A simple Google search on this subject yields more than 400 million results, with benefits ranging from improved productivity and efficiency to increased resilience and adaptability.

But what does it really mean? Where does one start?

These are pertinent questions, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which, compared to their larger corporate siblings, have limited financial resources and skills needed to implement these solutions.

The digital transformation journey can be both daunting and complex. In a climate where聽many SMEs are trying to navigate a constrained and聽challenging post-pandemic business environment, the benefits of digital transformation offer some much needed respite.

What is the difference between digitization, digitalization and digital transformation?

It is important to distinguish between these concepts as they are often used interchangeably and can be confusing.

Let鈥檚 use the example of a security company that records footage of people entering a shopping mall and stores the video in VHS format. Digitization is converting the VHS video into digital format and storing it on a hard drive. Digitalization is uploading the digital video onto a video streaming service that allows multiple security guards to view the footage simultaneously. And digital transformation is using facial recognition to analyse the people that entered the shopping mall to solve a crime that occurred at the mall. The security company could also sell this footage to other law enforcement agencies or insurance companies, converting what would have been cold data into a new source of revenue.

While digitization is part of digital transformation, it is important to note that digital transformation is about a fundamental shift that results in value creation. It is about leveraging technology in all aspects of the business鈥� operations to fundamentally change the way it operates and delivers value to its customers. It is about rethinking and re-imagining business processes, business cultures and customer experiences to respond to changing business and market conditions.

There are two main aspects of digital transformation: it can be externally focused and aimed at improving customer interactions and outcomes, or it can be internally focused on making work easier, more engaging and more efficient for employees.

SMEs need to act quickly to future proof their businesses and make them more resilient

In the context of a tough post-pandemic business environment and in a sector where liquidity and cash flow are perennial challenges, the ability to quickly adapt to this new normal can be the difference between survival and absolute disaster.

Beyond navigating financial and operational pressures, SMEs also face substantive challenges such as business continuity and weak demand for their products and services.

The crisis is forcing SMEs to fundamentally rethink their business models, in particular how they manage remote work and interact with suppliers and customers while managing widespread uncertainty.

Technology can empower SMEs to make credible decisions and better adapt to a dynamic and unpredictable business environment. In times of heightened uncertainty, such as what we are currently experiencing, one standout technology for SMEs is Enterprise Resource Planning, commonly referred to as ERP.

Technology enabling resilience to disruption

The common misconception that technology is only accessible to large companies with big budgets is misplaced. SMEs聽can also leverage technology to drive better efficiencies, innovation and growth. In fact, compared to larger companies, SMEs are well placed to take advantage of technology. Because of their size, SMEs are more agile and are able to make decisions faster and respond to changing market conditions quicker.

In the context of SMEs, digital transformation is often misunderstood, and its benefits shrouded in mystery, despite the endless applications of technology that can deliver direct business value. In particular, the cloud removes many of the barriers to digital transformation by enabling SMEs to pay for services as they consume them and to easily integrate new services as and when they need them. This reduces the total cost of ownership and removes the need for costly upfront investments.

Connect the Dots

The purpose of implementing an ERP solution is to provide an end-to-end information management system that connects the right information, to the right people, at the right time. It helps companies manage the countless processes that make the business function effectively, such as finance, human resources, supply chain, procurement, and customer relationship management to name a few.

An ERP solution enables the smooth flow of information across the business and gives decision-makers a real-time view of the overall health of the business, with potential risks and weak spots more easily identified.

Unfortunately, some still see聽ERP solutions as聽costly, difficult to implement and with high entry barriers for SMEs. Sadly, this ignores the enormous progress made by technology providers to level the playing field by developing enterprise-grade ERP solutions for the SME market. These solutions that are born in the cloud, and take advantage the faster time-to-value that the cloud makes possible, reducing implementation times from months to weeks.

Here are five benefits that SMEs can expect from implementing an ERP solution:

An integrated business management approach

An ERP system streamlines, automates and integrates multiple sources of disparate information and business processes. This supports planning efforts by, for example, matching raw material purchases to accurate sales forecasts to minimize wastage in the supply chain.

