even image, audio and video data. 

Learn more: Data Warehouse Migration to the Cloud: How to Make This Strategic Move 

4.    Doing More with Less

Automating repetitive manual processes can save hours, days or even weeks of work, letting your team focus on much more strategic tasks. At a time when labor is at a premium, and employees are looking to do more with less, automation is top of mind. 

Newer technology such as Robotic Process Automation – one application of which is to automatically process invoices that come into the system – comes to mind. IT teams are also reaping productivity benefits from cloud-enabled automation, such as Test Automation and automatic application updates through cloud ERP such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management. 

Getting more granular, companies are benefiting from automation at the task level. For example: managing credit. 

Keeping track of customers, payment terms, ratings and more in a mix of Excel spreadsheets and siloed applications can lead to costly errors. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance automates many of these processes, which drives efficiency and reduces risk. 

5.     The Imperative to Know Thy Customer – Really Well

When it comes to customer behavior, data is gold. And that data fuels the experiences that keep customers close. Hyper-personalizing is required today in both B2C and B2B markets. 

That requires bringing first- and third-party data together, as well as the right tools to process that data and deliver the benefits from that to the customer. 

Some of that tech was mentioned above – cloud-based data warehouses, machine learning and more. It also requires integrated modern cloud ERP platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management to bring it all together into one system.  

The goal is to paint a comprehensive picture of your customers and deliver a consistent and personal experience no matter the channel. A simple benefit of personalization is more efficient cross-selling based on past or current shopping behavior.   

Don’t Get Left Behind 

The tipping point from “suggested” to “mandatory” for cloud implementation is the point where not following trends such as those outlined above is limiting your business. Begin with asking questions about your business, such as:  

  • “Are we being penalized by our inability to derive insights from our data?”  
  • “How are our margins being affected by our fuzzy financial visibility?”  
  • “What customers are we losing by not meeting their wants and needs?”  

A deep look at where your business is losing value is a hard first step to take. Understanding where those losses are coming from will lead to realizations about what needs to be changed.  

Cloud-based solutions are the smartphones of business operations. Without them, you’ll be left operating your business without access to valuable apps that provide the connectivity and information the world so heavily relies on.  

And competitors that have already begun or successfully implemented the cloud have an upper hand in providing customers with the experience they want.  

And yet, you need to take your time. Yes, the cloud is becoming mandatory, but rushing into the implementation without a solid plan and timetable will lead to further disruption and costs for your organization.  

For complete cloud reliance, CIOs and analysts believe that a roadmap of three to five years is ideal. 

Taking carefully planned steps toward the goal and implementing a phased plan is essential to building a proper foundation and maximizing the benefits that cloud-based solutions have to offer. Read more in The Foundations of a Successful ERP Implementation. 

Columbus can help you build a roadmap. Reach out today.   
Topics
Columbus

Columbus

Columbus is a global IT services and consulting company with more than 1,600 employees serving 1,100 customers worldwide. Columbus helps ambitious companies transform, maximize, and future-proof their business digitally. We are specialized within the industries retail, distribution, food, and manufacturing. We offer a comprehensive solution portfolio with deep industry knowledge, extensive technology expertise and profound customer insights

Find me on:

