Four ERP Predictions That Will Take You To 2020
Technology has never come as far in a single generation as it has done in ours! As new developments like up-to-the-minute data, machine learning, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence refine themselves, all mainstream technology must expect to be affected. What does that mean for ERP – arguably the foundation of all institutional technology?
We think the changes that are coming will stay in the realm of strengthening current propositions. Here are four things that will form the foundation of all innovation between now and 2020.
1. Mobility will rule
From storefronts to corner offices, everyone today is expected to access and benefit from ERP. With that in mind, ERP will take mobility mainstream. Systems will be accessed from smartphones more than any other device. That combined with the change in the way the workforce approaches ‘a day at the office’ – think flex work hours, home offices, travel and part-time employees – will mean remote access will become more important. The availability of up-to-date data on the go will become an expectation rather than a luxury, and everyone from the big ERP players, who are making a comeback, to the smaller providers, will rise to the challenge.
2. Solid business intelligence will become a given
While this is not new, each year, the amount of business intelligence you can get from your systems, the ways in which that intelligence is used, and the ease with which it’s made possible grows in leaps and bounds. This trend will continue and become more standard over the next few years. Business critical decisions will no longer be made on ‘gut feel’ and experience-based thinking – especially as the workforce grows younger. Reporting will become more sophisticated, and market trends predictions more accurate, giving businesses every opportunity to make solid decisions and make them less likely to be caught off guard.
3. Adoption will increase heavily for small businesses
ERP’s biggest growth in the past few years has been from the smaller businesses coming on board. With the arrival of cloud-based systems and subscription models, enterprise systems are already no longer just for the large enterprise. Cloud will become less innovation and more mainstream. More players in the third-party hosting space will drive down prices. Technology will become more cost-effective, and the reduced prices will mean more small businesses will adopt it. This will bring in a spate of features and benefits targeted at the smaller enterprise and the entrepreneur.
4. User experience will become a driving force
This point speaks to the younger workforce as well! The makers of software will adopt more ways to make their systems user-friendly and less cumbersome. Interfaces will become better designed. Reports will be generated in less time than they are now. Systems will be optimized perfectly to display content appropriate to the devices they are being called up on. A social element will be introduced into the systems to facilitate better collaboration. Integration with multiple systems will become commonplace. Wearable technology and IoT will play a role in making systems a greater part of people’s lives.
And we’ll all live happily ever after!
