Businesses have been aided by technologies that helped them deliver better, faster, and cheaper products and services.  Digital transformation refers to the leveraging of modern, cloud-based technologies to transform a company’s work and IT environments for the betterment of that business. Numerous technological advancements have played crucial roles in transforming businesses over time. COVID-19 Moves the IT Industry into A New Era. Here are 5 advantages and benefits of digital business transformation:

1. Optimizing data for analysis to make better decision

The benefit of collecting data is optimizing it for analysis to drive the business forward. The technology available to handle the big data for analysis in real time.The different functional units within an organization can translate raw data into insights. You can have a better understanding on your customer and their needs and create a business strategy that is even more customer-centric. Data is knowledge, and knowledge leads to better decisions.

Companies in the top third of their industry in the use of data-driven decision making were, on average, 5% more productive and 6% more profitable than their competitors.

2. Improved productivity and efficiency

Dealing with physical documents slows down your team, since your employee has to physically access the records storage. If it has been misfiled or lost by human error, you can imagine how much it takes to look for a record.

You could cut down the record retrieval process time by having digital solutions for your company. Everything is stored in an easy-to-find place. Accessing each file is instantaneous. You can free up your employees to do more important things.

Having the right tech. tools that work together can streamline workflow and improve productivity. By automating many manual tasks and integrating data throughout the organization, it empowers team members to work more efficiently.

3. Better Operating Model

A lot of companies with new lines of business open up through the integration of digital strategy. Take brick and mortar businesses, for example. Adding a reliable ERP system that tracks inventory and sales opens the door to better and more reliable eCommerce channels, aiding in the growth and optimization of your company’s reach. Learn more ERP trends for 2021

4. Increased profits

Gartner reports that more than 66% of companies say they are competing mostly on customer experience. Accenture reports that even a single point increase in customer experience (CX) scores can results in millions of dollars in annual growth.  Companies that undergo digital transformation improve efficiency and profitability. Consider these results reported by the SAP Center for Business Insights and Oxford Economics:

• 80% of organizations that have completed digital transformation report increased profits.
• 85% say they have increased their market share.
• On average, leaders expect 23% higher revenue growth than competitors.

5. Architect of social distancing 

The global health emergency has also made structural changes to cities to make them more functional for eradicating the virus. 
According to the Guardian post, touchless technology could come to play a major role since 80% of infectious diseases could be transmitted by touching polluted surfaces. Research carried out by the Electronic Transactions Association shows that, as of April, 27% of small businesses surveyed have seen an increase in payments made using smartphones or contactless cards and, in addition, according to Statista, it is estimated that around 11 million US households will have scanned a QR code in 2020.  

Digital transformation has become a buzzword for organizations these days. The world has gone digital. Are your businesses ready to revel in the era of digitization? MAY Planning has strong experience on integration of digital technology into all areas of a business. We will be pleased to provide consulting service for your company in Hong Kong or overseas, please feel free to contact us anytime. 

“The Covid-19 outbreak pushed digitization forward for 8 to 10 years.” said by Mok Wai-hin Peter, head of Strategic Partnership at Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation.

Digitalization is already underway in almost every organization. The business model has shifted from intensive manpower to light manpower with technology and innovation equipments.

“Before the crisis, it have to take a year to implement the level of remote working but now it took an average of 11 days to implement a workable solution”

Some companies acted 20 to 25 times faster than expected. In the case of remote working, people actually say their companies moved 40 times more quickly than they thought possible before the pandemic. Before then, respondents say it would have taken more than a year to implement the level of remote working that took place during the crisis but it took an average of 11 days to implement a workable solution, and nearly all of the companies have stood up workable solutions within a few months. 

According to statista.com, all Information technology (IT) spending are forecast to return to growth in 2021. Enterprise software (e.g. ERP, CRM) is expected to have the strongest rebound (8.8% growth) as the remote work environments are expanding. 

Company strategies are changed. For example, a Japanese company, Fujitsu Ltd. said it would split its office space over the next 3 years to encourage around 80,000 employees of electronics maker to work remotely.