Discuss this post

Recommended posts

Convert Knowledge into Action with AI-Powered Data Tools

Columbus

Achieving a deeper understanding of the information that's already available to you can trigger major breakthroughs for your business, helping you exceed your goals and propelling you toward opportunities that you might not have even considered. The key to those breakthroughs is figuring out how to unlock the hidden insights in your data. That can seem like a daunting task, given the truly dizzying amounts of data available to businesses in the Industry 4.0 era — especially if they're getting real-time data from thousands of IoT devices. Connecting the dots isn't so hard when you've got a small and manageable set of dots to connect. But as the number of data points increases, the possible connections between them grow exponentially, and it takes a lot of computing power to precisely map all those connections and surface the important patterns and trends. That's part of why the neural networks that power AI and machine learning are so transformative. They make it possible to cut through the noise and detect patterns that would otherwise get missed. How AI Provides Superior Insights You might also think of AI as functioning a bit like a pair of 3D glasses: It helps you see things that would be unclear without it. By using Microsoft's Power BI dashboards, for example, you can draw on the power of AI to monitor your data, surface the important metrics, and then tell the story through powerful and easy-to-understand visualizations. These robust data dashboards can help you do everything from detecting security breaches to figuring out which products are most successfully driving your revenue. Boosting Sales with Better Product Pairings Some product pairings are obvious: syrup with pancakes, or paintbrushes with cans of paint. But others are more subtle and may not be apparent without the powerful combination of a strong foundational set of data and AI-powered analytics, which can help identify those less obvious complementary sales products. For instance, using AI can highlight that when you position product A alongside product B, you can experience a substantial boost of 5% in sales—a significant advantage for your business. How Machine Learning Helps Stop the Churning Spotting and addressing customer churn is another great example of what machine learning can do. It costs more to acquire new customers than to hold on to the ones you have, so the ability to use analytics to detect customers who are drifting way, or at risk of being captured by your competitors, is potentially game-changing. Using predictive analytics, you can reach out to those customers whose interest is waning with well-timed discounts and promotions, or even develop subscription-based models or loyalty programs to help keep them in the fold. Defeating Downtime with Predictive Insights We frequently see manufacturing facilities that are depending on one or two mission-critical machines that do 80% of their business — and those machines are often running 24/7. If one of those machines goes down, the result is painful downtime that can lead to production delays, revenue losses, and unhappy customers. Both your bottom line and your top line wind up taking a hit. But thanks to machine learning and IoT sensors, you can draw on real-time data to identify equipment that may be getting too hot, going out of tolerance, or at risk of developing other kinds of diagnosable hiccups and coughs. And then you can step in to make sure those sine qua non machines continue to function on schedule, protecting your balance sheet and keeping your customers happy. Data That's More Than a Fair-Weather Friend MRP is another place where predictive analytics can help put you ahead of the game. Maybe you're using a kind of "brute force" accounting to decide how to allocate costs among ten different product lines — 20% here, 5 percent there, etc. But with predictive analytics, you can get more sophisticated. You can identify trends like seasonality and other less-apparent cycles, so you can change allocations dynamically to match trends you wouldn't have otherwise known about. Machine learning allows you to factor in a lot of external data that goes beyond what's in your own ERP. Like weather data, for example. Suppose you have a product line that's very sensitive to heat or humidity. You might be able to draw on weather data to augment your existing data, so you can change the chemical properties of the product to make it more humidity resistant. Columbus recently worked with a retail organization that sells high-end outdoor products as a major component of their business. They found that some sizes and products sold better in certain stores than others, and they wanted a better understanding of the optimal product mix in each store. That's the kind of complicated data picture that machine learning can help you bring into focus. One of the other key questions they needed to answer was weather-related: when to bring out the heavier gear, like winter gloves or insulated vests and jackets. So, the ability to analyze weather trends and patterns offered an opportunity to achieve better timing and improve their margins. There are plenty of other ways that the capabilities of AI can help you make it rain — or provide an umbrella to get you through downturns and disruptions. To learn more, schedule a call with Columbus so we can help your organization tap into the full capabilities of AI.

Key Considerations for Successful AI Implementation in ERP

Columbus

As we begin 2024, it's no longer a question of whether to adopt AI-driven tools and strategies. These days, forward-thinking business leaders are actively considering how to adopt and implement AI successfully, in order to minimize risks and maximize the strategic rewards.

