If you are a manufacturer, then you are probably being hit, and hit hard, with the hype of cloud computing, innovation and digital transformation. You've probably seen a lot of well produced marketing and sales materials, with lots of clouds. While it is great to see the latest and greatest, you need to dig a little deeper to get the substance of moving to the cloud. In our last post, we hit on some of the advantages of using cloud computing in manufacturing. We thought it would be helpful to dig a little deeper into these advantages.
Manage Various Software Applications
If you are larger than a one-man operation, then you probably are managing various software applications. If you are a large enterprise, then you probably have invested a significant amount of resources implementing and maintaining systems and services working to keep them from becoming siloed and irrelevant.
Build Custom Applications that Integrate with ERP
The benefits of building custom applications that integrate with your ERP cannot be overstated. The primary purpose of an ERP system is to run your business efficiently and effectively with the ability to automate and redefine business processes and tasks that were once done manually. This automation provides companies with increased efficiency, as well as better visibility and insights into the business.
One of the biggest challenges manufacturers are facing is the ability to keep up with advancements in technology. The modern workforce has easy access to Software as a Service (SaaS) that gives users the ability to perform their jobs better and faster with access to information on devices of their choice. Rarely will a new plug-and-play Cloud ERP system fit your business’s unique processes, model, and strategy out of the box; however, new Cloud ERPs built on modern platforms like Salesforce make the customizations and extensibility significantly easier.
Cloud applications and APIs provide the opportunity for business analysts and developers within a company to build custom applications that easily integrate with a new Cloud ERP system and provides technology solutions that are uniquely tailored to the dynamic structure of each unique business.
A Partnership for Simplified Deployment
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is transforming the relationship between software providers and their customers. What’s new is that the onus to achieve success is no longer the responsibility of one party. Both parties are increasingly acting in partnership, crossing back and forth over the traditional lines that divided customer from vendor.
By utilizing cloud computing, application updates and enhancements make it from vendor/developer to end customer/user more quickly and smoothly. What this ultimately means is the business enjoys an increase in productivity as well as developer efficiency.
Encourage Innovation
Cloud platforms encourage innovation on various levels. From allowing non-programmers to build workflow and approval processes, basic process automation and declarative development that allows functionality to extend well beyond predefined or standard functionality. This challenges a business to think bigger because its users can now quickly adopt best practices and business innovation, so they can grow and extend functionality and support new ideas.