Monat: August 2020

Digital transformation is a buzzword for businesses today but it is a humongous task that requires a long term commitment and hefty investment. But it truly has the potential to drive a radical change in the culture of the organization but for all good reasons. The success of the initiative depends on choosing a platform that offers the brilliant combination of stability and flexibility. Mac is definitely the right fit if you are aspiring for digital transformation because it serves a range of benefits in this context. Let us check the compelling reasons for choosing Mac as the foundation of this transition.

Co-engineered
Apple hardware and software

Macs are revered for their excellent
build quality and long lifespan. Unlike other operating systems, Apple co-engineers
its hardware and software components so that they can work together perfectly.
So the devices end up being more reliable and less vulnerable to
productivity-sapping glitches and bugs. At the same time, there is the
consistency of the user experience across the complete range of Apple products.
An employee can access applications on Mac, iPhone and iPad seamlessly, which
is great for your enterprise digital transformation initiative.

Greater
focus on privacy and security

When you decide to take the next step
towards business transformation, privacy and security turn out to be big
concerns. Choosing Mac has you covered on this front because these devices and the platform
itself provide top-notch security features. Enrolling Macs in your
enterprise IT setup gives you an assurance of endpoint security as well as user
protection. And this benefit extends to mobile devices as well, so you can be
sure about a robust mobile device management with Apple products.

Streamlined
deployment and management

Mac comes with a number of device
management solutions, which makes another good reason for using these devices
for giving your business the digital edge. While these systems are easier to
integrate into the new ecosystem, your employees can manage minor issues on
their own. When it comes to eliminating the clutter, there are easy to use
cleaner apps they can rely on. You can read more about clearing cache for enabling
better performance for the device. Since the support requirements for managing
Mac devices will be minimal, your IT team can stay focused on the more critical
aspects of implementing the transformation.

Quick and
easy updates

Another reason why Mac emerges as the
ideal hardware choice for businesses looking to go digital is that it brings
frequent updates that are quick, easy, and user-centric. So you have the advantage of the latest
features and security patches for your devices by installing
updates as soon as they are released. Obviously, running such devices let you
get the benefits of high performance, productivity and security, all of which
go a long way in pushing the initiative.

If you have digital transformation on
your mind, switching to Mac hardware should be on top of your checklist because
these devices can empower your employees and business in more than one way.
Even if you spend a little more, you get what you pay for!

Author Bio: Travis Mckoy is the new
head of content marketing team at Outreach Monks with over a decade of experience in
promoting digital transformation for upcoming brands.

The post Aspiring For Digital Transformation? Mac Is The Right Choice appeared first on ERP News.

Car accidents that cause serious injuries often end up devastating the victims physically, emotionally, and financially. The families bear the brunt too, as they see their loved ones suffering in pain and bear the loss of their income too. Things can get worse if the victim has a permanent disability or dies in the mishap. The only solace is that they can claim compensation for the injuries by filing a personal injury claim against the party at fault. The fate of the case, however, depends on the liability of the guilty driver. Simply speaking, the guilty party (or their insurance company) has to compensate the victim if they are proven liable for the accident. If you have been guilty in a car accident, here are some actions that can make you legally liable in injury claims.

Negligence
that caused the injuries

It is very obvious that you will have
to pay the injured party if the accident has happened due to your negligence
when you were behind the wheel. Being negligent means that you behaved in a
careless manner and has caused injury to another person. Negligence is very
specific in personal injury cases, as you can be held liable only if you did
something you should not have done. Such actions include speeding, driving under influence, or running a red light.
On the other hand, you will also be considered negligent if you failed to do
something that you should have done. This could include actions such as
stopping for a pedestrian and turning on lights while driving at night.
Typically, negligence includes the following elements to make you liable for
the victim’s injuries:

• You violated the duty of care towards other
  drivers, passengers or pedestrians
• The action caused injuries to the victim
• The injuries resulted in damages or losses (in
  the form of medical expenses, lost wages, cost of pain and suffering, etc)

Fleeing the
accident scene

Another serious form of liability you
can face with a car accident claim is for a hit-and-run case. If you fail to
stop after the mishap with the intention to steer clear of the trouble, you
will probably end up facing prosecution. The victim will ensure hiring the best attorney to assist
with a car accident injury and get them the compensation they deserve, by
settlement or through a court trial. You will probably have to pay a hefty fine
along with the compensation and even get a jail sentence if the other party
files a criminal lawsuit. Another downside of leaving the scene is that the
account of the mishaps will remain one-sided. The fact being mentioned in the
police report will be deemed as incriminatory and harm you in the trial. The
best thing to do is to park off on a side after the crash and get help for the
victim. The right approach may actually work in your favor as the victim may
ultimately take a soft stand in the case.