Unlock the Power of AI and ERP for Business Success

Columbus

Some of the most exciting capabilities of current ERP systems — the ones with the potential to put ambitious new business goals within your reach — are the ones that leverage the impressive recent advances in artificial intelligence. Experienced leaders know that to reap the rewards of new technology, you need to be clear-eyed and fully aware of the potential rewards and opportunities, as well as the pitfalls that need to be avoided. What do you need to know to take full advantage of the fusion of ERP and AI, without running into unexpected obstacles and dangers? Ultimately, there's no substitute for careful planning, forethought, and guidance from ERP experts. How Do ERP and AI Work Together to Benefit Business? One of the most important ways that AI boosts the capabilities of ERP systems is by helping companies recognize patterns and make predictions. With AI-powered ERP software, you can forecast everything from sales and cashflow to supply chain disruptions and the need for preventive maintenance of equipment. This pattern detection plays out in all kinds of valuable ways. With visibility into open purchase orders, for instance, AI can spot when a supplier with multiple orders is late with one of them, assess the implications for the other orders, and call that to your attention so you can communicate with the supplier as needed. You may be able to resolve the situation easily with a two-minute email, where previously it might not have come to your attention until it was too late. It's especially helpful to have AI monitoring things like potential shipping disruptions. Whether it's a ship blocking the Suez Canal or ports closing due to the outbreak of war, it can make a huge difference to have a system that keeps track of shipping details and alerts you to possible delays an extra day—or even an extra week—in advance. How AI Boosts Workplace Productivity Another of AI’s real superpowers is its ability to help team members spend less time on tedious drudge work and more time on higher-level tasks. AI is tremendously effective at bypassing writer's block, for example. It can expedite critical tasks like summarizing business meetings, generating sales or purchase agreements, and writing business correspondence along with other business documents. Consider the new Microsoft Copilot, which is integrated with Dynamics 365. It combines the power of language models with your business data—including all your Microsoft 365 apps, documents, and conversations. It can help you: • Write documents in Word by generating text and suggesting edits • Analyze and visualize data quickly in Excel • Bring ideas to life impactfully in PowerPoint • Create efficient communications in Outlook … and much more. How AI Helps Elevate Customer Service AI can take customer service to a higher level by helping customers get the information and help they need in a timelier manner. It can also ensure that customers get their deliveries faster by solving or preventing supply chain and logistics issues. Automatic certain customer service tasks with AI means less waiting and happier customers. What Key Trends Are Driving the Adoption of AI in ERP systems? One of the most potent factors fueling interest in AI right now is the success of tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT, DALL-E, Midjourney, and Adobe Firefly. These tools have democratized AI by making it widely accessible in an easy-to-use format. In just the last couple years, the average person’s eyes have really been opened to AI’s possibilities. But contrary to what most people think, AI didn't just burst on the scene overnight— it’s been under the hood of many business software programs for years, slowly developing its capabilities and enabling more sophisticated tools. Microsoft in particular has been at the forefront of this. Remember Clippy in MS Office? That was an early example of an AI-powered assistant. Cortana was another step along the path. ERPs have been drawing on the power of AI for years now to analyze patterns and trends and make better forecasts and predictions. Microsoft's Dynamics 365 has been a leader in this effort as well. These days, Microsoft's Power Apps are a great example of how Microsoft helps companies harness the power of AI to boost and extend their abilities. With Power Automate, for example, you can easily make use of robotic process automation (RPA) and digital process automation (DPA) to automate recurring tasks and create automated workflows using low-code drag and drop tools. With Power Automate, you can even explain a problem in English and have it create a solution for you. So instead of needing to know how to write a SQL query, you can just say something like, “Hey, I want a list of all customers that spent at least $100,000 worth of product from us in the past, including something from this particular product line, but haven't bought from us in the last six months" — and Power Automate will know how to build that query and then either display it in a Power BI view, use it to feed a mass mailing, or do other useful things with it. Which makes it possible to get what you need out of systems without having to understand all the bits and bytes involved. Likewise, the power of predictive analytics, and the machine learning and forecasting tools that are built into ERPs like D365, mean you don't need to be a data scientist to analyze and visualize data in new and powerful ways — helping you see the road ahead so that you can run your business in a proactive (rather than reactive) way. Setting Guardrails: Navigating Potential Risks With power comes responsibility, of course, and a need to be clear-eyed about the possible downsides and pitfalls of leveraging AI within an ERP system. Navigating these issues successfully comes down to making sure you have the right guardrails in place and that they aren't circumvented. One of the most critical issues is to make sure that your data is tagged correctly by setting up good IT governance. What data should only be used within the walls of the company? What should be limited to people with specific levels of access? For example, consider a publicly traded company. If their financial results are inadvertently released before their 10-K is published, the SEC could punish them for it. AI could accidentally leak that kind of data if the right guardrails aren't in place to prevent it. Making sure data is correctly tagged can be a complicated process, and a lot of companies, especially smaller ones, may not have the necessary skills in house. That's an area where a partner like Columbus can step in and help. Copyright and intellectual property is another area where strong guardrails need to be set up. The Writer's Guild strike recently drew attention to this issue. For businesses, the question is: How do you make sure that your data and intellectual property aren't appropriated and leveraged without your permission? This is another reason why data needs to be carefully tagged and protected before it's released. There's a major change management component to this issue as well. It's vital to make sure that employees are aware of the risks and understand the proper procedures to safeguard data, as well as which tools are appropriate to use and which aren't. Policies also need to be created to make sure that employees don't circumvent the guardrails, intentionally or unintentionally. Making sure team members are trained in a consistent and ongoing way is crucial. How Can Enterprise Businesses Prepare for a Future Shaped by AI and ERP? With all of the above in mind, you can’t let the risks of new technology dissuade you from moving forward. Your competitors will be taking advantage of these tools, and you can't afford to be left behind. The key is to implement these tools in a disciplined and measured way, staying cognizant of the rewards and possibilities, as well as the potential pitfalls. This is another area where having an experienced partner like Columbus by your side can help you steer the ship successfully. Want to learn more about how Columbus can help your organization harness the full capabilities of AI? Get in touch with us today.

How to Develop Your Digital Platform and Business Together

Columbus

Right now, companies in the food and beverage industry have a lot on their plate. A key question how to meet all demands and at the same time reach all your business goals? Unifying your technology platform, business strategy and operations is necessary to stay ahead of your competitors. Companies have to keep up with increasing consumer demand for products that are healthy, ethical and environmentally friendly while at the same time meeting regulatory standards and minimizing food waste. And, of course, they still have to do the usual work of keeping margins high, preparing for emergencies, ensuring product quality, staying innovative and minimizing risk at every stage of production.

The Food and Beverage Industry: Create Value Together Going to the Cloud

Columbus

Like other industries, food & and beverage companies must initiate strategy planning and change management at the very start of bringing their business systems to the cloud. That’s the best way to avoid additional costs, effort, and business interruption. And the trick is to define value with a people mindset.
right-arrow share search phone phone-filled menu filter envelope envelope-filled close checkmark caret-down arrow-up arrow-right arrow-left arrow-down