The status quo in business applications for enterprise use is characterized by high costs, low flexibility and vendor lock-in, as the inventory of Forrester Research in the recently published global study “Digital Innovation reshapes The Future Of Business Applications”. That will now change: The user companies want to grow, by defining its new customer relationship and align their activities accordingly.
However, this results a fundamental conflict: how many resources should in future still in the renovation and upgrading of existing. on-premise and legacy solutions been? And how it is possible, the budget share for agile, cloud-based, business-oriented solutions to increase?
CRM, Marketing and Analytics
The companies today want to invest primarily in customer-oriented solutions , in areas such as CRM, sales and marketing, e-commerce or Analytics. However, their budgets are tied by costly ERP applications, the installed stationary usually and are expensive to maintain. These applications must be continuously maintained and adapted. In fact express even today 26 percent of European and American software makers, it was for them a “critical priority” to modernize their legacy applications. Another 49 percent admit this task is still a “high priority” field. But
Updated ERP solutions are not, know what business decision-makers to assess currently. They turn to their IT because they need data analysis – customer behavior about to operational processes to specific performance metrics to financial performance to market anomalies or to the success of its employees. Business intelligence including analytics, big data and decision support is high on the agenda. In addition, the business mobile and collaboration scenarios in the context of newly designed business processes would like to implement.
SaaS brings flexibility and relief
With Software as a Service (SaaS) is an operating paradigm prevails, the flexibility and particularly brings relief here. For software updates no longer the user, but the provider itself is responsible. Nearly 60 percent of software decision makers in Europe and the United States want to intensify the use of SaaS solutions. Applications with customer reference are replaced at about half of the companies surveyed by SaaS solutions. Even in areas such as purchasing, human resources, finance and supply chain SaaS applications come increasingly into play.
Forrester identifies five trends that will change architectures and functions of business applications fundamentally.
SaaS and Cloud Computing
SaaS is the preferred deployment model for a variety of applications. Wherever it comes to customer-oriented issues, but also in areas such as human resources, purchasing or supply chain management SaaS is the first choice. Even in classical areas such as ERP, enterprise asset management, finance and accounting, as well as throughout the BI area, where more and more players to offer worldwide solutions, SaaS will gradually become the preferred reference model.
Photo:. Experton Group AG
speak flexibility, simplicity, rapid deployment and regular, uninterrupted updates that the vendor for the on-demand approach be made. IT departments have no more hassle with maintenance and support tasks. You can concentrate on applications and projects that contribute to the differentiation of the core business. Forrester believes that pure SaaS vendors such as Salesforce, Netsuite or Workday be compared to traditional software companies to gain market share in the next three years. Background is the lower development and maintenance costs, since one has to cultivate in addition to the SaaS solution not elaborate on-premise versions.
Both traditional software houses with their often well-filled coffers as well as companies such as Salesforce and Workday Analysts will buy SaaS providers. Since these are currently being assessed but adventurous high, there is a natural limit here. As an example of an overpriced acquisition called the analyst SAP, the hinblätterte $ 8.3 billion for Concur, although the specialist in travel expense management transposed just 700 million dollars a year.
The key to the success in the SaaS world is, according to Forrester, whether it is possible clean image a multi-tenancy architecture, use in really all customers the same software. In practice, pure SaaS offerings are often affected by architectural compromises: The result is a variety of versions and finally the isolation of individual tenants.
Focus on User Experience
Important In addition to the SaaS support is the design of the applications. Customers, employees, partners, or who should always be users are conditioned by their personal experience with web applications and Apps. Anyone who has shown itself as a supplier here innovatively, will reap more attention and move closer to its customers. For companies this is an important factor, according to analysts, because a positive attitude towards software used will lead to greater effectiveness.
What is needed is a long term target group visual processing of applications. In addition to graphic elements and clear navigation rich content and dynamic features like activity streams or Gamification are important. User Experience is based increasingly on Web applications and Apps, Responsive Design for optimal use on all devices is indispensable.
Forrester believes that the major suppliers of SAP, Oracle and Microsoft to Salesforce and Workday have to invest massively here. The user experience is absolutely competitive differentiating. Basically, a mobile-first design will thereby prevail. Moreover, it is important to provide quick and simple contextual applications as an Enterprise App Store. Here can the segment of business applications to learn from the consumer market
Application flexibility:. User adapt business software itself to
Customization is another important feature of business applications. It is important that users can make configuration changes without technical background. Thus, implementation times and leave – reduce expenses. Without the support of internal IT new processes implemented, placed customer programs or organizational units are involved.
