Being in tech businesses, we are all well aware of the importance of digital innovation. According to the latest tech survey, 99% of executives consider digital design as an essential asset for their business and are ready to invest aggressively in digital transformation strategies.
Many companies build their transformation models around the newly discovered technology- Big Data. Biggies like UPS, Nokia, and the Empire State Building have put the power of IoT, Big Data, and ERP into the core of their digital transformation strategies and reached tremendous results measured in millions of dollars.
Since the above has eased my path of clearing your doubts on How Big Data, IoT, and ERP are key to digital transformation?
We shall begin with more information on the same in the following manner for each technology:
- Brief about technology.
- How is it essential for your business?
- What is its role in digital transformation?
Let us begin.
On this page
1. Big Data
What is Big Data?
Big Data is used to describe the large volume of data that inundates a business on a day-to-day basis. It can be analyzed by organizations to get insights into their business that lead to better decisions and strategic business moves. Big Data can also help businesses figure out the most valuable consumers and come up with new experiences, services, and products.
In other terms, Big Data is a combination of all the processes and tools related to utilizing and managing large data sets. The whole concept of Big Data was born out of the need to understand the trends, preferences, and patterns in massive databases generated when people interact with different systems and each other.
How is Big Data Important For Business?
When businesses combine Big Data with high-powered analytics, they can accomplish business-related tasks, such as
- Determining the root cause of failures and defects in real-time.
- Generating offers and coupons at the point of sale based on the customers’ buying habits.
- Calculating and recalculating the entire risk portfolio in a few minutes.
- Detecting fraudulent behaviors and patterns before they affect your business.
“Did you know? Internet users generate about 2.5 quintillion bytes of data per day.”
What Is The Role of Big Data in Digital Transformation?
As we know, digital transformation helps companies embrace a culture of change and remain competitive in a global environment. Still, when companies decide to go digital, the process is similar to that of losing weight.
You cannot expect the results of dieting the very next day. Losing weight requires a massive lifestyle change, and so does the incorporation of Big Data into your business strategies.
Large amounts of data, well managed, of course, will deliver a better understanding of operations, customers, and markets when integrated within an analytics or AI program.
The three focus points are:
- Identifying goals: As we know, every business is unique in all terms; identifying your own goals and challenges must be your priority. For this, you have Big Data by your side.
- Finding the right data sets: Finding the right data set is essential, and you can find it in-house or in the marketplace. Your CRM or ERP will also help you collect Big Data for your digital transformation strategies.
- Maximizing the benefits for any business: You don’t need a data analyst if you invest in the right software for analyzing Big Data. You can also hire a software development company for your custom analytical software. Decision-making, which is based on data, facts, and evidence, will always save you from failure.
“Did you know? 50% of the SMEs and 95% of the startups fail every year due to wrong decisions.”
2. Internet of Things (IoT)
What is IoT?
The Internet of Things(IoT) is all about prolonging the power of the Internet, much beyond electronic devices such as laptops, desktops, and smartphones, to a lot of other systems, procedures, and environments.
From human-to-machine communication to machine-to-machine communication, IoT is a massive revolution in the IT industry.
IoT is opening avenues for businesses, and according to a survey done by Forbes Insights, out of 700 executives, about 400 are expanding or introducing new lines with the help of their IoT innovations.
How is IoT important for your business?
Talking about the benefits of IoT for businesses, we have the following points:
- IoT apps bring more business opportunities by enhancing the quality of services and business modules.
- IoT improves asset utilization by monitoring equipment through sensors and taking preventive maintenance for uninterrupted access.
- To improve business productivity, IoT can train employees and enhance their work efficiencies. With its intelligence, IoT also helps business owners to avoid skill mismatches.
- IoT helps businesses boom by enhancing business modules, asset utilization, equipment monitoring, and employee training services, also saving your overall business cost.
“Did you know? The total investment in IoT by 2023 will be $1.1 trillion.”
