By 2025, IDC expects Global 2000 companies to devote more than 40% of their core IT budgets to AI-related activities. Worldwide AI spending is predicted to exceed $500 billion by 2027. But does this mean companies should fall in line when software vendors come knocking with a reimplementation proposal that promises AI capabilities as long as you move to their cloud?
As an industry veteran who has spent a significant amount of years convincing IT and finance leaders to buy the latest product releases and upgrade to the newest versions in hopes for new innovations, and now helping to lead the movement in empowering executives with alternative paths that can get them to their IT vision faster, and without disruption, I’m here to tell you – you’ve got options.
ERP cloud reimplementations often require significant financial investment coupled with a lengthy project timeline. Before you can reap any potential benefits, it could eat away your budget and your time by diverting precious resources that could be applied to innovation on your existing ERP, simply by adopting a composable ERP strategy. Let me show you how.
Think Flexibility
Composable ERP allows you to create workflows focused on outcomes, rather than forcing your unique processes into rigid technology. It is becoming increasingly clear that there is no single solution that fits all companies perfectly. By adopting a composable ERP strategy, organizations can innovate with AI more effectively to maximize AI’s potential by “innovating around the edges.” This approach emphasizes business outcomes and ensures data quality, enabling the use of AI technologies on top of existing datasets. A composable strategy allows organizations to easily replace individual solutions as needed without having to reimplement the entire enterprise that is often necessary with a single monolithic system.
Give Data its Dues
There is no question that data is the backbone of the AI revolution. Without comprehensive, accurate and clean data, AI’s potential impact is reduced to nothing. An effective data strategy provides a foundation for future technologies to implement into your overarching ERP system; this same data orchestration layer will be able to supply clean, relevant data to whichever AI technology you choose to use.
Historical data is essential for various business functions, including reporting, analytics, and compliance. Migrating this data to a new cloud-based ERP system can also be complex, requiring careful planning and execution to ensure data integrity and continuity.
The reimplementation process itself can also be laden with risks and challenges, including potential data loss and the need for extensive testing and validation to ensure the new system meets business requirements.
Respect Your ERP
Your ERP system, even if they are several decades in age, has more potential to give. And integrating AI into an already existing and well-oiled system is not only feasible, it can also be a cost-effective and efficient way to quickly adopt the latest and greatest without requiring an overhaul of the entire IT infrastructure.
AI is set to revolutionize the way our world operates, but it’s crucial to know how—and more importantly, when—to implement it. Following these steps are just a few ways that businesses can fully utilize AI capabilities without falling behind.
I recommend paths to easier adaptation and integration of new technologies with existing systems, and avoiding the high costs and potential disruptions associated with vendor-pressured cloud reimplementations.
And just remember. You’ve got options. Don’t let your software vendors tell you otherwise.
