Flexibility in Business Applications

Business Application implementations should consider industry disruptors to be better prepared for changes to security and scaling.

Identify industry disruptors

Emphasize non-functional requirements

Implement future-proof business applications

Global Challenges for Business Applications

Flexibility in Business Applications

Business Application implementations should consider industry disruptors to be better prepared for changes to security and scaling.

Identify industry disruptors

Emphasize non-functional requirements

Implement future-proof business applications

Flexibility in Business Applications

Business Application implementations should consider industry disruptors to be better prepared for changes to security and scaling.

Identify industry disruptors

Emphasize non-functional requirements

Implement future-proof business applications

In today's globalized world ideation, design, implementation, testing, continuous deployment, support and account management are standardized for the most part. In theory, most well-scope and well-architected implementations should pay off as new features are added and incremental improvements are deployed by the vendors over time.

Still, cost management and the returns on technology investments are difficult to measure, especially because broad adoption is slower than expected (1).

While underlying assumptions for Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and technical debt calculations vary across application groups, business application implementations should consider the following industry disruptors in their calculations:

Still, cost management and the returns on technology investments are difficult to measure, especially because broad adoption is slower than expected (1).

Regulatory Changes

Emphasis on Cybersecurity, data security and protection regulations, green procurement, and the promotions of local suppliers are driving costs up.

New competitive entrants and substitute products

New competitive entrants and substitute products

Startups are not only innovating industry solutions, but also providing regulatory technologies. Players need to adapt their security, processes, and reporting (2).

Supply Chain Constraints

Supply chain

constraints

Supply Chain Constraints

Technology investments are focusing on predicting supply chain disruptions and favor flexibility and resilient infrastructure over short-term cost (3).

Product and service commoditization

Industrial automation, IoT devices, telemedicine and blockchain solutions for DeFi are forcing traditional products and services to increase efficiency (4, 5).

Currency Fluctuations

Currency fluctuations

Currency Fluctuations

54% of companies were considering switching to domestic or more stable currency vendors to mitigate the impact of currency fluctuations (6).

Industry Consolidation

Industry consolidation

Industry Consolidation

As business models transform to adapt leaner organizations M&A activity is rising especially in energy, tech, and pharma (7).

Changing buyer demands and behaviors

Policies and regulations around AI are moving companies to consider each technology from capabilities to responsibilities and transparency (10, 11).

Interest rate fluctuations

Economic uncertainty decreases purchasing power and willingness for larger investments (8). Instead, pilot projects and Proof of Concepts are in high demand (9).

Under these circumstances, flexibility is paramount. In this context, the following definitions and questions are targeted to help identify gaps in the overall quality of business applications. Ask yourself:

Efficiency

The time it takes to find information and fulfill mandatory, operational tasks.

The time it takes to find information

and fulfill mandatory, operational tasks.

Are our business applications integrated with each other? For example: Is our order-to-cash process efficient and transparent? How far automated is the process?
Can you reliably identify value-add and non-value add tasks?

Are our business applications integrated with each other? For example: Is our order-to-cash process efficient and transparent? How far automated is the process?
Can you reliably identify value-add and non-value add tasks?

Security

The processes, permissions, and convenience of appropriate access.

The processes, permissions, and

convenience of appropriate access.

How well are our business applications protected from internal threats? Do we share information unnecessarily or prolific?
Compared to the level of protection: how convenient are access,

permissions and vetting processes? What is the average time for access?

How well are our business applications protected from internal threats? Do we share information unnecessarily or prolific?
Compared to the level of protection: how convenient are access, permissions and vetting processes? What is the average time for access?

Accuracy

The effort to describe the current state of the organization.

The effort to describe the

current state of the organization.

How well do we trust the sources of data that produce reports? Do we overuse spreadsheet applications for reporting? If yes, why?
How do we measure return on investments for technology projects?
Do we monitor and manage software licenses and cloud usage closely?

How well do we trust the sources of data that produce reports? Do we overuse spreadsheet applications for reporting? If yes, why?
How do we measure return on investments for technology projects?
Do we monitor and manage software licenses and cloud usage closely?

Adaptability

The delay of all applications to update after

a change in the organizational hierarchy.

The delay of applications to update

after a change in the organization.

How long does it take to produce status reports from multiple business applications on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis?
How well are organizational changes deployed in business applications?

How long does it take to produce status reports from multiple business applications on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis?
How well are organizational changes deployed in business applications?

References

1) Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Digital Economy Outlook 2024. OECD, 14 May 2024. Accessed 17 May 2024, Weblink.

2) Research and Markets. "Consulting Service - Market Share Analysis, Industry Trends & Statistics, Growth Forecasts 2019 - 2029." Research and Markets, www.researchandmarkets.com, 2024. Web. Accessed 13 May 2024.

3) PwC. "Global M&A Industry Trends: 2024 Outlook." PwC, 23 Jan. 2024, Weblink.

4) Grand View Research. "Industrial Automation Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Component (Hardware, Software, Services), By Solution, By End-use (Automotive, Oil & Gas, Pharmaceuticals, Manufacturing), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2022 - 2028." Grand View Research, Jan. 2022, Weblink.

5) Markets and Markets. "Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Market by Offering (Hardware, Software, Services), Technology (Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing), Application (Patient Data & Risk Analysis, Medical Imaging & Diagnosis), End User, and Region - Global Forecast to 2026." Markets and Markets, Weblink.

6) IDC. "Managing Currency Fluctuations in a Global Market: Strategic Insights for Businesses." International Data Corporation, 2022.

7) Deloitte. 2024 Renewable Energy Industry Outlook. Deloitte Insights, 2024, Weblink.

8) United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. World Investment Report 2023. United Nations, 2023, Weblink.

9) McKinsey & Company. "Technology Trends Outlook 2022." 1 Aug. 2022, Weblink.

10) Deloitte Insights. "2024 Manufacturing Industry Outlook." Deloitte Insights, 2023, Weblink.

11) "Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence." The White House, The United States Government, 30 Oct. 2023, Weblink.