September 2022Issue 12

COVER STORY

Network Rail: everyone home safe every day By Paul Esherwood

Network Rail and EY team up to deliver a comprehensive package of measures to improve safety, drive efficiencies and boost employee experience

EDITOR'S CHOICE

EY wins top prize at the ERP Today Awards 2022 By ERP Today

The ERP Today Awards have once again ended with a bang, seeing EY win top prize for 'Transformation Project of the Year'. EY's stellar work for Network Rail saw the consultancy giant walk away from Ascot Racecourse with the major gong. The ERP Today Awards & Fundraiser 2022 also saw IFS win 'ERP Vendor of the Year'.

Editor’s Words: Strength in adversity By Paul Esherwood

A sombre mood has been cast across the United Kingdom with its effects reaching all four corners of the globe. Queen Elizabeth II has passed and Charles III has been proclaimed king. As the world adjusted to the loss of the longest serving monarch on record, the ERP Today community shared a unique opportunity to pay tribute to Her Majesty at Royal Ascot, one of the late Queen’s most cherished venues.

Orbis non sufficit – the race for cloud supremacy By Paul Esherwood

Is anyone else bored by the numbers? Do you find the race for cloud dominance a bit dull? Are vendor boasts reminding you of a recent time in history when getting rich and grabbing more played out pretty badly for most of us? Fundamental market dynamics dictate that big tech companies must sell more to satisfy shareholders but the persistent desire for growth is taking its toll on workers and the markets are finally realising that not every cloud business has a future.

FEATURES

Money in Web3 needs neither crypto nor cyberspace By Giacomo Lee

Accenture, Alibaba and more explain why the future of finance doesn’t necessarily involve cryptocurrency and extended reality

Moving from mid-market to enterprise ERP: when is the right time?By Christine Horton

When should you consider upgrading your mid-market solution for an enterprise-level ERP system?

The CFO is dead, long live the CTO By Stephanie Ball

As hyperautomation technology advances, is the CFO about to see their role subsumed by a CTO?

Embridge Consulting: Toppling the technology pedestal By Stephanie Ball

Emma O’Brien, founder and CEO of Embridge Consulting, on the pitfalls of ERP's current tech-first approach

The ERP Today Awards 2022 By ERP Today

Download the ERP Today Awards & Fundraiser Special Supplement

Snowflake: building data clouds around the world By Adrian Bridgwater

Snowflake’s EMEA chief Alison Tierney on adapting to new regions and dishing data across all dimensions

Expert Opinions

From lipstick on a pig to the experience economy, the evolution of UX By Mark Sweeny

Why spending vast amounts of money just to make something look good without the underlying functionality was - and still is - fool’s gold

Building ‘smart’ ERP demands continuous software intelligence By Adrian Bridgwater

Is it time to introduce ERPSI into the lexicon: the development of ERP suites with an inherent ability to exert software intelligence functions?

Blurred lines: is the consumerisation of enterprise technologies creating unnecessary division?By Marc Ambasna-Jones

Enterprises beware – there may be some sacrifice in software simplicity for the hybrid user

Citizen technologists, it takes more than a lion taming hat By Adrian Bridgwater

A reminder why just because you’ve got the title, doesn’t mean you’re necessarily qualified to do the job

Premises and potentates for cloud in 2022 By Holger Mueller

Quantum computing, AI, DAOs and the metaverse make for an interesting cloud race after COVID-19

Guest Contributors

Avantra: Come on, let’s get through the mist to the cloud By Tyler Constable

This is a contributed piece for ERP Today written by Tyler Constable in his role as global head of solution engineering at Avantra – a company known for its AIOps automation platform designed to drive SAP operations. Migrating SAP systems...

The future of automation: a hindrance or an enabler?By Omkar Nisal

Automation is about efficiency, and efficiency is a priority for businesses and organisations needing to survive in an ever more competitive environment. Automation in the past revolved around updating machinery and equipment and improving processes, while new digital advances have given rise...

Process mining: Digital transformation lynchpin in banking & finance By Nick Mitchell

Technology is now central to the operations of almost all modern businesses, and this is especially true for organisations in the finance sector. But as the sector embraces digital transformation, are business leaders overlooking a key way to ensure they are delivering the experiences that customers need, while also trimming their own costs?

Handling complexity: should we be scared of standardisation?By Andy Bird

Why many organisations struggle with the conflict between delivering simplification and standardisation

Artificial intelligence will revolutionise the customer journey By Chris Bedi

AI-driven actions are not only creating positive value for clients but also increasing loyalty and driving business revenue. This shows how important technology is to a company’s business strategy

Watch out for SAP silos in your cybersecurity By Tim Wallen

ERP exposure and the need for business-critical application security to mitigate threats and protect systems from avoidable damage

‘Glorified filing cabinet’: Cloud’s greatest failing By Alan Jacobson

As transformation initiatives continue to accelerate, cloud continues to be a key enabler for organisations transitioning out of lockdown crisis mode to new hybrid working practices and recession-proofing strategies.