Future-proof your business with next-generation ERP software

If you read nothing else:

• In times of disruption, resilience is key to success. ERP is the foundation of digital transformation. So invest in more robust, innovative, responsive, and intelligent ERP systems to address your business challenge.
• An Intelligent ERP can enable end-to-end visibility across your distribution value chain and transform your business model for the future.
• Take control of your entire business, from supply chain to sales, with Sage Business Cloud X3.

Disruptive times test companies’ resilience. COVID-19 has created unprecedented global uncertainty and disrupted well-established business systems, processes, and supply chains.

The almost overnight redesign of our working world stressed the need for increased operational speed and agility. As a result, businesses across multiple sectors are under pressure to evolve their digital capabilities – fast – or risk losing their hard-won competitive advantages.

The challenge for business leaders now and in future is to accept that change is the new normal. Depending on the nature of your organisation, you possibly face one, some, or all of the following issues:

• Fast-changing customer demands,
• Inventory surplus or deficit,
• Organisational inefficiencies that result in missed opportunities, and
• Super responsive competitors homing in on your market share.

One of the best ways to address these challenges while enabling sustainable and seamless digital transformation is to harness the power of a next-generation ERP system.

Digital intelligence for continuous improvement

The next generation of ERP systems is robust, innovative, and intelligent. It provides the foundation for a successful digital transformation that goes beyond addressing present-day challenges. That’s because long-term, sustainable success depends on continuous improvement.

This, in turn, requires relevant technologies such as AI and machine learning that enable you to pre-empt change. Crucial components of ERP software include:

• Data analytics
• Cross-channel collaboration
• Real-time visibility across the supply chain
• The ability to proactively communicate with suppliers and customers

Putting an intelligent ERP system at the heart of your digital transformation strategy can help you outpace your competitors and improve organisational efficiencies. It gives you and your stakeholders the right information, at the right time, with end-to-end visibility across the value chain. Potential issues, both internal and external, are flagged in time to mitigate any problems, which immediately boosts reputational value.

Ultimately, when smart digital technologies are put to good use, customers’ needs are consistently met thanks to improved accountability, collaboration, proactivity, and responsiveness. The business upshot is greater profit and revenue and a competitive advantage that stands the test of time.

Data at the centre of digital transformation

Data is a vital element of any digital transformation strategy. However, its real value lies in how it’s collected, analysed, and used.

An intelligent ERP system puts data at the centre of your business operations, allowing you to unlock valuable insights. This enables you to harvest intelligence through analytical models and share that insight in real-time, enhancing employee engagement and productivity with accessible and actionable information.

Data gathering, analysis, and visibility are vital to creating a digitally mature business. Armed with better information, you and your colleagues can make better, faster decisions. When operational, tactical, and strategic responses all sing from the same hymn sheet, businesses produce less waste, reduce costs, offer better customer service, and strengthen relationships all along the supply chain.

Move to the cloud, reduce risk, build resilience

The right digital tools can help you create a connected data environment across your business value chain.

Real-time knowledge is key to resilience as it enables agility and reduces risk by improving cost efficiencies, customer satisfaction, employee productivity, and profit performance. However, connectivity and collaboration require easy access to data, which is why the cloud is fast becoming the cornerstone of intelligent ERP-driven digital transformation.

That said, your business’s specific organisational requirements will determine the pace and structure of your cloud adoption journey. For example, companies that need to keep data-sensitive or mission-critical applications on-site will benefit from a hybrid cloud approach.

Moving your operations to the cloud does not need to happen all at once. But it does need to support your digital transformation strategy so that you get the best out of your intelligent software.

The journey to digital maturity

Digital technologies evolve all the time, yet many businesses have over-invested in irrelevant systems that have become outdated and onerous.

Choosing the right technology to support a sustainable growth strategy – rather than just a one-hit-wonder – is critical. Of course, making that choice, particularly when faced with an overwhelming array of options and a sense of urgency, can be an intimidating process for even the most seasoned business leader.

A digital transformation journey begins with taking a good, hard look at your own business’s existing digital capabilities, culture, and practices. A digital maturity assessment will help you identify your strengths and highlight the gaps for immediate attention. This clarity will enable you to move forward with a strategy based on the most appropriate policies, processes, resources, and tools for your needs and organisational goals.

Digital maturity is built on the right technology and sustained through best practices that focus on addressing customer requirements. The journey needs careful management during the transition to an intelligent ERP system and ongoing guidance to keep the ship steady.

Transformative organisational change, even when positive, can cause systemic shocks that upset people and interrupt their productivity. Enlisting the support of a reputable intelligent ERP solution provider can make an enormous difference in the quality and speed of results.

Digital transformation aims to mitigate disruption – not to cause more. A guided transition can help you and your business harness evolved technologies for a robust, future-proofed competitive advantage.