Greater transparency, efficiency and cost-savings

ERP solutions enable SMEs to store information once and without duplication. This removes inefficiencies and enables the entire organisation to work off a single source of truth. Without an ERP system, valuable insights, such as production information used to calculate profitability may be stored in multiple silos leading to inefficiencies and potential wastage.

Decisions powered by predictive analytics and business insights

Many technology pundits have dubbed data as 鈥渢he new oil鈥�. The notion is predicated on the fact that raw oil isn鈥檛 as valuable as the final products that are produced once its processed. In the same way, data isn鈥檛 as valuable as the insights that are generated once it is analysed. ERP enables SMEs to analyse data and extract valuable insights that inform decision-making, enabling them to quickly adapt to changing market conditions.

Improved compliance, governance and data security

If data is indeed the new oil, then organisations need to take reasonable steps to safeguard it, both from a security and governance perspective. SMEs striving to comply with the POPI Act or Europe鈥檚 GDPR, for example, can leverage their ERP solution to ensure sound governance by maintaining the correct levels of access to data for various stakeholders within the business.

Accessibility of business-critical information

Cloud-based ERP systems enable business leaders to access business critical information from anywhere and at any time. In our current state of disruption, having the ability to tap into a real-time view of the total health of the business is invaluable to decision-making. The ability to securely access information about the company鈥檚 operations from any device, anywhere and at any time is also an important component of 聽business continuity.

Dumisani Moyo is Head of Mid-Market SA for 51风流Africa

The post How Enterprise Resource Planning can Help SMEs Scale appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

In leading the company鈥檚 global sales, services, partner, and customer engagement teams, he is responsible for SAP鈥檚 business across the globe, with a resolute focus on the success of more than 440,000 customers, 21,000 partners, and 40,000 employees within the organization.

Here, Russell shares his experience in the business technology sector, the voice of the customer, and the sage advice that has accompanied him throughout his career.

Q: How did you get into the business technology sector?聽

A: My parents played a big role in my decision to study business and ultimately go on to work in this sector. They鈥檝e spent their whole lives helping others. Their focus on learning and serving the wider community helped me see early on the potential to influence change 鈥� whether through ground-breaking innovations or simply by finding better ways to do things.

I鈥檝e had the opportunity to work at some fantastic companies. My first job in the sector was as managing consultant for PwC. This gave me immediate exposure to end customers and how critical technology is to core tenets of a successful business: innovation, customer experience, value creation, productivity, and more. When you experience the power of technology 鈥� better yet, when you work in a tight team to deliver it 鈥� it鈥檚 simply addicting. I was hooked immediately, and couldn鈥檛 wait to explore and apply the next promising technology trend or tackle the next customer implementation.

Later at IBM, I had the opportunity to get even deeper into the technology. I remember this being so important at the time. I just had to learn as much as possible as quickly as possible so I could have absolute conviction in how I was advising customers. Being there with the customer, managing the process end to end 鈥� from value proposition, to delivery, to the customer鈥檚 experience using the solution 鈥� that was incredibly valuable experience.

At SAP, the exposure to diverse geographies, new technologies, and different industries took on a whole new level. It was already known for its stellar reputation for strong customer relationships and ability to build a brilliant network of expertise around its customers. I felt 鈥� and still do feel 鈥� incredibly lucky to be a part of this.

I think this blend of technology, delivery, partnership, and customer engagement really helps you focus on value at every interaction with the customer. It鈥檚 a mindset that I鈥檝e tried to live at 51风流for the past 11 years, one that I try to promote within our teams, and one that has become even more critical as businesses adopt and consume technology more in the cloud.

The customers, the technology, the diversity, and the passion of the people I work with each day 鈥� this is all incredibly rewarding. But at the end of the day, what attracted me to 51风流and what continues to engage so many of us at the company is how well it aligns to our values as individuals and as a team. 51风流truly pursues its mission of helping the world run better and improving people鈥檚 lives.

What are the biggest challenges you are hearing from business leaders today?聽

You often hear the term digital transformation in our industry, but it lends itself to a number of interpretations. Simply stated, consistent in our customers鈥� voice is the demand to apply the latest technology to find a better way to do business. 鈥淗ow do I take advantage of AI, blockchain, and machine learning ? To make my supply chain more robust?聽 To improve the quality of my products, hire the best talent, improve the experience of my customers?鈥� Regardless of industry or geography, this is the common thread in our customer conversations.

