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

Digital transformation

According to Gartner, the most disruptive change in the history of IT is imminent. Several years ago, Apple revolutionized the world with the iPhone transforming the phone to a simple, easy-to-use communication device. iPhone also ushers in an era of software power and sophistication that has never before been seen in a mobile device.

In order to increase customer satisfaction, a key focus area of many organizations is adopting a forward-looking view of expense management and the effective use of resources. How do you ensure your employees and IT gain a competitive advantage? If you have been running a successful business for many years, is changing your business necessarily a good idea?

Technology works for you

Similarly to the transformation of the iPhone, it is critical to shift your finance department’s strategy from being reactive to acting as a strategic internal business partner. This shift can be made by adopting innovative technology and attracting highly qualified employees to improve internal processes.

It is no surprise that technology is slowly replacing humans. Executing in a consequent way is possible when organization are seeking for process improvement via workflow automation. Taking advantage of this powerful capability allows organization for reallocation of resources to focus on strategy.

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.
- SOCRATES

The dual combination of robust technology and highly effective employees results in enhanced processes and expense saves. This becomes even more crucial as a result of the financial crisis.

This means real-time delivery of information, so you are able to make the best decisions for your organization. Technology enables 24/7 availability and accessibility which is now the standard.

If you can’t see without glasses, you should wear them

The volume of data flow is getting bigger and more complex. Big data is the new form of capital – like money, data has value. It’s a must have for organizations to deliver new products, services and ways of doing business. E.g. social media and the rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoT).

The timely delivery of correct information, by the correct person, in the correct format is key to organizations in order to create meaningful analysis and make the right business decisions. Each employee makes decisions everyday - collecting, filtering and sharing the data with the whole organization enables more effective decision-making across the company. Access to BI and analytics provides insights to further enhance these processes.

Start improving information leadership and vision

Corporate boardrooms will start talking about data capital, not big data anymore. Human beings, supported by IT, are getting smarter. A key success factor in the constantly evolving society is the availability of strategy-focused employees. The current business requires a motivated organization to make proper decisions within the right time frame.

The volume of data flow is getting bigger and more complex. Are you as organization able to make the right decisions?

Increase productivity and be more profitable

Avoid gaps in the information data flow. Previously, information was either unavailable or difficult to obtain. By deploying Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), in combination with the right qualified employees, you're able to be successful as an organization in the rapidly changing environment. Many organizations have already invested in software, however, this configuration often does not reflect the current market demands. It works just fine, ‘we have been working for years like this’, is not a valid reason to continue on in the same manner. If you are aware of the changing environment and you ignore this by not being open to change, it could be fatal for the organization. It is all about the mindshift.

Oracle’s ERP vision is to deliver accelerated productivity to the finance team, serve business managers with streamlined processes, and provide all users with on-demand access to role-based information:

Operational excellence to have one single source of truth
Proactively resolve issues to expedite automated processing
Reduce transaction processing costs and data entry errors

From governance to guidance

To cross your t’s and dot your i’s, you need more then only the numerical understanding of the past period. Being able to make prognosis is as well essential. By deploying Enterprise Performance Planning (EPM) you are enabling the organization to use the past to interpenetrate the future in order to respond quickly in a rapidly changing environment.

Oracle’s EPM vision is to provide finance leaders with a new guidance system for organizations.

One that helps you engineering predictable performance by predicting future outcomes and having confidence in your close processes.
One that is responsive to change allowing you to choose the way you work.
One that helps you connect the enterprise and create a culture of accountability by providing visibility into past performance and clarity about the strategic goals.

You often hear that people are busy. Being busy can’t be an excuse for not being open to what happens in and around the company. apparently there were too busy as well at Nokia and look where that has led.

Everything is changing, except the change by itselves. Is your company prepared?

Empowering modern finance!

Original post: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-change-future-your-business-richard-harsevoort-

Why do companies have to start with tech enablement?