Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2023. Read them in this 15th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
2023 will see more disruptions, but enterprises will be prepared with the right tools
By Kevin Miller, interim CTO, IFS
With disruptive technologies like augmented and virtual reality, 5G and blockchains slowly maturing, there are more and more real-life use cases of them, with some already integrated into workflows. What does 2023 have in store for the enterprise tech world? For one, embedded innovation will take hold, as data collection and use will become an integral part of all business operations. The continual embrace of the cloud also means that customers will, in 2023, demand data and information availability everywhere at any moment.
Additionally, while the 2021 and early 2022 supply chain crisis rests in the rear view mirror now, businesses have learned a real lesson, and many are acting accordingly to distribute risk and hedge against another disruption in the future.
2023 Will Be The Year of Embedded Innovation
Embedded innovation is key for digital transformation. If businesses are siloed, they’ll never achieve the goals they set for themselves. For most organizations, AI is currently an IT project not integrated into the business processes. With embedded systems, you also need the right data and machine learning algorithms to drive the AI to make the right decisions. As companies increase the value of the data in their ERP/ERM solutions and couple it with other external sources (i.e. weather patterns) you start to build a better pool of data that will drive better decision making. The best sources for this data come directly from the production floor, from the bottom up.
What we’re seeing the start of is increasingly more accessibility to public-sourced data, which allows businesses to have a wider scope of information on things affecting their suppliers or customers that they can then use to inform their own business decisions. In the future, companies will be able to calculate the probability of a disruption in their supply chain or build a better profile for marketing campaigns based on this data. It extends the value of traditional ERP in decision making past what is currently in use.
Agile Enterprises Will Create More Distributed Supply Chains
When businesses talk about digital transformation, it’s about connecting and automating people, assets, customers, and suppliers in an orchestrated outcome. At IFS, we’ve adopted a continuous, evergreen approach to updating our software. Now it’s about defining outcomes, achieving them, then defining new outcomes in a cyclical fashion. This incremental approach allows businesses to be agile in achieving objectives and continuously defining new objectives, especially when in a constant state of disruption like how the supply chain is right now.
Next year, as supply chain issues continue to normalize, we’ll see companies put their learnings from the past two years of constant disruptions and unpredictability into action. Companies will become more agile in their planning processes and stop taking things for granted, which means we’ll see less of the traditional supply chain and stockpiling of goods and more distributed supply chains. With more digitalization, we’ll also see companies begin to incorporate social media and consumer sentiment into their planning to better anticipate their customers’ needs. In the end, supply chain is an optimization game and we’re constantly fine-tuning our tools to achieve the most optimal outcomes.
Anytime-Anywhere Solutions Will Combat Disruptions
The past two years have shown that we live in a world of constant disruption. From the everything shortage to China’s Covid lockdowns, disruptions can happen quickly and ripple effects will be felt both up and down stream. Add in things like climate change, where weather patterns are no longer as predictable, and running a logistics network like we had pre-Covid is not possible anymore. Disruption is the new normal.
To avoid this problem, we will see companies continue to deploy solutions that will help them build resilience in their operations. In the coming year, there will be an even stronger need for a tech platform that serves as the brain of the company, supplying real-time data and accessible from anywhere at any time to provide decision makers with the best available information and empower them to react as needed.
While the past two years have seen numerous earth-shattering disruptions, innovators, entrepreneurs and business leaders have learned to adapt, creating and deploying new technologies and tools to address new challenges as they arise. As we head into the new year, those know-hows will continue to be used and learned. We will see a continued and heightened embrace of technologies throughout all functions of an enterprise.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
As the incoming Chief Technology Officer of IFS in North America, Kevin Miller will be responsible for driving the leading product and industry solutions that deliver true business value to IFS customers and partners in the United States and Canada.
Kevin joined IFS in May of 2021 as Associate Vice President of Pre-Sales Solutions. After a successful year and a half of leading the pre-sales team of North America in shaping and selling successful outcomes, he is taking on the role of Chief Technology Officer for the North American region. Outside of IFS, Kevin has successfully retooled and built global presales teams and has founded three different tech companies. Kevin is working towards receiving his MBA, with a focus on Supply Chain Management, at Bowling Green State University.