You lend
your car to an incompetent or reckless driver

In an unfortunate scenario, you can
be held liable for a mishap even when you had no direct involvement. Such cases
happen when a vehicle owner lends the
car to another driver, who may be incompetent or reckless while driving. The
following are the circumstances when you may be considered responsible for the
damages and injuries caused by the other driver.

• Underage and unlicensed driver
• Driving under influence
• An elderly driver who reacts slowly
• The person suffers from a condition such as a
  sleep disorder that makes them incompetent for handling a vehicle

In such situations, you can be held
liable for negligent entrustment of the vehicle, which led to the mishap and
injury of the victim. Giving your business vehicle to employees who are not
capable of driving safely is also risky as it can land the business in trouble.

It is clear that liability in car accident claims is not as simple as it sounds. There are chances of being implicated even if you were not in the vehicle when the crash happened. So it makes sense to be aware and take timely action, whether you were directly involved or implicated. Remember that you will have to pay up if you are at fault- so an action like driving away from the spot or trying to conceal your identity would do more harm than good. It is better to rely on good legal representation to handle the case and close it at the earliest. 

The post Car Accident Claims- Actions That Can Make You Legally Liable appeared first on ERP News.

ERP News Magazine August 2020 – Issue #10 – Download Here (PDF)

Hello to everyone from the 10th edition of ERP News Magazine, We are going through a period of uncertainty which is also quite risky from the perspective of the business world.

As the ERP News team, we continue to keep the pulse of the software industry and ask the right questions to the prominent names in the industry for you.

In this edition, our focus is IIoT, Industry 4.0, and ERP and we have compiled the most up to date news, articles, and success stories for you once again. Also, the question of the month is “How does Cloud ERP enable IIoT in the manufacturing industry?” and we have gathered various answers of ERP professionals for you to explore deeper into the manufacturing industry.

We see once again, especially in these unprecedented times, that Cloud ERP with its flexibility offers a much more valuable structure when it comes to IIoT.

Until our next issue, we will continue to do our best to bring you the most up to date and true content about the industry. See you in the next issue…

The post ERP News Magazine August 2020 – Issue #10 appeared first on ERP News.

Prophix Software, a global leader in Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software, achieved high marks as an Overall Leader in both Vendor Credibility and Customer Experience in Dresner Advisory Services’ Wisdom of Crowds® Enterprise Planning Market (EPM) Study. This annual report is a broad assessment of enterprise performance management software vendors, each of which is evaluated on acquisition experience, value for the price, quality, and usefulness of the product, quality of technical support, quality and value of consulting services, and integrity.

A leader in both the Customer Experience and Vendor Credibility models, Prophix is best-in-class for a wide variety of measures including sales professionalism, product integration with third-party technologies, product ease of administration, and technical support professionalism. It maintains a perfect recommend score.

For each annual study, enterprise planning users contribute their opinion on topics related to their current and planned usage. They also evaluate vendors based on Dresner’s unique 33-criteria vendor performance measurement system.

2020 Customer Experience Model

The Customer Experience model considers the real-world experience of customers working with BI products on a daily basis. Dresner positions Prophix in the upper-right quadrant of the Customer Experience model, among the highest-scoring vendors, earning Prophix the title of “Overall Experience Leader.”

2020 Vendor Credibility Model

The Vendor Credibility model considers how customers “feel” about their vendor. Customer feedback places Prophix in the upper-right quadrant for “Credibility Leaders,” among the highest-scoring vendors.

This is the sixth year of the Dresner Wisdom of the Crowds® EPM Market Study. Prophix is the only vendor that has ranked in the top-right quadrant of both the Customer Experience and Vendor Credibility models, while consistently improving their score each year.

