#FocusOnBestPractices
In the post-pandemic world, supply chain operations continue to be in flux and remain vulnerable to shocks. To meet these challenges, businesses need to reevaluate their processes and existing ERP systems. The trend in 2023 is towards emerging technologies and concepts like composable ERP solutions and artificial intelligence to enhance the capabilities of current ERP systems.
Many businesses consider composable ERP software, as the strategic direction they need to take. But that is just one of the many options. Here are the five top ERP trends for 2023:
While vendors are attempting to extend the capabilities of ERP solutions and create bundles that meet the specific needs of different industries and verticals, there are gaps and you will need to bring different solutions together. For instance, the combination of ERP and Manufacturing Execution System (MES) connects the gap between planning and implementation, while letting innovative IoT technology enable the two-way incorporation of conventional planning tools such as ERP into the world. Consider integration right into the production floor assets (software and hardware), service components, real-time performance checking, and interactive warehouse labeling. All these are facilitated by the Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity. This highlights the crucial role of ERP for manufacturing in integrating various aspects of the production process and leveraging advanced technologies.
Again, customer-focused sectors like healthcare, retail, utilities, insurance, and professional services require ERP solutions to fit customer-linked processes such as project management, order management, and omnichannel customer experience. So, vendors will be keen to digitize such processes close to the fundamental ERP system. Today, the trend is towards composable ERPs with the best functionalities.
ERP vendors, particularly those catering to ERP for retail and manufacturing, would require a flexible Enterprise Application Platform or EAP that allows for a composable strategy with the right mix of apps and business solutions. The goal is to change the monolithic system to composable items to allow orchestration, autonomy, and modularity.
The latest integrations between Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Teams ought to resolve complicated service cases faster by promoting cooperation with specialists over Microsoft Teams in Dynamics 365 Customer Service. The integrations will also let Teams users gain access to Dynamics 365 Business Central data with no Dynamics 365 license.
Increasingly, entities and business partners would like to embed their services in ERP systems to add additional value. What this allows you to do is bring operational data to your flow of work. Imagine performing your tasks and viewing the data you need within the Microsoft Teams environment, without needing to login to multiple solutions. Navigating to the relevant screens, and then crunching the numbers to get meaningful insights. You perform more tasks within the Teams environment, and since you don’t need to spend on additional licenses for these extended capabilities you are essentially making your team more productive without incurring additional operational costs.
With budget constraints and price burdens imminent, it’s predicted that more enterprises will need to maximize the returns from their ERP investments and hold back on making additional investments in third-party solutions. This will be a challenge because it will be difficult to find one ERP solution, especially ERP for manufacturing, that meets all your needs.
Sage Intacct is now building construction and manufacturing solutions as well as acquiring additional products for nonprofits and retail. Acumatica is expanding through in-house product development as well as acquisitions, positioning itself as a comprehensive solution provider in the ERP for manufacturing landscape.
One more ERP trend is that innovative technologies including artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and mobility have been developed to a point where these are no longer sold as individual modules. They have now become part of different ERP solutions, including ERP for retail and manufacturing, and are a part of the core offering. Mobile-specific features like geofencing or GPS tracking, for example, are increasingly being seen as a part of the standard solution, although some vendors still offer it as an extended feature.
The portable, IoT-powered apps and devices will help your company to collate useful data from every aspect of your organizational operations and improve your business processes via effective system monitoring. For instance, Mobile Time Booking and Capture Solution will learn about your typical and present locations. They will know about what projects are in progress at which location. With the new Accounts Payable Automation features, you can help your team save time and become more efficient by automating manual processes of inputting data and reconciliation while ensuring data accuracy and increased speed.
The typical benefit of ERP systems is that all things look similar, but every user has unique needs. So, you look ahead to see greatly enhanced user experiences customized to individual requirements. Here AI possibly plays a key role in fine-tuning the applications and offering more personalized experiences. The user-friendliness, simplicity, and customization are not only meant for individual users but also for your teams. These will be important features vendors will adopt in the days to come.
In the post-pandemic world, extensive data breaches and security attacks are concerning business leaders. According to IT Governance, 1,063 security occurrences were discovered in 2022. With a considerable segment of employees continuing to work remotely or in a hybrid mode, business systems such as ERPs, including ERP for manufacturing and retail, aren’t prepared to manage such security threats created by remote work.
Based on a 2021 report by a technology major, the data breach cost for each incident touched $4.24 million, the maximum in 17 years. Industries that witnessed significant operational changes after the pandemic, including healthcare, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, and distribution, also saw a considerable increase in data infringement costs. So far, the most expensive data breach is in healthcare, accounting for $9.23 million for every occurrence.
Consequently, systems using loads of data, especially ERP as well as other integrated systems such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) are facing significant threats. So, businesses are accelerating their energies to make their ERP solutions secure. With work opportunities heavily relying on hybrid, remote, or distributed arrangements, enterprises want to prioritize ERP security.
Businesses keep exploring innovative ways to employ ERP technology within their enterprises. For them, it means relying on composable ERP systems and embedded services, using more specialized solutions, or investing deeply in AI to make ERP use easier to suit unique needs, as well as other automation technologies to stay ahead of the competition. In this context, Microsoft ERP partners play a crucial role in providing comprehensive ERP solutions tailored to your business requirements. Businesses are also interested in supply chain resilience to manage post-pandemic challenges. If you are looking for ERP solutions with advanced features and customizations, reach out to our ERP consultants for a free consultation.
Microsoft Dynamics 365, a cloud-based application experience based on a common data model allowing Microsoft’s current CRM and ERP cloud solutions to be deployed in one cloud service with new role based subscriptions.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a business management solution that connects people and processes like never before.
According to Marketsandmarkets.com, the Artificial Intelligence market is expected to read USD 16.7 billion by 2026.
