Any manufacturing companies that haven't already embraced Cloud Technologies for their information systems should be considering making the switch. Most cloud-based solutions come with a wealth of positive impact for your business, however, it is important that you take into account some additional issues that will emerge as part of your decision making process. You may be considering a new sales solution, a new ERP, or a core human resources system such as an applicant tracking system or learning management system. Here are five organizational strategies that you should consider when implementing any cloud-based solution: flexibility, speed, data integration, functional ownership, and service vs. tool models.
Flexibility
Most cloud-based systems will give you a lot more flexibility than traditional software solutions. Vendors of cloud technologies have built in many options for you to map or configure the system to your existing business processes. This will be helpful in ensuring you empower your team with the functionality they need to do their job. Alternatively, it is important to consider the impact on your team when presented with vast configuration options. This can often lead to uncertainty. The key is to identify best practices in each area, and then determine how to quickly map to the new system.
Speed
In most situations, cloud-based solutions can be implemented dramatically quicker than traditional software solutions. This often means that you can start using the system in the real world and quickly get feedback from your team on what works and what doesn’t. However, it is important that your organization is ready to leverage the new technologies and are comfortable in providing the right kind of feedback. It is important that feedback is focused on the solution, process improvement, or elimination of non-value added tasks. You will want to avoid acting on “this is how we’ve always done things” mindsets in order to uncover more streamlined processes.
Integration
As we continue to build more technology standards that allow for the exchange of data, organizations are able to pull more and more data through the enterprise. This can reduce data errors, increase efficiency by automating integrations, and enhance the ability to for a company to implement support across functions. Even with improved standards, data integration can be quite complex, and it is still an area where your IT department will typically lead strategically at the platform level. It is important that leaders from both business and technical sides engage in the strategy discussions and understand the big picture.
Functional Ownership
For non-IT functional areas such as marketing, human resources, and operations, many cloud-based solutions provide an opportunity to dramatically reduce the need for resources from the traditional IT department. For instance, the manufacturing trend toward Servitization puts new technology and data in the hands of departments that haven't had access traditionally. With this new shift, it is critical that these departments continue to negotiate the terms and responsibilities of these new relationships. They must stay engaged in the platform vision and strategy for IT, and recognize that this new relationship has the potential to negatively impact the perception from the IT team as to the priority of the project.
Service vs. Tool
Finally, another interesting consideration is that many cloud solutions are packaged as a service vs. a simple software tool. These services can allow for external support, data, and even industry benchmarking. With added benefit can come added expense, as these services can require recurring costs and impact your total cost of ownership. Your company's specific requirements, use cases, and initial & recurring expenses are all important considerations when evaluating new cloud technologies.
It is important to recognize that while these five areas are not comprehensive, they are all important areas that you will want to closely examine when evaluating cloud technologies. Whether your organization already has a cloud-based service in place, or you are just getting started in the cloud, the specialists at Mountain Point can help guide you through the process. Set up a free consultation today!
