Welcome
Welcome
Having the right technology and infrastructure is critical for a growing small business. With all the various solutions in the market and so much buzz about cloud, AI, and platforms, many SMBs struggle to know where to start with new investments and may be hesitant to make any major changes without a clear enterprise resource planning (ERP) deployment strategy. However, understanding what the ideal strategy is can be challenging.
Take the short assessment below to understand how your business priorities can influence investment decisions and to see how your peers, with similar business goals and objectives, are approaching ERP decisions. The assessment will also provide recommendations aligned with your results, which are based on a recent study conducted by Forrester and commissioned by Sage.
The assessment should take less than 2 minutes to complete.
Questions
Which of the following best describes your industry? (Select one)
Questions
What actions is your firm taking as part of its digital transformation efforts to better improve its products/services and overall customer experience? (Select any that apply)
Questions
What actions is your firm taking as part of its digital transformation efforts to better improve its use of technology? (Select any that apply)
Questions
What actions is your firm taking as part of its digital transformation efforts to transform business culture and improve business processes? (Select any that apply)
Questions
Which of the following best describes your company’s top business priority today? (Select one)
Questions
Which of the following changes to its ERP systems has your company made in the past two years? (Select all that apply)
Questions
What was the primary motivation behind your company’s most recent change to ERP systems? (Select one)
Questions
What type of technology deployment model for ERP systems do you believe would best enable your company to achieve its business objectives? (Select one)
Questions
Which providers does your organization use to inform its strategy for audience and media planning? (Select all that apply.)
Questions
Which of the following types of data do you use to inform your marketing campaigns? (Select all that apply.)
Results Overview
Results Overview
- Continuous Improvers — Companies focused on growing revenue through continued investment to keep pace with the market.
- Operators — Companies focused on reducing costs by focusing on operations and processes.
- Innovators — Companies focused on customer experience and who have more of an innovator’s mentality and greater appetite for significant technology investments.
Assessment Result: Continuous Improver
Companies like yours often have a solid foundation of products/services and operating model but recognize there is always room for improvement and continued investment needed to keep pace with the market. Revenue growth is typically the top priority for Continuous Improvers. Continuous Improvers invest moderately in updating their ERP systems but tend to take a cloud-cautious approach by not introducing new technology solutions (i.e., cloud) that could slow or disrupt revenue growth.
Recommendations: What your organizations must do
- Be diligent on frequently reevaluating whether your current technology choices are still the right fit for driving growth.
- Educate yourself on what new technologies and solutions are available in order to find the best match for your needs. Be sure to evaluate the opportunity value of adopting newer or emerging technologies, not just initial cost, of these investments.
- Consider the long-term impacts of ERP improvements. Making new investments and changes may impact revenue growth temporarily, but there is a good chance your competitors are making improvements as well, and failing to keep up could have a long-term revenue impact.
Assessment Result: Operators
Companies like yours are likely to take an inside-out approach to business and tech improvements — focusing on operations and processes. Reducing costs is typically the top priority for Operators. Operators are less likely to have changed ERP providers or shifted deployment models over the past few years, opting instead to continue with significant changes to their core apps. The primary concern they have with cloud solutions is the lack of control that stems from their desire to minimize disruptions that could impact workflows and ultimately add cost.
Recommendations: What your organizations must do
- Evaluate your long-term objectives beyond reducing costs. Costs reduction has it limits, and companies must be constantly thinking about what is needed to drive long-terms success for their business.
- Don’t base technology decisions purely on the total cost of ownership. The ROI for cloud solutions hinges on innovation potential — specifically, on gaining fast access to, and adoption of, new features such as machine learning and AI.
- Prioritize operational improvements and innovation that have the greatest impact on customer experience. For example, digital supply chain improvements may also benefit your end customers through increased transparency and quality of goods.
Assessment Result: Innovators
Companies like yours are likely to have more of an innovator’s mentality and greater appetite for significant technology investments. Improving customer experience is typically the top priority for Innovators. Innovators are looking to create a more robust digital experience for their customers and are more inclined to leverage cloud and hybrid cloud deployments of technology over on-premises. Innovators look for opportunities to adopt newer or emerging technology to create new sources of value for customers or business models to grow.
Recommendations: What your organizations must do
- Identify where you can get the most bang from a cloud investment. Many companies equate cloud with better visibility and productivity across all applications — but benefits vary widely.
- Understand how your CX priorities fit into your current ERP strategy and adjust as needed. Don’t underestimate the impact that bac- office functions, technologies, and processes have on delivering quality and consistent CX.
- Take inventory of what level of control you must own. Both sides of the cloud versus on-premises solutions debate can argue over which option is more secure. At the end of the day, companies must decide where they are willing to give up control in exchange for certain capabilities.
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Methodology, Disclaimers and Disclosures
Methodology, Disclaimers and Disclosures
Methodology
Methodology
In this study, Forrester surveyed 309 decision makers from small and midsized businesses in the US. The respondent companies were from the distribution, manufacturing, transportation, and retail supplier industries. Survey participants were from a mix of IT, operations, supply chain, and finance roles with responsibility for ERP strategy, technology, and planning. Questions provided to the participants asked about their companies’ business priorities and deployment methods for ERP solutions. Respondents were offered a small incentive as a thank you for time spent on the survey. The study was completed in February 2019.
Disclaimers
Although great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy and completeness of this assessment, Client and Forrester are unable to accept any legal responsibility for any actions taken on the basis of the information contained herein.
Disclosures
This interactive tool is commissioned by Sage and delivered by Forrester Consulting.