Digital transformation has become the cornerstone of enterprise potential. It has allowed organisations to shore up in an era defined by disruption and uncertainty.
It has also opened up the organisation’s ability to find the right blend of technology and cloud to optimise implementation and results. But it is not infallible, nor is there any one clear route through emergent technology, innovation and integration complexity to the ideal cloud solution.
Which is why many IT leaders remain firmly within their technology investment comfort zone. It’s safe, it’s known, and it’s worked well so far.
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However, as companies continue to invest and innovate, the old adage of “adapt or die” has never been more relevant. The road to market share and customer attention is littered with the remains of those that didn’t believe in digital or transformation, and nobody is interested in joining those rusting remnants on the side of the road. So, how can the IT decision maker approach digital without feeling as if they are taking a leap of faith into the unknown? How can the business revolutionise ERP, payroll, HR and accounting without having to navigate complexity and risk?
The answer lies in investing in technology that takes the comfort zone into account.
Why bother with cloud?
There are plenty of perceived issues that come with the cloud. The biggest is security. With ransomware, phishing, hacking and a growing stable of cybercriminal attack vectors, it’s easy to see why companies want to dig in and man the barricades. The risk is significant and the concern understandable.
Another challenge is complexity. Moving ERP, HR, accounting and payroll into a new system is no small undertaking and a complete sideways shift into the cloud can be disruptive and cause delays during implementation. For companies that already have viable systems and solutions in place, this seems far more trouble than the cloud offering is worth. Add this to the security risk, and the perception that cloud ends up costing the company more, and it’s easy to see why the comfort of the known is far more appealing than the promised comfort of the cloud.
And yet…
The deployment of ERP, accounting, human resources and payroll solutions into the cloud hands you a plethora of advantages that no on-premise solution can offer at a viable price point. And cloud is significantly more secure.
Why cloud is comfortable
If you’re looking to de-risk your HR, ERP and accounting platforms, then cloud is the way to go. The reality is that cloud is as capable of scaling its security parameters as it is scaling the services it has on offer. Cloud is consistently updated in line with cybersecurity trends and threat actors, and security is baked into every part of the hosted infrastructure to ensure compliance with multiple legal requirements and regulations. Most on-premises solutions can’t manage this granular level of control because security is one of many balls that IT teams are juggling. With managed cloud services the servers, the firewalls, the virtual private networks and the networks are in a safe and dedicated pair of hands.
In addition to wrapping essential business operations in a tight layer of security, cloud introduces measurable gains in productivity. With the right tools in ERP, accounting, human resources and payroll, you can empower your people to do more, engage more closely with your customers and ensure your business’s survival in a tough digital economy. You can also scale your requirements up or down to suit your budget and requirements.
Research has consistently proven that cloud delivers value by improving agility, flexibility and control. It also, if done properly and with the right partner, will cut your costs – measurably so.
This cloud investment also transforms your organisation into one that’s capable of empowering the customer through digital, of leveraging rich data stores to shift the boundaries of process and productivity and redefining how you engage with your people. This transforms your organisation into an Enterprise 5.0 business — the ecosystem that’s defined by organisations that embrace 4IR and digital technologies, people and intelligent data solutions.
And, with the right partner, this move to Enterprise 5.0 and streamlined productivity and process doesn’t have to be a bold, giant leap into the unknown.
You’re going to need a better partner
You’ve been told that the move from your existing systems to the cloud will be a complete change. That it will disrupt your business and impact productivity and introduce a fresh new bundle of problems to your door. This can happen, but not if you find the right partner.
It is entirely possible to migrate your HR, ERP and accounting to the cloud seamlessly — to lift and shift your ecosystem into the digital realm without losing control, while retaining all the data security strictures and requirements you want to keep in place.
You can also use the move to put disaster recovery and business continuity protocols in place, so you have added peace of mind in the face of the unexpected. There is absolutely no need to learn new ropes or abandon the comfort of what you’ve come to expect from these critical systems. Just lift, shift and gain the benefits of digital without the hassle.
Then, as you stand in the midst of your digitally transformed business, you can comfortably step into the fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and explore your digital potential while empowering your people and your future. It’s less status quo and more technology go.
About 4Sight
4Sight is a JSE AltX-listed (ticker: 4SI) multinational, diversified technology group. Our purpose is to leverage our extensive product and services portfolio, focused on 4IR technologies, people and data-focused solutions to design, develop, deploy and grow solutions for our partners (customers and vendors). Our mission is to empower our partners to future-proof their businesses through digital transformation to make better and more informed decisions in the modern digital economy.
Across 4Sight, our teams sit with the core capabilities (people, skills and technologies) to accelerate the convergence between the operational technology (OT), information technology (IT) and business environment (BE) worlds through our integrated solutions. This empowers us to create new revenue streams and relevance for our partners. We are the digital transformation partner of choice to quantum leap your business into the realm of Enterprise 5.0. For more information, please visit www.4sightholdings.com.
- Morne Swanepoel is chief IT officer at 4Sight
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