IDC Spending Guide 2018 estimated that spending on technologies and services that enable digital transformation will reach almost US$2 trillion in 2022 worldwide. Brands and companies have started to get a better understanding when it comes to the benefits of digital transformation and digitally native offerings.

Information technology development requires long-term investment. MAY Planning has strong experience on integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally change how your business operate. We will be pleased to provide consulting service for your company in Hong Kong or overseas, please feel free to contact us anytime. 

_{Published: 26 Jan 2021}

5G is the 5th generation mobile network. It is a new global wireless standard. 5G wireless technology is meant to deliver faster speeds, ultra low latency, more reliability, greater load capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users. Some researchers believe that 5G could deliver 10 – 20 times faster than 4G.

Sending a message at 6pm in Central station will no longer be a problem

In 2019, the Government planned to make available a total of 160 MHz spectrum in the 600/700MHz bands to enhance indoor hotspots and the network capacity of indoor mobile telecommunications services which would help relieve congested traffic indoor mobile hotspots, such as MTR stations. The earliest release date (available for release to the market through auction, tendering or other appropriate) will be in 2021. The decisions will be made in the first quarter of 2021. 

The 85 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz and the 850 MHz bands can be deployed in both indoor and outdoor locations for the provision of public mobile services; while the 70 MHz of spectrum in the 600 MHz band is designated for indoor use to enhance the mobile services provided at indoor hotspots, such as shopping malls and confined areas like premises inside the Mass Transit Railway.

5G will change the world

–For business (For example, an enterprise tool)
5G helps to upgrade on the existing system. With 5G, over 1 million devices can operate within the same area which is a 250 times growth in capacity. 5G is nearly 8 times faster in speed and boasts of more than 5 times the bandwidth. 5G is a critical enterprise tool to accelerate digital transformation, particularly in their supply chain management initiatives.

–For our life (For example, autonomous cars will be on our roads)
5G network will offer new application options advancing the development of autonomous cars. Drivers running red lights will become a thing of the past. Traffic jams will be reduced or eliminated as self-driving cars can drive in closer proximity to each other. Also, autonomous cars don’t slow down to rubberneck. Tesla founder Elon Musk says Tesla will release its ‘full self-driving’ feature as a subscription in early 202. Apple’s plans to develop an electric and driverless car featuring its own battery technology are reportedly back on the table, with a new target production date estimated for 2024.

Lots benefits of 5G for our life or for our business that I couldn’t mention in one time.5G allows organization hiring process will not limited to the candidates location. Some organizations are going to have a remote team in their company by hiring top talent outside of their local area. Businesses will rely on mobile networks more and more. They will need to work with IT specialists to redesign and improve their internal work efficiency. 

MAY Planning provides professional IT consulting services to meet your expectations. We will be pleased to provide guidance for your company in Hong Kong or overseas, feel free to contact us anytime. 

Now that we are in the first month of 2021, it is a good time to look ahead what are the major ERP trends can we expect in this year. In 2020, Many companies started to figure out systems to handle remote work. Technology and software are developing quickly and there will be a strong impact on how ERP is developed in the future.

Cloud ERP

Some companies are using on-premises ERP and they may realize its expensive cost, limitations of flexibility and innovation. Therefore, cloud adoption is going to play a vital role in 2021. Plus, ERP implementation comes with startup fees and hardware costs so they may too expensive for small businesses. Many enterprises refrained from investing in ERP software development before the Coronavirus.

Cloud ERP is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that runs on a vendor’s cloud platform and allows their clients (Enterprises) to access over the internet. Cloud ERP systems are likely to go mainstream in the following years and we will see significant progress in 2021. 

Cloud is the backbone of the data-driven, app-based tech ecosystem that has been vital in helping us manage this change.

With the advent of cloud computing, the global cloud computing market is poised to grow from $371.4 billion in 2020 to a whopping $832.1 billion by 2025. More vendors are now offering cloud-hosted solutions. It makes ERP systems more accessible and no longer have to worry about expensive maintenance or upgrades fee.