“We congratulate Prophix on its continued innovation and strong performance,” said Howard Dresner, Chief Research Officer, Dresner Advisory Services.

“We are incredibly pleased to receive recognition from Dresner for being a Credibility and Overall Experience Leader,” said Alok Ajmera, President & COO, Prophix Software. “Our customers are true champions for Prophix, and it’s a pleasure to support them in their business goals.”

To access the full report, compliments of Prophix click here.

About Prophix Software

Your business is evolving. Your systems should evolve too. Achieve your goals more successfully with Prophix’s innovative Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software. Improve profitability and minimize risk when you automate repetitive tasks and focus on what matters. Budget, plan, consolidate, and report automatically. Whether in the cloud or on-premise, Prophix supports your future with a platform that flexes to suit your strategic realities, today and tomorrow. For more information, visit http://www.prophix.com.

The post Prophix Named an Overall Experience & Credibility Leader by Dresner Advisory Services for Sixth Consecutive Year appeared first on ERP News.

Going remote is the need of the hour for all businesses because of the pandemic situation. Whether you run a small business or a large enterprise, a switch to this model is not a choice today. You may have already done it but with things getting more challenging, you may need to invest in additional technologies from time to time. Although there are several remote technologies that can elevate your setup and fulfill your needs, the real challenge is implementation.

Cash is tight for businesses these
days and you may not have enough to invest right now. Still, you may absolutely
need to implement an application or invest in infrastructural elements at some
point in time to keep your system up and running seamlessly. If you are short
of funds, online payday loans in
Colorado can come to your rescue. Here are some reasons why you can rely on this
form of funding to fuel your remote setup initiatives without any delays.

Online
payday loans in Colorado are easy to procure

The best thing about online loans is
that they are easy to procure. All you need to do is find a credible lending
website and you can apply in only a few clicks. The eligibility requirements
are simple as anyone over the age of 18 years and with a regular job and
healthy checking account can apply. You need not visit the lender office
personally or submit multiple documents as a part of the process. Considering
the ease of the process, it is ideal for any business owner to look for quick
cash for implementing a remote IT setup during the pandemic.

Quick cash
within a few working days

Right now, you would need quick cash
to revamp your IT infrastructure or get a remote application up and running.
This may not be possible with a traditional bank loan as these loans have
extended processing timeframes. With an online payday loan, however, you can
get cash in your account within a few working days. The approval comes within a
few minutes after applying if your application qualifies. The loan amount goes
into the bank account within a few days. So it gets easy to have your remote
setup in place sooner than you may expect.

Short-term
borrowing makes sense

The current situation is critical for
businesses and financial stability is a concern. While you would want quick
cash at this time, long term debts also matter. You wouldn’t want to pressurize
your balance sheet with long-term liability and interest burden.
Online payday loans are ideal in this context as well. You borrow the money
today and can repay within a few weeks (with your next paycheck, as the name
suggests). This lending option is perfect for businesses that need short term
funds to invest in quick technology implementation but would want to pay back
as soon as possible.

Bad credit
is not a hindrance

Another reason why online loans
emerge as the best option for businesses that need funds in the pandemic era is
that you can get one regardless of your credit score. In the current situation,
credit scores have taken a hit and getting traditional bank loans is tougher
than ever. Banks and lenders consider this score as a vital approval parameter,
which means that you cannot expect approval if you don’t have a great score.
Online lenders, on the other hand, are ready to approve on the basis of your
repayment capacity. Moreover, the chances of approval are better if you apply
online as the application goes to multiple lenders.

Cheaper than
other borrowing alternatives

Right now, every single dollar saved
matters and online payday loans can help you in this context as well. These
loans are cheaper than other borrowing alternatives such as credit cards and
overdrafts. So you have the opportunity to implement your remote IT
requirements without spending a fortune. Additionally, the process of these
lending sites is quite transparent and there are hardly any chances of being
taken for a ride. It is recommended that you go through the terms and
conditions on the site carefully before applying so that you have a clear idea
about interest rates and repayment expectations.

Protect your
credit score

With online payday loans, you actually get the benefit of protecting your credit score in the long run. While some lenders run the conventional hard credit inquiries for verifying your creditworthiness, others are happy enough with soft checks only. On the other hand, with a typical loan that involves a hard inquiry, you can always expect your FICO score to go down by a few points. While the soft checks with online payday loans can protect your score, on one hand, you can actually consolidate it by repaying the loan on time. A responsible approach, therefore, can help you get your credit score on track.

