Modern SaaS Replaces Core ERP Architecture

While organizations’ enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are unlikely to rip and replace, industry watchers agree that their role is likely to change.

In a recent CCS Insight Predictions for 2022 and Beyond event, the analyst firm noted that since application platforms such as Microsoft 365, Salesforce and ServiceNow exist in every industry segment, they have become a core component in enterprise IT.

According to CCS Insight, their ubiquity in supporting productivity and streamlining operational workflows makes these platforms a catalyst to accelerate the digital transformation of the workforce, supply chain and customer processes.

For example, Salesforce, Microsoft and Service Now were behind several Covid-19 vaccine management applications that had to be developed rapidly. They also provide the foundation for a partner ecosystem serving various vertical markets.

Bola Rotibi, a research director at CCS Insight, said IT leaders are beginning to re-evaluate enterprise systems because of the complexity involved in digital transformation initiatives. She said “digital transformation is a complex enterprise environment” so businesses adopting such a strategy had to focus on a key business driver, such as improving delivery speed, supporting customer expectations or driving innovation. .

Traditionally, businesses use ERP as the transaction engine to drive business processes. In fact, enterprise architecture placed ERP at the heart of Business Process Management (BPM). But there are other perspectives. For example, NHS Scotland has used Service Now to support its contact tracing and Covid-19 vaccine programmes.

It began using ServiceNow three years ago to provide IT Service Management (ITSM). When Computer Weekly spoke to Derrick Michelson, director of digital and chief information security officer at NHS National Services Scotland earlier this year, he said Covid-19 was the catalyst for change. “We matured our ITSM and focused on creating workflows like HR and business logic. Covid-19 is where we saw how we can scale up ITSM,” he said.

A key aspect of ServiceNow is that it focuses on orchestration and management assets, such as HR or computer resources. A common use case is the process of joiners and levers in HR. “You need to manage the data and trigger actions,” Michelson said.

Rotiby said software such as Service Now, Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics are used in many parts of an organization and offer ease of access and usability among their key strengths compared to traditional ERP systems.

Tools like Salesforce Lightning and Microsoft PowerApps address the low-code and no-code segment of software development. For rotibee, traditional ERP usually requires large software development projects. Low-code and no-code tools available from companies like Salesforce and Microsoft can help organizations develop applications faster.

CCS Insight urges IT leaders to re-adjust the makeup of software development teams to address broader operational challenges and the need to build resilience into critical operations. It warned that the role of developers is too broad and too much is being asked of them.

There are many different roles. Rotibi said businesses will need developers who can work with business analysts to build new applications and developers who can quickly scale-out these applications using the hybrid cloud.