AUGUST 20178 MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSThe Upswing of CloudCloud computing will play a significant role over the next 5-10 years for the companies that have deployed an ERP. Both SAP and Oracle have openly stated their strategic direction is to focus on Cloud. R&D investment for both providers has already shifted toward more robust Cloud solutions away from the traditional on premise solutions. On premise solutions will not disappear, but more advanced ERP functionality will be delivered through Cloud solutions. This shift will force companies that have deployed an ERP to migrate over time, if their goal is to continue to leverage new functionality. I believe companies should seriously consider Cloud and begin developing their Cloud migration roadmaps now. IT organizations managing large IT infrastructures and spending millions on ERP software upgrades is a thing of the past.Impediments Ahead One of the most challenging questions a business faces is, "what KPI's/Measures are needed to manage the business?" Companies have spent millions of dollars trying to answer this question, only to develop an Enterprise Data Warehouse or Data Mart that never seems to have all the data, or the most effective data to meet the business needs. When you dig deep, what you find is that it's difficult to build a static environment for a business that is continually changing. An analytics platform that is dynamic is necessary to be able to support a dynamic business. My belief is that organizations that have deployed large complex and global ERP solutions, need to deploy an analytics platform that enables the ever changing business. The delivery mechanism is to develop a "data lake." Data is replicated from one or multiple ERP platforms, into a "Big Data" platform that is flexible and provides a reporting engine that allows an Analyst to more easily get to their data and to report on it anyway they see fit. No more complex data models. No more complex ETL solutions. No more large, difficult to modify data warehouses.Sparking Innovation Over the next 10 years, companies that have been steeped in manufacturing hard goods will find themselves in unfamiliar territory. A trend is emerging rapidly, where traditional manufacturers are incorporating software along with hard goods sales. The challenge with these companies is they are unfamiliar with how to sell, license, maintain, distribute, support and upgrade software. The digitization of products is the next revolution, where 50 Billion devices will be connected by the year 2020. The companies selling these products, now with software, need to prepare for the reality that is just a few years off. Most companies don't realize the impact their ERP systems will have when they begin selling software. My advice to any company evaluating IoT and other disruptive technologies, is start planning for the impact your organization will be faced with when you need to sell both hard goods as well as software.Harnessing New Technologies I believe IT organizations should be focusing on platform architectures that enable multiple technologies to come together more easily. As the major ERP suppliers move to the Cloud, one challenge they will face is how they keep their customers sold on "best in suite, versus best of breed." My belief is that companies that have traditionally been just SAP or just Oracle, as they evaluate Cloud solutions will tend to look at point solutions outside the traditional ERP stack. The challenge for IT organizations will be to have robust, secure integration architecture. The CIO of the future should be more concerned with "I"ntegration instead of "I"nformation.Ever-Changing Landscape of ERPBy Jeff Wagaman, VP, Enterprise Solutions & Executive CIO, Smiths Medical [LON:SMIN]Jeff WagamanIN MY OPINION
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