Assess your
remote IT needs and get started!

Realigning your business to operate
smoothly through the pandemic requires a proper remote setup. It includes the
IT hardware and devices, software applications, tools, and technologies that
keep the team connected, regardless of the locations they work from.
Additionally, you will need to cover aspects such as cybersecurity, remote work
training, and IT support for the employees. From time to time, you may need to
upgrade the hardware and software as well as invest in training to ensure that
the remote setup is good enough to sustain operations.

Obviously, your remote IT setup is
not a one-time initiative but an ongoing process. It is imperative that you
will need to invest in repeated upgrades and improvements. You will need funds
for implementing them, which can put you in a fix considering the current
situation. Online payday loans make a smart financing option that you can rely
on for quick cash to get revamp your remote setup as and when needed. Since
these are probably going to be small initiatives, you can have them covered
with small loans that you can pay within a few weeks. Surely, this is an
intelligent way to manage remote operations without getting stuck with long
term debts.

The post Remote Setup For Your Business With Online Payday Loans In Colorado appeared first on ERP News.

Nowadays when we encounter new developments regarding the pandemic with each passing day, the situation continues to be ambiguous for the business world. While it becomes more and more difficult for companies to take the right steps, we are trying to shed some light on the issue as ERP News. TVN, the CEO of Aptean is our guest speaker in this video. TVN shared his views with us on what companies must do in the new normal shaped COVID 19, and how the software industry has been affected by the pandemic.

The post Special Interview with TVN Reddy CEO of Aptean appeared first on ERP News.

When a car accident occurs, one of the first steps is to protect your rights. As a motorist, you ought to have an insurance cover against a motor accident. The insurance cover assumes liability if you get involved in a road accident, depending on the laws in your state. Depending on your cover, the insurance may compensate for the cost of repairing your vehicle, medical bills, and damage caused to others as a result of the accident.

However, car accident cases can become complicated where
your insurance company denies the claim or other motorists claim that you were
at fault for the accident. In this case, you will need to prove innocence. But
how can you do this? Well, let us highlight some tips to prove innocence after
a car accident.

Talk to eyewitnesses

If you are trying to prove innocence
after a road accident, talk to the eyewitnesses who were available at the
accident scene. Let them give an account of what they saw at the accident
scene. An eyewitness testimony before the court or your insurer
can help convince them that you were not at fault for the occurrence. We would
advise you to ensure that you take the contact detail of every person who witnessed
the accident at the scene. They can help you prove innocence. If you do not
have the eyewitnesses’ contact details, you can get them from the police
officers who came to the accident scene.

Do not admit fault

In the occurrence of a road accident, the first people to contact are paramedics or police officers. One of the things that police officers do when they get to an accident scene is determined who is at fault. You must not admit that you were at fault for the occurrence. This is because it is included in the accident report, and you may never be able to convince the court and your insurer otherwise.

Have a copy of accurate police report

Police officers should be among the very first people who
should be called after a car accident. On arrival, they collect information on
their first impression of the accident, and from eyewitnesses and other
accident victims. The information that they collect is used to come up with the
accident report. If the police report is to prove innocence, then you have to
ensure that it is accurate. If, in any case, you dispute the police report,
maybe because it is biased or incorrect, ensure that the police have it in a
file that you disagreed with their findings. Otherwise, if the inaccurate
information is recorded in the report, you may not be able to prove innocent.

Hire a skilled lawyer

Car accidents can be complicated, especially if the accident
is hard to prove who was at fault or if the other party is blaming you for the
accident. Ensure you work with car accident lawyers with
expertise in all types of vehicle accidents to avoid incurring costly
liabilities. Skilled lawyers are more conversant with auto accident laws than
you and they know their way around the courtroom. They will further help you
build a strong case to prove your innocence by collecting and developing
evidence and file all the necessary documents required in the court.

Retain pictorial evidence

After an accident, the car’s position tells a lot about who
was at fault for the accident’s occurrence. Taking photos of the vehicles and
the accident scene can serve as evidence of being accused wrongly for the
accident. So, take the pictures of the position of the vehicles involved at
different angles. Additionally, ensure that you capture the damages on the
cars, the conditions of the road, traffic lights, and the injuries incurred as
a result of the accident. These photos will help you prove your innocence and
especially if another party tampered with evidence collected by the police.

