Supporting a technologically maturing workforce will always be a priority for IT leaders. But lately, a new test is emerging that can put them front and centre of a recovery from an anything-but-certain economy.

In recently published research,  revealed that sustained growth and strong customer relationships are increasingly urgent for medium-size businesses seeking operational resilience as a competitive edge. Approximately one-third of surveyed IT leaders are getting the message – prioritising strategic priorities around growth (35%) and the customer experience (33%) ahead of traditional concerns such as innovation, productivity, efficiency, and business transformation.

Elevating the role of IT

When investing in new technology to support the ability to scale customer experience to drive business growth despite wild fluctuations in demand and market dynamics, medium-size businesses have an endless array to consider. Approximately half of IT leaders shared with Oxford Economics that their organisations are using a mix of ERP software, mobile technology, process automation, and e-commerce platforms either at scale or for some applications or projects. Meanwhile, less than one-quarter are using artificial intelligence, machine learning, or the Internet of Things in some areas.

A variety of solutions work together to provide the online experience that customers increasingly demand. But to deliver such advanced digital experiences, IT leaders and the senior managers they support should consider moving away from siloed organisational management.

When organisations hold total control of specific responsibilities and data, medium-size businesses cannot fully realise the full potential of connected technologies. For example, letting the finance team exclusively hold the reins on transactions and reporting eliminates any opportunity to lower spend and ensure compliance across the business. The same can be said for marketing organisations that do not share customer data outside of themselves and their sales counterparts, which often leads to inefficient management of functions such as the supply chain and HR.

Connectedness driving innovation

Connecting every business function is essential to enable the process improvements and innovation needed to build a resilient, long-term foundation for a scalable customer experience. Oxford Economics research indicates that more than half of surveyed IT leaders use ERP software to some degree – whether scaled business-wide or in some applications or projects.

This approach enables IT leaders to deliver on a range of requirements to expand into new markets, introduce new products, and increase headcount. They include strengthening 24/7 service availability and cybersecurity; improving data collection, storage, and analysis; and integration with market-standard interfaces.

Consider how  keeps up with the pace of its already explosive growth and expansion across eight markets with an intelligent ERP explicitly designed for merchandise management. This approach helps the Southeast Asian online fashion retailer automate and streamline its processes and support future innovation across multiple businesses and delivery models. The company is also leveraging real-time reporting and analytics to stay ahead of trends and give millions of customers what they want along each step of the shopping journey.

By using an intelligent ERP solution, companies such as Zalora Group, benefit from a comprehensive, yet flexible, platform to navigate unforeseen challenges and sense new opportunities. The entire business – from sales and finance to supply chain management and logistics – can scale up and down, when needed, to adapt to changes in demand, supply, and operational scope without significant resource investments.

Setting the foundation for long-term resilience

Without question, IT leaders have a tremendous opportunity to prepare their medium-size companies for a sustainable recovery. Choosing the right digital strategies and investments can encourage all business functions to play a role in scaling the customer experience for growth today and in the years ahead.

One such move is adopting intelligent ERP platforms and other digital tools that connect the dots across all data sources and processes. This first step is much more than consolidating data into a unified system. It’s also the gateway to the continual process improvement and intelligent innovation necessary to enhance customer experiences – no matter the economic condition.

To find out how 51·çÁ÷products can help SMEs, visit the .Ěý

Find out how your IT organisation can give your medium-size business the resilience, connectedness, and agility to strengthen the customer experience. Read the Oxford Economics study, “,” sponsored by SAP.

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These growing enterprises prioritise the value that comes from providing an excellent customer experience, according to the latest . In today’s harsh economic environment, SMEs require digital solutions that provide access to real-time data analytics for fast decision-making and support valued, personal relationships with customers and employees.

At SAPPHIRE NOW, 51·çÁ÷customers and SMEs shared how they are adjusting to new market conditions. These enterprises are using digital technology to overcome uncertainty and reimagine their business. To find out more, .

Solutions that Grow with the Business

Together with a global ecosystem of partners, 51·çÁ÷provides a multifaceted approach to delivering business software that grows with young, agile businesses. And with the promise to help customers run at their best, 51·çÁ÷helps ensure that businesses of all sizes can benefit from innovation without disruption.

“We always have a 10- to 15-year horizon in front of us,” Rainer Zinow, senior vice president of 51·çÁ÷Business One and 51·çÁ÷Business ByDesign, , held online in June. “Our mission is to make sure our solutions work best for you – our partners and customers – in the long run. Therefore, we are making technological investments to make sure we get the most out of it for you.”

 is a public cloud suite-in-a-box for fast deployment and low cost of ownership, Zinow underscored.Ěý is for companies with an on-premise or hosted deployment model, and  is the multi-component suite for companies with deep functional requirements.