Rise of iERP

Artificial Intelligence features, also known as iERP, will enable businesses to increase productivity and efficiency. To enhance ERP performance enhancement, enterprises normally need to install additional plugins to their ERP systems. However, it’s becoming increasingly common now to have such functionalities built-in in 2021.

An iERP enables companies to automate their complex business processes through intelligent data processing methods. The signature capability will be innovative data processing that will lead to reduction of errors and information loading time, creation of new workflows, process automation of routine tasks such as account payables, and conversion of complex, unstructured data into actionable insights.

Rise of Mobile ERP

According to Forbes, mobile ERP platforms are expected to grow in popularity as business processes are conducted on mobile phones and tablets rather than on computers.

Mobile ERP gives you greater flexibility without the need for a large investment. In 2021, having your ERP or business applications installed on a mobile to allow you accessing the critical business data-on-the-go will be a norm. Mobile ERP allows employees to get a snapshot of accurately captured data via a user-friendly dashboard, view status of workflows from their phones, complete tasks at home, and collaborate with colleagues across the world. For example, not all employees in your company speaks Japanese but they still need to be able to use mobile data collection devices. Customized applications include the ability to quickly switch the display to an alternative language.

This anywhere-anytime accessibility to back-end and front-end data in new ERP and business applications tools is a trend that will see an upward swing in the coming year.

MAY Planning provides professional consulting services to meet your expectations. We will be pleased to provide guidance for your company in Hong Kong or overseas, feel free to contact us anytime. 

It’s taking longer and longer to reconcile financials at the end of the month. Your sales forecasts are based more on guesswork than solid figures. Your business is having trouble keeping up with its order volume and customer satisfaction is faltering as a result. You have no idea how much inventory you have in your warehouse, and it’s a pain to find out. If this sounds like your business—or close to it—then it may be time to consider an ERP system.

Because every company is unique, there’s no single indicator that says, “You need ERP now!” However, the companies that would benefit most from ERP software often face similar problems and frustrations. Is your business facing some of these same issues? Read on to discover the top five signs that your company is ready for ERP.

You Have Lots of Different Software for Different Processes

Spend a few minutes thinking about how employees at your company record, track and process information. Do accounting staff use one system for receivables and payables, and sales use another to enter in customer orders? Is the process of taking those orders and getting them fulfilled and into accounting a time-sucking manual process? Do employees in your warehouse use a completely different solution to track shipping and receiving?

When various front- and back-end systems run separately, it can wreak havoc on the processes that are meant to ensure your company is running smoothly. Without accurate data from sales, inventory management may suffer, while not having the latest information from accounting can trigger a ripple effect on everything from marketing budgets to payroll.

ERP software integrates these systems so that every business function relies on a single database. With one source of information that contains accurate, real-time data, an ERP solution breaks up information logjams, helps staff make better decisions more quickly and frees up their time to work on more high-value exercises like helping the business grow even faster.

You Don’t Have Easy Access to Information About Your Business

If someone asked you what your average sales margin is, how long would it take you to find out? What about other key performance metrics, like orders per day or sales to date? For companies that rely on siloed systems and spreadsheets that need to be constantly updated and reconciled manually, it could be a long wait.

The pace of business is faster than ever before, which means employees across your company need immediate access to key data. With an ERP solution, executives can get a holistic view of business operations at any time, while other staff can get the information they need to do their jobs more effectively. For example, sales representatives should be able to view a customer’s full transaction history and more proactively improve renewal rates while increasing upsell and cross-sell opportunities.

Accounting Takes Longer and Is More Difficult

Often, the first noticeable signs that your company needs ERP software will come from your accounting department. If your employees rely on paper-based invoices and sales orders—and spend hours every week manually entering them into different accounting and sales systems—you need to consider how much time is being wasted on tasks that ERP software can handle in an instant.

The same goes for financial reporting—if it takes ages to consolidate or reconcile financial information across systems and through countless spreadsheets, an ERP solution can make a significant impact. With all financials in a single database, accounting staff won’t have to spend hours cross-posting information, rekeying numbers, or reconciling data manually. Your accounting staff will be more productive, freeing them to deliver critical reports without delays and frustration.