Use video footage

You can use any available video footage to also prove your
innocence. Check your dashcam if you have one as it could have captured the
incident. You can survey to seek if there are any traffic surveillance
cameras
around the scene. If there is any building around the scene, enquire if they
have surveillance cameras as they could have video footage of the accident that
could help you prove innocence.

Wrap up

It would be unfair for you to incur liability for an
accident that you were not at fault. Proving innocence can be hard. However,
with the help of adequate evidence and a skilled lawyer, you can help protect
your rights after a car accident

The post Tips to Prove Innocence after a Car Accident appeared first on ERP News.

According to global technology research and consulting firm, Omdia, in a newly-released report, UK schoolwear manufacturer, Trutex, automates processes and improves stock control with Priority ERP

Tel Aviv District, Israel – July 14, 2020 – Priority Software Ltd., a leading global provider of business management solutions, today announced that it has been recognized by global technology research and consulting firm, Omdia for its ease of use, and cost-effectiveness in the UK retail manufacturing sector, in Omdia’s Enterprise Case Study, “Using ERP to Increase Process Efficiency: How Trutex used Priority Software to improve stock control and business processes.”

Trutex, one of the UK’s largest independent schoolwear providers, and longtime Priority customer implemented Priority ERP to automate and streamline their stock control, order fulfillment, warehousing, and manufacturing processes. Established in 1865, Trutex manufactures specialist and bespoke school uniforms and sportswear. Headquartered in Clitheroe, with a production facility in Rochdale, UK, offices in Shanghai, Sri Lanka, Canada, and Bangladesh, and a joint venture in the Middle East, Trutex sells directly to school stores, online, and to prominent UK retailers, including Marks and Spencer, and John Lewis.

Trutex first implemented Priority ERP in 2006, replacing their
legacy standalone solutions, including Infor, to consolidate their business
processes into a single system, and achieve real-time visibility of stock
across their supply chain. After shortlisting key ERP vendors, Trutex selected
Priority ERP, implemented by Priority’s Gold Partner, Medatech UK.
Priority ERP was integrated company-wide, across Trutex’s sales, finance, inventory,
manufacturing, and other departments.

“We support three diverse sales channels, where we used to have different systems for wholesale, online, and retail, but only one pool of stock, making it nearly impossible to forecast demand and manage stock levels, resulting in overstocking in some areas, and a shortfall in others,” said John Hogan, Group Supply Chain Director at Trutex. “Priority helped us simplify our complex processes, with better visibility of demand across the board, and minimizing stock movements from our global factories, by moving stock only when needed. Tighter inventory control and demand forecasting helped us efficiently price our products, resulting in significant cost savings.”

Today, Trutex benefits from a fully automated supply chain powered by Priority, including order management, and aligning purchase orders to sales orders. Priority also integrates with leading courier-tracking systems, enabling Trutex customers to track orders in real-time. In 2018, Trutex redesigned its warehouse, and implemented Priority’s Warehouse Management System (WMS) for full visibility of their inventory, and manage supply chain fulfillment from the distribution center to customers’ shelves. “Trutex plans to use Priority to develop a more robust stock-forecasting system, further integrate Priority into our procurement planning process, and we’re now considering Priority’s cloud and mobile ERP, to support the surge in remote working, and our off-site operations,” said Hogan.

“Priority
delivers end-to-end ERP solutions for leading manufacturers like Trutex, so
they can streamline business processes as they grow,” said David Greenlees,
Managing Director, Priority Software UK & Ireland. “We believe that ERP
systems should be open and flexible, where customers can focus on delivering
superior products, with the confidence that their system will meet their
business needs today, and well into the future. We are pleased to have achieved
this with Trutex.”

Phil
Nicholls, Managing Director, Medatech UK, said, “As Priority’s valued long time
partner in the UK, we are proud to consistently deliver, implement and support
Priority ERP solutions to customers in the region. Our close relationship with
Trutex for over 15 years is a testament to our strong commitment to our customers,
to continuously enhance the Priority user experience, and benefit from
Medatech’s two decades of experience and expertise in ERP implementation,
customer training, and pre- and post-sales support.