In addition, but also genuine Customizing must be possible, without thereby losing the upgradeability. If necessary development work, it helps if ready native development tools that allow the IT or partner customizations or industry-specific layer can build.
According to Forrester, the business stakeholders are gaining more control over the applications, particularly in the SaaS environment. So are simple configuration options as an important differentiator for SaaS providers.
At the same time continue to grow the application ecosystems, especially in the cloud. One example is the development platform Force.com Salesforce along with the AppExchange marketplace: Customers can use native extensions to Salesforce products create or find on the Software Marketplace. This integration and upgrade possibilities are already anchored architecturally. Even SAP Hana Cloud Platform (HCP) and Microsoft Pinpoint represent significant PaaS and ecosystem approaches that are integrated with the respective SaaS models.
Embedded Analytics is part of the Business Software
companies require deep insight into the systematics of their businesses – in retrospect, but increasingly present and forward-looking. Modern analytics technologies enrich business software for fast, well-prepared and predictive analysis capabilities. The lever for supply technologies such InMemory computing, big data, machine learning, predictive analytics and data visualization. Notes
As Forrrester, is a business software to a “system of Insight”, when in the context of business processes in real-time analysis can be run. Is therefore to be expected in the coming years that the provider of business applications powerful analytics tools embedded in their software. There are already in the individual software packages, but the maturity will.
In particular, predictive analytics is according to Forrester becoming part of business applications. Even the vendors are here in the “creative phase”, but they will continue to evolve. The visualization of the data is always better, especially on mobile devices. Easy cake and bar charts decrease, coming instead stylized “donuts” and scatter plots on how they deliver Consumer Apps á la Fitbit.
business users to choose from a variety of visualization options those with whom they can best present. They will consume Analytics especially on mobile gadgets. Based on the results, they can then work together easily and quickly in the team.
Nothing goes without integration tools
business users want in future the entire revenue stream of the order by the customer on order processing and accounting up to subsequent post-accounting control. For the integration of the different software worlds is essential. It is especially important, used as more and more software from the cloud and so the complexity of the application portfolio is increased.
Forrester expects the provider of business software will make integration easier and more possibilities open. The complexity climb to the extent intended as cloud, on-premise and third-party solutions work together. The producer of business software and its technology partners could simplify a lot by creating visual design tools separate the technical elements from the business context, and by providing application programming interfaces (APIs) for external integration specialists. In addition, they provide flexibility in the extent that they provide a modern, modular-designed integration environment.
Forrester expects the provider of business software will bind external integration partner per se, so as to expand their ecosystem. Were arrested with their integration tools throughout its own platform, the customer would find at some point that this is not working. Better is an integration technology and strategy, the Partner inclusive. That entails more preset integration interfaces and a better design environment. Users should make sure that this together working with integration partners and a possible open, neutral integration platform offering when choosing their business software provider.
The analysts believe that standardized integration services through various software platforms will increase. They allow for faster deployment. The cloud-to-cloud application integration will grow very quickly and allow virtual plug-and-play connectivity. Benefits arise where applications share a common development environment or a common ecosystem (Force.com).
Systems of Everything
Years ago, Forrester has between the “System of Record” and the differentiated “system of Engagement”. The former is the backbone of the company. These are ERP systems, databases, and data center environments where large amounts of data and drink promotions are managed efficiently. The underlying business processes are generally linear and under the control of a company – examples might be the settlement of claims of an insurance or payroll human resources.
Forrester recommends CIOs to do more to turn the system of Engagement. These represent the interaction and collaboration with people in the foreground. As a system of engagement are to be designated for new solutions, which refer to the end customer and offer him new services by linking components such as advanced data analysis, social networks, cloud computing and mobile devices intelligent. Example would be the app that allows a customer not only a hotel reservation, but also offers additional services such as automatic room key assignment as you enter the hotel lobby, reserve a table or a special concierge service to him.
Such solutions do not work more in the context of a closed business process. The added value is achieved via the opening of the process towards an ecosystem that customers, partners and engage your employees. The customer care unconsciously for continuous service improvement, by sharing data about their movements and behavior patterns.
Forrester adds the two system categories have added two more. In the “system of Insights” is about planning using advanced data analysis. Here the fast processing of mass data are combined with advanced data visualization and predictive analytics, so that the vision of a “Data-Driven Enterprise” closer. Forrester expects business applications system of Insights are embedded offer in their applications.
“Systems of automation” finally take on the new challenge of the Internet of Things (IoT) and industry 4.0. This is about processing the mass data as they will provide fleets, power plant equipment, road and rail, smart phones and people (wearables) via sensors. Connections to the physical world helping business applications to make machine learning can be used to control ambient conditions events and predict outcomes.
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