Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2020. Read them in this 12th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
By Charles
Greenberg, Senior Global Product Marketing
Manager, Software AG
Why 2020 Will Be Big for B2B in the Cloud
Long-neglected on-premises
B2B integration is about to be given a new lease on life next year - in the
cloud.
On-premises B2B integration
has been around for so long that companies sometimes forget where the server is
located. Chugging along like the little engine that always could, we treat B2B
like the proverbial light bulb, taking it for granted that our EDI solutions
will work when we need them. Until the day that the B2B bulb dims or flickers
and becomes a disruptive and costly link in our supply chain.
That's when organizations
begin to think about what they want from their B2B integration: lower
infrastructure costs, better synergy with other apps, an easier user
experience? These are just a few things to consider.
Part of this wish list will likely
be moving B2B capabilities (and your partner ecosystem) into the cloud. This
will be a big feature in 2020 and here are seven reasons why:
- Cost reduction: Companies will want to
reduce the infrastructure, maintenance and personnel costs associated with
older, on-premises B2B solutions.
- Pay-as-you-grow: A
cloud-pricing model will attract CIOs who can buy only what they need,
empowering solution owners to tightly regulate and control costs.
- Unify
B2B with APIs and Integration: Companies will continue to
take a broader view of cloud-computing, adopting a multi-function iPaaS
(integration Platform as a Service) that
supports not only B2B integration, but APIs, hybrid integration - and even the
IoT.
- Quick
B2B scalability: While on-premises scalability can be executed typically
through an additional sales cycle, companies will see the benefits provided by
a fully-hosted cloud platform
that enables them to quickly ramp-up B2B transactions, trading partners and
industry standards.
- Improved
user experience: Best-in-class, SaaS-based, EDI
solutions will attract users by providing improved ways to easily manage
transactions across your partner network, through clear and well-organized,
user-friendly interfaces providing intuitive accessibility, easy navigations
and even fewer clicks.
- Rapid partner-onboarding: Accelerating
the speed of onboarding has been the life-long mantra of EDI managers.
Substantially improving the user experience will speed up new profile setups,
associated documentation requirements and communication preferences for
trading partners. The goal? Onboarding is accomplished not in days or weeks -
but in minutes.
- Hybrid connectivity: Companies
want on-premises,
cloud and mobile data (wherever it is), readily available to consistently
populate business documents with contact, document-types and standard protocol
information to accelerate the speed of doing business.
2020 will be the year of B2B integration in the
cloud. Get ready for it.
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About the Author
Charles
Greenberg is the Senior Global Product Marketing
Manager for at Software AG.