Tim Jennings, Chief Analyst, Enterprise IT, Omdia, who authored the case study, commented, “Before implementing an ERP system, it’s important to map out requirements and understand what the software needs to do. Planning and testing upfront is vital. Because Priority is a flexible ERP system, it can be customized to meet an enterprise’s bespoke requirements, so that after implementation, it can adapt to changing business requirements.”

Download full Omdia
Enterprise Case Study

View short Trutex
customer testimonial video

About Omdia
Omdia is the new global technology research powerhouse,
established in 2019 with the combination of the Informa Tech’s research brands
(Ovum, Heavy Reading, and Tractica) and the acquired IHS Markit technology
research portfolio. Omdia combines the expertise of more than 400 analysts
covering 150 markets and thousands of technology, media, and telecommunications
companies, publishing over 3,000 research reports a year, reaching over 14,000
subscribers. For technology vendors and service providers, Omdia drives top and
bottom-line growth through improved market strategy, product investments, and
go-to-market effectiveness. Visit www.omdia.com.

About Priority Software
Priority Software provides flexible, end-to-end business management solutions for organizations of all sizes in a wide range of industries, from a fully-featured ERP platform serving multinational corporations to small and growing businesses. Recognized by top industry analysts and professionals for its product innovation, Priority improves business efficiency and the customer experience, providing real-time access to business data and insights in the cloud, on-premise, and on-the-go. With offices in the US, UK, Belgium, and Israel and a global network of business partners, Priority enables 75,000 companies in 40 countries to manage and grow their business. For more information, visit www.priority-software.com.

The post Priority Software Showcases Ease of Use, Increased Process Efficiency and Cost Effectiveness at Leading UK Retail Manufacturer, Trutex appeared first on ERP News.

Pandemics happen, and we must be ready for them when they strike. Most large companies were not totally unprepared for the current one, as having pandemic contingencies, business continuity plans, and crisis management teams on standby are part and parcel of proactive crisis and health management.

When reports appeared in the media on December 31, 2019, about a new type of coronavirus, SAP Chief Crisis Manager Mathias Braje, and I began watching developments closely. We also activated the Global Pandemic Task Force, an interdisciplinary team made up of members from the Security, Health, Facility Management, Human Resources (HR), Finance, Communications, and Travel departments.

Staying One Step Ahead

“The safety of our employees, customers, and partners is paramount. We are focused on protecting our employees’ health and wellbeing and on keeping SAP’s business performance and productivity on track,” Christian Klein, CEO, and member of the Executive Board of SAP SE said. Though details were sparse and the scale of the threat not yet clear, the Health department at SAP kept employees informed through intranet articles, emails from the SAP Executive Board, and FAQ documents. A well-trained chatbot is now handling some of the task force’s question-answering work, too.

Thanks to the Executive Board’s clear vision, daily global status reports, and the multidisciplinary task force, SAP was able to give its employees clear instructions and recommendations from an early stage. In many places, government authorities did not impose similar measures on their populations until later. Staying ahead, as SAP did, builds trust not only among employees but also at the management level. Recognition and appreciation matter, too, since they help counter the considerable stress the task force is under and keep it performing efficiently.

Trust and Agility: Key Factors in Crisis Management

At the start of the crisis especially, the situation was fast-moving and emotionally charged. There was insufficient data, experts and politicians were divided on what to do, and there were different expectations across the workforce. The task force’s combined expertise and its culture of discussion were the basis for deciding the company’s response to events as they unfolded – a real test of the team’s ability to focus yet remain agile and to “navigate by sight” in uncharted waters.

For any team to be successful, its members must show great dedication, have respect for each other, be able to listen, and share mutual trust, which means not just having confidence in others’ expertise but trusting them as individuals too. Taking the time to build consensus is also essential. This is only possible if team members exchange their views calmly and respectfully, even when the pressure is on and nerves are frayed. For that to happen, everyone must show true empathy. The words “we are in this together” have to be matched by actions.

Every Friday, the task force comes together to review the week. Each of us describes our stress and satisfaction levels on a scale of one to 10. If stress levels stay above eight or if the level of satisfaction falls below the stress level, the action is taken, which may include seeking professional medical or psychological advice.

