EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
MANISH RANJAN , PROGRAMME MANAGER , SOFTWARE AND
CLOUD , IDC META
The challenges for ERP adoption in the Middle East and Africa ( MEA ) region lie with the existing legacy IT infrastructure which , at times , creates hurdles for organisations to modernise and integrate with cloud-based solutions .
Amid the on-going pandemic and economic challenges , organisations across Middle East region are still launching their Digital Transformation and modernisation projects to improve customer experience and reduce operational costs . These projects are accelerating the adoption of disruptive technologies centred around cloud , analytics and AI that improve performance and agility . And while these technologies are enabling organisations to survive and thrive during the challenging times , the uptake of enterprise application software ( EAS ) – specifically , ERM , CRM and SCM applications – is on the rise as vendors embed analytics and AI functionalities into core applications . Due to the on-going investments within the regional and in-country data centre buildouts , even the highly regulated sectors such as banking and finance , healthcare and government are increasingly looking at cloud to streamline their business operations and improve operational excellence while driving innovation and improving customer experience . The consumption of cloud-based ERP services by small , medium-sized and large organisations are on the rise .
That said , cloud-based ERP and other enterprise applications provide organisations the agility needed to accelerate innovation and launch services that address real-world challenges across sectors . Cloud computing in general offers far better capabilities than the traditional IT investment model with respect to developing and operating digital workplace solutions and infusing innovation . The true potential of technologies such as AI , IoT and data analytics can be realised when they are deployed in the cloud environment . Globally , the use of cloud in the public sector to spur innovation , enhance agility and improve services for citizens and businesses has been increasing enormously . There is a strong shift from onpremises solutions to a subscription and SaaS based model for EAS software which is majorly driven by the rapid investments in the cloud and data centre build outs by global technology providers within the Middle East region . Investments made by major EAS vendors in the last two to three years have accelerated the speed of innovation and organisations ’ transformation journey .
The challenges for ERP adoption in the Middle East and Africa ( MEA ) region lie with the existing legacy IT infrastructure which , at times , creates hurdles for organisations to modernise and integrate with cloud-based solutions . Organisations still run disparate systems which creates silos of information lack the sufficient data visualisation tools to be able to make effective business decisions . To address these challenges , top management requires a shift in the mindset and bring in the necessary change management to be able to successfully modernise their ERP . Resistance to change can be a bigger challenge than technological roadblock .
The shift towards cloud-based ERP is happening at large scale-organisations as these firms are not just discussing ‘ why ’ or ‘ when to move to the cloud , but rather are in a phase to evaluate ‘ how ’ to move to the cloud and going ahead with their modernisation journey which has become a de facto option for deploying ERP systems . The emergence of AI , Machine Learning , natural language processing , digital assistance and intuitive user interfaces ( UI ) coupled with advanced analytics features are some of the newest technologies which are transforming ERP into an intelligent ERP ( i-ERP ) system .
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