As 2023 draws to a close, our team at Innovative Solution Partners is reviewing the year and planning for 2024 and beyond.
Here are five things that stood out during the past year for us and our clients.
1. Business outlook and the economy
Enterprises continue to see the power of analytics in dealing with what has now been a several-year period of price fluctuations, supply chain issues, and staffing challenges. Frankly, the only certainty there has been about the economy since 2020 is … economic uncertainty.
On the other hand, technology has been up to the task. We heard yearlong from companies seeking answers to their increasingly complex IT challenges. In addition to having the right technology and tools, organizations need to properly leverage those tools — and their own data to drive growth and find efficiencies.
In one of our most recent “Tech-Driven Business” podcast episodes, SAP’s Nick Verhoeven joined Mustansir Saifuddin to discuss why enterprise planning is a powerful addition to SAP Analytics Cloud. It became clear in 2023 that SAC’s investment in SAC Planning continues to change the landscape for business users.
As we have said for years, cloud migration remains top of mind for companies and industry leaders we work with.
Despite predictions of huge leaps in cloud migration in 2023, McKinsey reported in November that only 5 percent to 10 percent of companies increased their cloud adoption over the past 12 months.
What’s ahead? we definitely see more of what we saw in 2023 — headlong dives into AI, and continued integration of SAC tools with AI capabilities.
2. AI implications
AI was one of the biggest buzzwords for 2023. Thanks to our guest, David C. Williams, we dove into how RPA and AI together continue to change the landscape for organizations at all levels.
Earlier this fall, we looked at the intersection of AI and business, from finance to marketing to industry. As SAP expands its AI capabilities and layers them into existing SAP solutions, organizations can increasingly leverage SAP’s experiential and operational data and third-party data.
One issue we often hear from our clients is the need to simplify the financial close process. SAP’s AI integrations for finance help resolve discrepancies and use automated workflows to close books faster.
As we look to 2024, SAP continues to leverage AI and machine learning to increased efficiencies for companies using SAP S4/HANA.
3. ASUG and learning from one another
We’re honored to continue our work with the Michigan Chapter of Americas’ SAP Users’ Group (ASUG). There is so much to learn from users and industry leaders.
In 2023, the ASUG Michigan chapter met in March in Detroit then again in June in Grand Rapids. Topics included how leveraging SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) Planning with SAP ECC for Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) is a game changer for enterprises.
In 2024, fellow volunteers will continue to work on scheduling quality programming content, including partnerships with local universities to increase the talent pool for SAP clients.
William Newman, an industry executive advisor (chief) for SAP’s Customer Innovation Office, rejoined us early in 2023 on the “Tech-Driven Business” podcast to highlight what workforce planning would be like in 2023 and beyond.
He highlighted how life had changed post-pandemic for both employers and employees in regard to hiring, onboarding and talent retention.
Looking at 2024, we will have educators join us on how businesses can leverage university partners to grow their talent pool.
5. SAP Sapphire Conference
For the past 50 years, SAP has continually reinvented and reassessed how to best serve its clients. In May 2023, thousands of people came together at the 2023 SAP Sapphire and ASUG Annual Conference in Orlando to learn how SAP is making sure customers are “future proof.”
From generative AI to partnerships like SAP and Microsoft, SAP continues to illustrate how embedded AI in enterprise applications is enhancing client operations. In 2024, SAP Datasphere will continue to provide the power of real time analytics. Analytics will be even more important for enterprises as they continue to face uncertain economic conditions and supply chain issues.
Ready for 2024? Put on your seatbelts
2023 was expected to be a year of IT innovation, and it did not disappoint. This year, perhaps, has been one of change unsurpassed in decades, as AI not only emerged as an everyday word but as SAP and other technology companies continued to integrate AI into every tool and platform.
In April 2023, the World Economic Forum released its 2023 Future of Jobs Report. In it, the forum shared stunning statistics about retraining of a changing workforce and the expected impact on businesses seeking a path to sustainability. Most significantly, the report says that technology adoption will remain a “key driver of business transformation in the next five years,” with more than 85% of organizations surveyed identifying “increased adoption of new and frontier technologies and broadening digital access” as the trends most likely to drive transformation in their organization.
Ready for 2024? At Innovative Solution Partners, we are strapping on our seatbelts!