The clarity in Times of Crisis

Confusing and ambiguous media reporting is a problem for everyone – employees, management, and the task force. The solution is to come to a consensus as quickly as possible. For the task force, any delay would make it harder to reach a decision on, for example, travel, trade fairs, conferences, or customer events.

Whenever we make decisions affecting the company, we always explain the rationale, state all our information sources, and engage in debate with the workforce. Being transparent, credible, and logical is key to building confidence in a company’s crisis management strategy.

Listening to the Workforce

When the crisis began, our various discussion forums were full of questions about its impact on individuals: “What applies to me? Where can I get help? Who can I turn to?” But there were also general questions too: “How is the company doing? How are our customers doing? Will I keep my job?”

For HR management, relaxing job performance expectations for employees at home with children to look after was an obvious response. Also, SAP would not announce any cuts in working hours or layoffs in the next few months. And we put together an extensive program offering support and advice on health, well-being, and working from home.

In March, we sent out our first monthly employee survey. We used our own survey tool, which is available free of charge to any company. The first survey had 25,000 respondents. Even though they were working at home, often without a proper office setup and while juggling the demands of work, looking after small children or elderly parents, home-schooling, and aligning with their partners on these responsibilities, 72 percent rated their circumstances positively or neutrally. According to 93 percent of respondents, communication by the company was very helpful, and 91 percent agreed that they trusted management to make the right decisions for SAP in these times.

The two subsequent surveys were the first to include the stress satisfaction score as an early warning indicator for mental health. Despite all the difficulties people were facing, around 70 percent of respondents rated their job satisfaction higher than the stress levels they were experiencing.

Returning to the Workplace: What Happens Next?

Even though our facilities are gradually reopening under strict safety rules, we will not return to a setting as it was in 2019 any time soon. For the foreseeable future, most employees will still be working from home, with on-site meetings and business travel possible by way of exemption only. We will continue to do all we can to help our employees around the world offer their customers and partners the same level of care and dedication to help them through the crisis.

No one knows when the pandemic will be over, but we must never allow uncertainty to weaken our resolve. We will continue researching, monitoring, listening, and applying common sense and pragmatism to the steps we take, skillfully changing course whenever we need to ensure a safe passage through these uncharted waters.

The post Crisis Calls for Clarity: Interim Results of SAP’s COVID-19 Task Force appeared first on ERP News.

In today’s high-stakes digital landscape, companies can’t afford to depend solely on in-house (on-prem) servers, storage, and networking to run the applications they depend on. While running your own on-prem infrastructure gives you complete control, it takes time to make changes to address your business needs. Plus, staffing the infrastructure properly with scarce talent can become expensive.

Cloud-based computing offers an elegant alternative to on-prem strategies. Cloud service providers deliver infrastructure as a service (IaaS). This allows enterprises to be more flexible. With the cloud, you can quickly scale up in response to spikes in demand, deploying additional servers, storage, and networking resources when needed. To respond to business changes quickly and more economically, companies need to adopt cloud servers as part of their tech stack.

A primer on hybrid cloud strategy

When deploying tech in the cloud, you still have to figure out how to integrate cloud resources with on-prem systems, storage, and networking. As long as you’re running some portion of your applications on-prem and some in the cloud, your strategy is called “hybrid computing.”

The hybrid computing approach is the way of the future. That’s because it is, by its very definition, flexible, customizable, and capable of meeting innovation needs. Hybrid computing is a sensible approach because it borrows advantages from each pool: the security and control that on-prem computing delivers with the scalability and room for innovation of the public cloud. Also, with hybrid computing, you pay only for the services you use so you don’t have to be permanently tied to resources you might no longer need.

Demand for hybrid computing is expected to grow at an impressive compounded annual growth rate of 21%. The forecast calls for the global market to reach $172 million by 2025. The slice of the market for the U.S. government alone is pegged to hit $4.5 billion by then.

Six steps to a seamless cloud migration strategy

While hybrid computing is the way of the future, migration to the cloud takes a focused strategy—one that you can customize to your enterprise’s specific needs. The hybrid approach is usually the best for most businesses with existing on-prem infrastructure. Realistically, taking hybrid steps is often the only way you can take a large existing on-prem estate and gradually move it to the cloud. You know the riddle: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Every company travels a different route on the road to hybrid cloud migrations. If your enterprise wants to migrate to a hybrid model or has not yet realized the full potential of hybrid computing, following these steps can make for a less bumpy on-ramp.