Sales and the Customer Experience Are Suffering

As companies grow, one of their biggest challenges is often inventory management. Ensuring that the right amount of products is in the right location at the right time is a vital part of business operations.

When sales, inventory and customer data are maintained separately, it can create serious problems across your company. If you run out of a popular product, sales will be off until the next shipment arrives. Meanwhile, if a customer calls to inquire about an order and employees can’t track it to see if it’s been shipped—or if it’s even in stock—your company will start to develop a poor reputation for reliability and service.

With an ERP system, on the other hand, staff in every department will have access to the same, up-to-the-minute information. Customer-facing reps should be able to answer customers questions about order and shipping status, payment status, service issues, etc., without having to hang up the phone and check with another department. Better yet, customers should be able to simply go online to their account and view status information. Meanwhile, the warehouse manager can see that stock is getting low and can reorder.

Your IT Is Too Complex and Time-Consuming

One of the biggest downsides of having multiple systems across your business is that IT management can become a nightmare. Customizing these systems, integrating them and maintaining them with patches and upgrades can be complex, costly and sap critical time and resources.

If your patchwork of systems includes on-premise, legacy business software, system upgrades can be more trouble than they’re worth. Not only are these updates expensive and time-consuming, but they may also undo customizations implemented by IT staff. Given that, it’s no surprise that two-thirds of mid-size businesses are running outdated versions of their business software.1

Rather than adding more software—and complexity—to an already ineffective system, ERP technology can give you the agility to respond to changing business needs rapidly. That’s why selecting a cloud-based ERP provider is critical.

(Source:ORACLE NETSUITE)

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) has become an integral part of the business landscape, and ERP vendors are continuously coming up with less complex and more inexpensive options. An awareness of what’s trending could help organizations extract the maximum mileage out of their ERP solutions.

1. User Experience

One of the leading causes of ERP user resistance is bad user experience. Unsuitable user experience wields the power to slow down work process. Because of user resistance, training employees to use complex ERP systems takes longer. Slow response time is yet another aspect that affects consumer experience. Response time, however, depends on the speed of your hardware and not the ERP. Some of the user-friendly aspects to look for in your ERP software are customizability, assistive and conversational interface; how information is displayed (a simple, clear and intuitive screen); and an innate command sequence.

2. Cloud ERP

Until recently, the complexity of ERP applications has made vendors wary of adapting to rapidly evolving technologies. However, the steady advancement and reliability of cloud vendors dominating the playing field have encouraged them to cash in on the advantages of the cloud and to deliver more flexible Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions.

The chief benefits of cloud ERP are better access to real-time data, reduced costs, improved business agility and improved collaboration and business relationships. True web interface solutions offer more advantages than hosted versions of legacy ERP.

3. Security

With the increased use of cloud-based solutions, security breaches are a major concern. The more the volume of data stored, the more sophisticated the breaches. The ideal ERP system will have a multi-level security set up with one of the layers based on predictive analysis of user behavior. It will also have sound encryption and role-based, user-level security capabilities.

4. Flexibility

Changes in the business environment are faster than ever before. With these changes in environment, business requirements change as well. In order to maintain its competitive edge, any ERP system an organization uses should be flexible enough to quickly adapt and accommodate these changes. Some of the aspects to consider are scalability, interoperability and the effects of upgrading and updating.

5. Mobile ERP

Mobility is fast becoming a mainstream technology. Because of this, employees, especially those in sales, can access and take advantage of their organization’s ERP solutions from anywhere. ERP vendors are now building add-ons and extensions that would bring mobility to the forefront as opposed to mobility being a secondary option. To be fully functional, mobile ERP solutions should support the use of multiple devices. Also, web-based solutions are more advantageous to native, device-specific solutions.

6. Business Intelligence

ERP solutions facilitate more efficient operations based on the data they provide. But most of the data is not put to any practical use. More and more businesses are beginning to combine ERP solutions with business intelligence (BI) tools in order to make all that data work for them. A BI-enabled ERP solution with dynamic reporting tools that provide the right information at the right time will be a veritable asset to any business.

