The Impact of Not Changing

How the World is Evolving

As a consumer, we have acknowledged that we are living in the digital era. There are roughly 1 billion active websites and 2 billion smartphone users worldwide; meanwhile the number of fixed telephone lines has decreased over the last 9 years. 

Companies may not see today how they will enact change tomorrow. According to Forrester: ‘only 27% of today’s businesses have a coherent digital strategy, which determines how the firm will create customer value as a digital business.’ Instead, more focus is spent on keeping the lights on rather than innovation.

To stay relevant, organizations, business units, and individuals need to know where business technology is headed, and be sure to remain up to date with the ever shifting digital trend. It is time to take action: make digital transformation your key strategic thrust.

Yes, most of us are too limited in our thinking. By simply changing the processes, we can be more successful with disruptive transformation. The digital era is asking to widen our horizon and adapt modern technology and new business models. With ample possibilities today, there is no need to own the equipment to run your business. Lease it for the duration of a contract and put the responsibilities down to your suppliers, allows focus on your core business and respond effectively on chances.

We are all familiar with Uber and AirBnB, but startups have been making waves across all industries: temporary office spaces, self-service bikes and food box delivery services. Another shift that we are seeing is the introduction of Light as a Service from Philips to service Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. The light as a service means that, Schiphol pays for the light it uses (pay-as-you go), while Philips remains the owner of all fixtures and installations.

Lighting fixtures were specially developed for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol that will last 75% longer, as the design of the fixtures improved the serviceability.

The Growing Use of Technology in the Finance Function

As business models change, the systems has to change alongside. Nowadays, Financial Controllers (FCs) prefer to have more insights and an increased focus on financial planning. Thus, better understanding of the income, cashflow and assets help determine the financial goals. Having real-time insights and adapting new business models are driving more and more financial departments to the cloud.

Similarly, Forrester states, systems are integrated and cloud-based to create a connected and dynamic ecosystem. The reasons for making the move are many, nonetheless the results are typically the same: faster innovation, greater scale, lower costs, and operational excellence.

If you are still concerned about the risks of changing finance, keep in mind the risks of not moving on.

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Original post: https://blogs.oracle.com/epm/entry/the_impact_of_not_changing

Why do companies have to start with tech enablement?

Different rules

The rules of competition are changing due to digitalization. According to McKinsey, digital capabilities are now a prerequisite for long-term competitiveness. Modern technology; the change of the workforce and process improvement are important to gain competitive advantage in the fast-paced market.

Modern technology is mandatory equipment in the ever-changing digital era. But what are the odds of winning the fight when the troops do not know how to communicate with each other and the army is not able to use modern equipment?

Driving a successful business in the digital age is different than driving a business in a world without social networks, tablets, smartphones and smartwatches. People are more connected than ever before and customers have many tools in place to gain knowledge. If you are able to improve the management decision making process, you will improve your performance across the entire business. As a result, growth and profitability are increased; and additionally, by using advanced reporting operational risk is mitigated.

Priorities have shifted

One of the top business priorities during these past couple of years of this challenging economy was saving costs and therefore, many organizations reduced their IT budget and decreased their headcount in order to minimize financial losses.

According to Gartner, at present, growth and profitability are the top business priorities instead of cost-saving. About 40% of the companies consider growth as one of the top three priorities and IT applications play a pivotal role in making this happen.

Dare disruptive change

The upcoming new business models will disrupt the market, as it happened in previous industry revolutions. 89% of the companies listed in the Fortune 500 in 1955 are no longer in the current list as technology has been changing the fundamental structure of businesses.

By adopting modern technology like cloud- (Software as Service) and collaboration software, you are not only improving the business model, you also empower your business to go beyond efficiency; creating an army which works harder and smarter.

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses” - Henry Ford

Intelligent and empowerment

I strongly believe in disruptive change, rather than changing single processes. By empowering the workforce, simplifying processes and using modern technologies you are able to react more quickly to changes in the market’s demands and therefore, improve long-term success.

Reducing the amount of man-hours spent on tasks which can easily be done by technology is key to be competitive. Many organizations are now automating their processes and starting to create real-time insights for this very reason as it allows them to concentrate more on the big picture; enabling the finance department to go back in the driver’s seat.

The smaller players in many industries are able to empower themselves with the same amount of computing power and data capacity that previously only the larger enterprises had access to.

An enterprise resource planning (ERP) application combined with advanced reporting, enables the organization to be more flexible and it will support the need for greater innovation.

Data has long been used for reporting purposes and for understanding the past. In the fast-paced and digital world, data has been used to trigger actions, making strategic decisions and forecast more accurate.

Because ERP contains a diversity of modules, including but not limited to finance, procurement and supply chain, it can grow along with the needs of the company. Thus it enables smooth and efficient functioning of businesses. These benefits lead to the adoption of ERP software among small and medium sized businesses.

Original post in Dutch at Oracle.com