1. Survey the landscape

Using cloud-based applications for your business is not an all-or-nothing deal. You’re probably running many applications, perhaps hundreds of them, for different purposes. Each of these applications has its own criticality and service level needed for your business, and when it comes to deciding whether it should run on the cloud, different criteria might apply to different applications.

Besides IaaS, some cloud providers also offer complete applications as a service. If what they offer is suitable for you, then you have the option of migrating away from your existing similar application and moving the users to the cloud. Other applications might be suitable for “lift-and-shift,” i.e., a straightforward migration to run on virtual servers in the cloud instead of on-prem. Something in the middle is also possible, where an application’s back-end database might continue to run on your infrastructure, while only its front-end web servers run in the cloud, for example. The particular mix needed in your case depends on the needs of your business and the ease of migrating each application.

2. Locate the low-hanging fruit

How comfortable are you with moving your most precious intellectual property and details about your customer relationships to a computing infrastructure that you don’t own? This is a business question. Does your infrastructure handle secret engineering designs or customer contracts? If you handle medical data for patients, for example, then do you even have the option of saving it in the cloud? For many businesses, strict privacy protocols such as HIPAA patient confidentiality mandate rigid security, something the cloud might not easily provide. If that’s the case, the decision is made for some of your applications, and you can remove these from cloud consideration. Other low-hanging fruit such as processing of machine learning algorithms might be easier to move to the cloud.

3. Figure out dependencies

Often, multiple applications share modules like back-end databases. It might not be possible to move one of these applications to the cloud without also moving the common dependencies. This kind of situation could constrain your migration strategy and make decisions easier. Then again, it might be possible to take this opportunity to break those dependencies if you need to. You need to involve those who understand the application and its dependencies intimately, and also take your key stakeholders into confidence before you make changes.

4. Consider open source

If you are considering changing to a different application or to a different module, library, or database infrastructure, then you owe it to yourself to evaluate open-source alternatives. Open-source software has come a long way in terms of quality and is now ubiquitous, particularly in leading-edge cloud environments. With a large and active user base, the most popular open-source software, like Linux (operating system), Python (programming language), and Postgres (database server) are stable and well supported. If it’s suitable for your needs, there’s no reason not to use it. Saving on license costs is the last reason to do so, but it sure doesn’t hurt.

5. Focus on people and processes

Before you start anywhere, remember that great technology is the sum of talented people and efficient processes. Use both as a backdrop to frame your roadmap and chart progress.

Take your staff into confidence. The choices you make when migrating your applications will change daily workflows and affect your IT staff. People are resistant to change and it’s important to share your plans and give them some ownership. It might be a good time to have frank conversations and build trust. Some employees may be reluctant to give up control over an application and user base they developed over the years because it’s tied to their identity and expertise.

Moving to the brave new world of cloud is also an opportunity for older hands to pick up new tricks, especially if a cloud service provider reduces daily drudgery. Resetting somebody’s forgotten password for the umpteenth time gets old, and mundane tasks won’t be missed if a cloud provider automates it. Remember: Migrating to the cloud is not a sales job, but a partnership where both sides need to be heard. Just like any significant IT project, cloud migration can fail if your crew isn’t on board, even if you do everything else right.

6. Rinse and repeat

Once your migration is complete, it’s also a good idea to periodically assess the state of your hybrid cloud tech stack and to see if it’s best serving your needs.

If your tech stack includes many legacy on-prem systems and your integration strategy worked initially, but it’s stalling, it might be time to look at your ecosystem and employ data integration vendors.  They may be able to customize a plan that works more smoothly in your favor.

Following and recalibrating a hybrid cloud strategy to your specific enterprise needs is important to successful cloud migration. The future lies in an ability to be agile and responsive. The explosive growth of big data—the market is expected to hit $103 billion by 2023—mandates powerful and easily scalable computing on-demand. The kind that hybrid computing delivers. Embracing the hybrid model can help companies leverage the power of digital transformation to their advantage — now and into the future.

By Poornima Apte

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