Our customers鈥� calls for digital transformation have never been louder than during the pandemic. Social distancing, remote working, and supply chain resilience have been some of the most forceful factors in accelerating the economy into a state of hyper-digitization. Even the most reluctant businesses have come online, while others have accelerated their digitization projects. Estimates suggest the industry has condensed five to 10 years of digitization into one.

SAP, for example, has helped tens of thousands of customers go live in less than a year. We鈥檝e helped hospitals build applications to track demand and availability of ventilators, supported government authorities in automating cash-relief payments to citizens, deployed national virus-tracking dashboards, introduced applications to help health authorities ensure availability of critical medical supplies, and got scores of business up and running on e-commerce platforms to stay connected to existing customers and attract new ones. Eighteen of the 20 major COVID-19 vaccine producers are running their production on 51风流solutions. At companies like Moderna, 51风流is supporting compliance with international legislation intended to prevent counterfeit medicines to reach patients.

While we hope the virus lets up very soon, I don鈥檛 think the momentum behind digital transformation will. Businesses will move from digitization as a means of managing a crisis to one of capitalizing on newfound opportunity. We鈥檙e on an irreversible digital binge.

What are your priorities to help businesses make the most of this hyper-digitization?聽

The success of our customers鈥� transformation has required us to accelerate ours; we put two important foundations in place last year to prepare for this shift. First, we ramped up our investment in cloud capability across the company. We announced more research and development, greater co-innovation, and better integration, as well as improved security, reliability, and availability across our solution portfolio.

Secondly, in March last year, we brought together all of our customer-facing teams 鈥� sales, services, customer-engagement, and others 鈥� under the single mandate and board area of Customer Success. The premise and outcome have been a streamlined experience in our engagements with our customers, strengthened relationships as evidenced by our significant increase in net promoter score, as well as a focused feedback loop through to engineering that ensures our customers鈥� voice inspires every line of code, every business process, and every single digital interaction.

These foundational moves are exactly what enables us to better deliver on our customers鈥� digital transformation requirements, and do it even faster, more reliably, and at greater value 鈥� in the cloud. This goes beyond infrastructure and software as a service to full business transformation as a service.

More than three-quarters of the world鈥檚 transaction revenue touches an 51风流system, with US $3.5 trillion in B2B spend crossing our business network annually, and 98% of the 100 most valued brands running on our innovations. Although hundreds of thousands of organizations have already moved significant portions of their workloads to the cloud with 51风流during the past decade, the transition of our global economy to the cloud will accelerate this year.

We plan to unleash offerings, commercial models, and partnerships that will enable our customers to migrate to the cloud at unprecedented scale, transitioning entire industries and whole economies to a better way of doing business. By running full cloud with 51风流and consuming business transformation as a service, organizations will be able to better modernize, standardize, and digitize 鈥� opening up new business models and revenue streams.

In short, we have shaped and continue to shape our entire organization around the customer and fine tune how we work together and with our partners to deliver the value of digital transformation in the cloud.

How do you know when you鈥檝e been successful?聽

It鈥檚 pretty simple: we鈥檒l know we鈥檝e succeeded when each customer in every market is successful. We want every business across every industry and geography that partners with 51风流to fully adopt and consume our technologies to derive the greatest possible value from them 鈥� and intensify their relationship with us as a result.

This is our ambition and my passion for our customers in a full-cloud future with SAP.

What piece of advice have you found most useful in career?

That the best way to achieve success is to help others succeed. At the end of the day, I think this goes back to the values my parents instilled: the best thing you can do to help yourself is to help others. This is so relevant today. Whether it鈥檚 challenges like the pandemic or climate change, or opportunities like hyper-digitization or breakthrough business models, you take them on together 鈥� motivated by a purpose much greater than yourself.

This article first appeared on the 51风流Global News Center

The post Five Questions for SAP鈥檚 Newest Executive Board Member, Scott Russell appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.