Digitalization of the supply chain has led to the complete reinvention of manufacturing. Cycle times have shortened, sales and delivery channels have proliferated in number, and product and service designs have become reoriented on the end user as an individual consumer. In addition, platforms and networks have started to dominate supply chain operations.

Investment in IoT hardware — from sensors embedded in manufacturing equipment and products through to electronically tagged items along the supply chain — is only the starting point of the value equation. The biggest competitive gains come when tools such as analytics enable IoT data to inform decisions that improve operations and drive business value. For example, data from sensors on equipment can be used to predict when the equipment is wearing down or needs repair, reducing both maintenance costs and unplanned downtime. Inventory management could also change radically if inventory management systems are used to automatically place supply orders for refilling warehouses.

Complex legacy systems are shackling HR teams with multiple, fragmented tools that deny them a holistic view of their entire global workforce. Pressures associated with compliance, cost and transparency demand increased HR process automation, simplification and standardization. Organizations need to modernize their recruitment processes to reflect the role of online channels in recruitment. Finally, as employees expect to be able to work flexibly and remotely, organizations also need to employ effective cloud solutions that offer a high degree of security.

EY’s Agile Business People offering combines our leading global people consulting capability with a proven SAP SuccessFactors implementation methodology and highly experienced consultants.

Consumer behavior is changing. In 2018, an estimated $2.5 trillion was spent on online retail sales globally, with nearly one in four online shoppers shopping online at least once a week. Furthermore, customer expectations are rising all the time, leading both B2C and B2B businesses to focus more on customer experience.

To keep up, organizations need to maximize the value that they gain from digital channels and make use of their exponentially increasing pools of data to gain valuable insights into their customers. Big data and analytics will be key to delivering relevant and valuable customer content in future. Organizations must transfer to a simplified IT architecture to take full advantage of these technologies, however.

EY’s Agile Business Customer offering is enabled by SAP Hybris Marketing and the Customer Experience Suite. It aims to bring the customer’s vision of how business should be done close to reality. This is achieved through significant changes to customer applications and a purpose-led approach to transformation.

We use the EY Agile Marketing Business Calculator to assess your organization’s current situation and then work with you to identify which modules should be implemented in each phase of the implementation road map.