Influenced by developments in enterprise technology and innovation, more choice is available for decision-makers seeking a modern enterprise system.

Today, IT leaders have the option to utilise low-code services, enabling the less tech-focused individuals the ability to connect business processes and workflow quickly and efficiently. IT leaders are exploring cloud-based solutions to accelerate digital development beyond legacy systems.

According to research by Forrester, cloud-focused software solutions have dominated business applications in the last few years. New providers of collaboration tools are also growing as the demand for more efficient and productive services increases. Forrester believes that efficiency is a primary driver of new business application solutions, but the decisions on services do differ between technology decision-makers, as opposed to business decision-makers. Individuals with a tech focus on delivering new products or services and compliance with regulations are more so than business leaders.

Investing in data-based solutions

A priority that influences enterprise software investment is the need for businesses to harness more value from their data. A recent study from S&P Global Market Intelligence found that most organisations are basing most of their strategic plans on data and that data is continuing to grow in importance.

Before the pandemic, reducing costs and increasing sales were considered top benefits of becoming more data-focused. Today, businesses are more focused on long-term resiliency and adaptability. Strengthening the automation of business processes, increasing the agility of decision-making, and customer engagement are priorities for many organisations today.

AI Development

AI is a growing solution for a data-driven strategy. Earlier this year, Gartner placed Generative AI as the most important emerging technology. Gartner also emphasised the demand for AI in supporting the scaling and development of talent, referring to this as the augmented connected workforce (ACWF).

The ACWF applies innovative services and workforce analytics to guide on strengthening the workforce experience, wellbeing and skills development. The ACWF also improves business results and for associated stakeholders.

Businesses are accelerating plans to embed AI in their products. For example, Microsoft launched Copilot, a technology that combines large language models with internal data to strengthen productivity in the office. At Oracle CloduWorld 2023, the founder and CTO Larry Ellison explained its adoption of AI in the Oracle Fusion cloud suite, explaining the new opportunities to detect and connect account records, providing sellers with clear, actionable insights.

These new developments intend to equip managers with timely insights and suggested actions for an organisation. Managers play a critical role in developing their teams but face mounting pressure to improve productivity and performance while managing changes in workplace policies. David Somers, the general manager of the HR officer product at Workday, explains that their solution provides a single source of truth for people data, enabling managers to be more impactful and making it easier to succeed in their role.

Many big businesses typically begin their enterprise software update by exploring the challenges they wish to solve. They then purchase an off-the-shelf solution and hire the necessary people to embed the system. New leadership plans have transitioned to developing software in-house, rather than applying an external provider and bringing in software providers. According to some business leaders, many off-the-shelf products are inadequate to meet the scale of what a business requires. Many companies must be able to customise what is needed and be resilient for the future.

While there is a requirement to utilise IT assets, a business leader must balance their existing software with purchasing a new enterprise system. However, expanding on a traditional enterprise system or strengthening a legacy solution may provide only a temporary return on investment. While minor changes can increase the lifetime of older enterprise software, they can also mean a delay in harnessing the benefits a modern solution can offer. Progress in technology means modern enterprise systems can be integrated to drive efficiency further.

By exploring the overall enterprise software market, it's clear that software providers focus on providing better insights from data into the existing availability of off-the-shelf enterprise software solutions. This is progressing quickly with embedded AI, driving efficiency and improving analytics.