Commitment to Choice

While the public cloud market is expanding in all segments and business functions, demand for on-premise enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions remains solidly robust. Fortunately, 51·çÁ÷is well positioned to deliver on its commitment to supplying a diversified solution portfolio to meet the varied needs of its customers.

“What sets 51·çÁ÷apart in the market is that we offer choice on the deployment method – whether on premise, private cloud, or public cloud,” Zinow said. “And we offer choice regarding the licensing model, be it a perpetual or subscription-based model. With 51·çÁ÷Business One and 51·çÁ÷Business ByDesign, we are well equipped for the market.”

Build Once, Reach Many with Business Application Factory

The keystone of SAP’s pledge to partners is the roll out of the new  concept – signifying a strategic, multi-year commitment that accelerates partner-led innovation across the SME portfolio while looking ahead to a new era of industrialisation in application building. Built on 51·çÁ÷Cloud Platform, Business Application Factory provides a unified data model that uses business objects and reuse engines across the entire SME portfolio. This means partners can build and extend cloud-native applications side-by-side for all SME cloud solutions provided by SAP.

51·çÁ÷partners can continue to leverage their local presence and deep industry expertise to build extensions and apps for their SME customers. The difference is that with Business Application Factory, instead of building one-off solutions for individual customers, partners will be able to access the comprehensive toolkit of reusable business components and technology from 51·çÁ÷to accelerate their time to market. The open-source architecture changes the existing approach, creating a compelling development environment for the 51·çÁ÷partner ecosystem. Another key advantage is that it can run on any hyperscaler’s architecture.

“Build once, reach many,” is how Zinow summed up the intrinsic value of Business Application Factory for 51·çÁ÷partners.

“With the factory, partners can extend both 51·çÁ÷Business ByDesign as well as 51·çÁ÷Business One, and they can also build completely new apps and solutions for the cloud,” he said. “We believe this is a game changer for our SME partners.”

51·çÁ÷presented the Business Application Factory concept – designed for the cloud and tailored for digital use cases implemented by SME partners – at the 2020 SMB Innovation Summit in February, where it received overwhelmingly positive feedback from 51·çÁ÷partners.

Based on the SME solutions strategy and the feedback from selected partners and customers, the 51·çÁ÷Cloud SME Solutions team is developing Business Application Factory, with general availability planned toward the middle of 2021. This version is planned to contain core capabilities, to be expanded over time, and to be for all partners in most countries. Regions will be defined based on demand.

To learn more, visit the .

This article first appeared on the Global 51·çÁ÷News Centre.Ěý

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In those reports, IDC stated that “51·çÁ÷Business ByDesign is easy to navigate, with over 500 standardised reports, dozens of prebuilt KPIs and real-time analytics.” They also wrote: “References noted this is one of the best technology companies communicating their future direction and road map.”

With SMEs accounting for about 80 percent of its customer base, 51·çÁ÷understands their need to optimise and simplify IT processes. 51·çÁ÷Business One is SAP’s flagship small business software to streamline and add intelligence to business processes, including financials, without burdening an IT team. 51·çÁ÷Business ByDesign is a single cloud ERP solution for bringing intelligence and automation to fast-growing, midmarket businesses. It enables nimble management of financials, logistics, procurement, shipping and human resources. In the IDC reports, both solutions were recognised for driving digital transformation and customer service.

At the recent , 51·çÁ÷announced 12 months of free access for partners to test and demo systems on 51·çÁ÷Business ByDesign and 51·çÁ÷S/4HANA Cloud to help partners accelerate their customers’ journey to recovery.

“51·çÁ÷believes that the most successful business outcomes should always drive software strategy, not the other way around,” said Subhomoy Sengupta, global head, go-to-market, SME solutions, 51·çÁ÷SE. “Our role in that is delivering intelligent solutions that meet our SME customers’ specific needs for agility and flexibility to achieve those outcomes. Our intelligent solutions further enable SMEs to grow into market leaders who are driving innovation, disrupting entire industries and delivering unique experiences, even in times of uncertainty.”

 MarketScape provides detailed quantitative and qualitative assessments in a variety of technology markets based on several criteria that impact a vendor’s market success. Each IDC MarketScape issue is informed by IDC’s global research assets and rigorous scoring methodology.

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This article first appeared on the Global 51·çÁ÷News Centre.

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