7. Social ERP

Collaboration has a positive impact on staff engagement and productivity. ERP software with add-ons that emulate the functionality of social networking tools is becoming increasingly popular. Features like chat and message boards can facilitate better collaboration. Check communication tools for asynchronous features and e-mail integration.

In conclusion, to stay ahead of the competition, both ERP vendors and customers need to adapt to these evolving trends. Vendors need to understand how they can integrate new technologies with their current ERP systems. Customers must have a clear idea of what they hope to get out of ERP solutions. Return on investment (ROI) will no longer be the only aspect businesses will have to consider in terms of ERP solutions.
(Source: TOOLBOX/TECH)

Got ERP red flags? Manufacturers who took advantage of enterprise resource planning systems from previous decades now face aging legacy systems nearing or at the end of their productive lifecycle. Your enterprise might have met the limits of your legacy system and surpassed them. At their deployment, these now outdated solutions promised increased productivity, reduced waste and improved output quality.

Is your ERP system still keeping its promises?

The manufacturing landscape is awash in legacy, unimproved enterprise resource systems with none of the advantages of today’s versions featuring cloud-based technology and faster, more efficient processes, greater power, and more intuitive interfaces.

How do you know if you can squeeze out one or two more years from your solution or if it is costing you scarce resources with its inefficiencies? Can you afford to migrate to a new solution? How does a new ERP fit with company priorities and demanding projects?

ERP Red Flags to Watch

To get your organization position on the right path, be aware of these red flags associated with your current ERP solution. While not an exhaustive list, these five points can signal that you need you to move in the right direction and begin the journey of ERP selection.

Your current software vendor can’t easily provide adequate support, upgrades and maintenance.

If you’ve used the same business software system for many years, chances are you’ve received notice that your software vendor is going out of business or has been acquired and no longer supports the system. If that is the case, it’s definitely time to change.

It hast been more than four years since you’ve upgraded your current ERP solution.

According to researchers at Forrester, approximately half of companies using ERP systems are currently on releases that are two versions behind the current release. We’ve seen other research that shows that more than half of the 40,000 mid-market manufacturing companies operate with outdated ERP systems. Relying on an ERP system that is outdated, or one that has only been upgraded every four or five years at best, makes it difficult to manage change and maintain competitiveness in an uncertain and volatile market.

Your current software system can’t scale to support your company’s growth plan.

Most legacy systems do not offer the functionality that allows you to scale your business. For example, you might require a system that supports multiple languages and currencies because of you international expansion. Other functionality such as multi-plant, bar coding, CRM or WMS capability can also help you meet today’s business demands. Similarly, new Business Intelligence features are critical for organizations to compete and operate efficiently. BI provides the right information, to the right people, at the right time for effective decision-making. Mobile access for a variety of devices is also now a strategic requirement. Most legacy systems fall behind in all of these areas.

Team members are forced to use “work-arounds” outside the current ERP software system.

This is a big problem. If the team performs tasks outside the ERP system, such as double entry work, cutting and pasting reports, walking blocks between plants or warehouses to record/deliver shop floor information, then it is most assuredly time for a new ERP system. These manual and redundant efforts result in major inefficiencies, waste and cost.

Only a few IT people know the current system.

Who within your organization is familiar with the legacy system? Whether it’s custom code or a heavily modified software package, there might be only one or two people who really know the “nuts and bolts.” That brain trust will be hard to replace. You’re vulnerable when those folks decide to leave or retire and there is nobody to internally support the out-of-date information system.

Now What?

After assessing your situation and performing a business process review, it’s possible to come to a conclusion about your current and future needs, timing and how to take the next step.

The search for a new ERP system requires careful planning, research and discussions with management, the various ERP vendors and ERP consultants.

By addressing the ERP red flags above, performing the required research on new ERP technologies available and motivating the team for change, you can look forward to success with your ERP initiative.

An ERP selection project is a major undertaking and one that deserves serious analysis of the value and risks associated with it. Manufacturers are wise to partner with an expert ERP consultant to streamline the selection and implementation process.

Looking to get rid of your organization’s ERP red flags? Please Just Contact Us!
(Source: ULTRA CONSULTANTS)