What Is The Role Of IoT in Digital Transformation?
The Internet of Things or IoT plays a vital role in the digital transformation of enterprises. With the right level of integration and monitoring, IoT acts as a bridge between the IT infrastructure and the physical assets of an organization.
IoT has proven to be essential in improving the efficiency of supply chain management and material resource planning. CTOs, CIOs, and equivalent business roles have started embracing IoT as a way of accelerating their digital transformation strategies.
IoT is being given the top priority in driving digital transformation. However, security, connectivity, and lack of skills are a few areas that need to be addressed to ensure a successful deployment.
The role of IoT in digital transformation can be broadly classified into the following groups:
- Strategic asset management: Monitoring the status, location, and movement of physical assets owned by the company to increase the efficiency, performance, safety, security, and industrial IoT devices can smartly manage the throughput of assets.
- Customer experience: Based on the information gathered, providing a personalized experience to each customer/consumer becomes easy with IoT. Better consumer experience ultimately leads to better business.
“As per the estimation, there will be 20-30 million IoT devices before the end of 2020.”
3. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
What is ERP?
ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. It is a business management software that allows an organization to leverage a suite of integrated applications to streamline and automate processes, creating a leaner, more accurate, and more efficient operation.
You can think of an ERP as the brain of your business’ technology system. As the brain controls all the other body parts by telling them what to do, similarly ERP controls the different systems of the organization.
How is it essential for business?
The importance of ERP, when properly implemented, is:
- Simplifies a variety of business procedures, thus optimizing efficiency.
- SaaS or Cloud-based ERP systems can easily extend inter-team collaborations across multiple offices in different locations via the Internet.
- ERP reporting tools use sophisticated filters and analytics that can filter inconsistencies in the data, hence making realistic and accurate forecasts.
- A well-planned ERP system helps in reducing operational costs by automating activities and anticipating various interruptions, delays, and breakdowns.
“Interestingly, 82% of the companies achieved ROI in their expected time by simply implementing ERP.”
What Is The Role Of ERP In Digital Transformation?
In today’s world of disruptive and intelligent technologies, ERP is advancing from the back office of an organization to the forefront of business digitization.
I agree that the customary focus of ERP has been to help organizations unite traditional business-management solutions. Still, we should not neglect the fact that ERP also provides a flexible foundation upon which organizations can integrate more cutting-edge technologies.
As per a survey, 81% of companies are either in the process of implementing enterprise resource planning software or have completed the integration. Who would deny that the implementation of software simplifies complex business functions like finance management, accounting, and inventory?
The focus point of ERP’s role in digital transformation is:
- i-ERP: i-ERP or intelligent ERP is the result of ever-changing requirements and growing competition in modern business. Its main aim is to bridge the gap between existing technologies and business challenges. When integrated with AI, i-ERP becomes more powerful and efficient.
- Cloud-based ERP: Integration of the cloud in ERP is another benefit that gives it the capability of furthering digital transformation. From global access to better utilization of available resources, cloud-based software can work wonders for an organization.
- Enhanced scalability: Scalability is seen as one of the best characteristics of ERP software. Being scalable, ERP can handle various business tasks irrespective of the size of your organization. With more technological advancement, new features and tools can be added to make ERP systems more scalable and robust.
Conclusion
In the world of rapidly evolving technologies and continuous digitization, we need to understand the role of Big Data, IoT, and ERP to lay down better strategies for our business. Digital transformation is a herculean task, but if implemented correctly, it can help your business grow.
Another thing that is worth considering here is the right software for the correct implementation of these technologies to benefit our businesses. For this, my suggestion would be that you should contact the top software development company and come up with personalized custom software for your business.
With this, we come to the end of this discussion. For any other queries or suggestions, comment below.
Digital Transformation means using technology to create or modify business processes & customer experiences to meet the changing needs of the market. To meet these needs of digital transformation, Big Data, IoT, and ERP have stepped up.
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