Are Irish CFOs Making The Most of the Cloud and Mobile Opportunity?

That’s a very good question, but why is the question aimed squarely at CFOs of Irish-based companies?

The answer is simple. While preparing for our upcoming webinars, ‘Total Microsoft Business Solutions for Ireland’ (being run jointly by Microsoft Ireland, eBECS and Sysco on 18 & 19 June 2015) we spoke to a number of senior strategic IT professionals about key issues for Irish midmarket and enterprise businesses.

We received some enlightening input – from organisations that still depend on legacy systems, from customers who are passionate Microsoft Business Solution advocates, and from others who are still weighing up their IT strategy options. 

The key point are summarised below, and these will also be covered in our Webinars 

The first point answers our headline question and will be of particular interest to all senior decision makers looking to make significant reductions in the cost not just of IT, but of actually doing business. 

6 key points that we trust will help with your strategic IT decisions 

1. Cloud and Mobile are really making their mark. Customers that are following Microsoft’s Cloud and Mobile vision report that they are able to achieve drastic cost reductions in the day-to-day running of their business. 

However, a number of senior IT professionals we spoke in Microsoft-enabled organisations believe there is low understanding amongst Irish companies of the very significant savings and “IT future-proofing” benefits that flow from Microsoft’s Cloud and Mobile offerings.

In particular, IT management workload is slashed, to the extent that even large multinational operations can manage and support their IT far more cost effectively. Core IT teams can become much leaner, with IT staff freed from “constant fire-fighting” to better support efficiency gains and strategic developments across the whole organisation.

2. Microsoft versus SAP versus Oracle. There is high awareness in Ireland of Microsoft Business Solutions, particularly Microsoft’s Dynamics AX ERP system. However, those we spoke to were unaware that Microsoft far outstrips SAP and Oracle as the most likely option for “next investment in ERP” (across global geographies, not just Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland).*

*Survey by Ovum Research of 6,700 organisations across industries, geographies and segments, from midmarket to enterprise.  More than 60% of survey respondents* said Microsoft ERP was their most like option for future ERP investment, while only around 20% were considering SAP and around 35% were considering Oracle.

3. Reduced complexity, reduced cost. Organisations generally want to move towards a single global system deployment – with easy integration, easy data sharing, ease of use for end users, agility and low cost of ownership. Many are also keenly aware of the need for mobile capabilities and a seamless experience from device to device, as expected by the ‘digital natives’ who make up the next-generation workforce.

4. No man is an island. There is high awareness of what constitutes a ‘Total Microsoft Business Solution’ (by which we mean business-critical systems such as Dynamics AX, Dynamics CRM, Business Intelligence, SharePoint, Mobile, Cloud, Office 365 et al) and its commercial impact when working together as a single integrated solution.

5. Measures of success. Irish companies that are investing in Total Microsoft Business Solutions report that their solutions deliver significant cost savings during implementation and onwards through everyday operation and support. Benefits include natural integration points, rapid deployment and ROI, extremely low cost of ownership and increased productivity and efficiency.

6. Legacy issues. Heavy dependence on legacy systems is often seen as a barrier to strategic IT advances, though some organisations recognise that side-by-side ERP deployment is becoming more and more the norm.

We will be exploring all of the above points in the upcoming ‘Total Microsoft Business Solutions for Ireland’ webinar – and we would be delighted if you could join us.

Tuesday, October 27 13:00 -13:45 BST

The webinar is part of a joint initiative between Microsoft Ireland and two of Microsoft’s leading Dynamics Partners, eBECS and Sysco. 

eBECS and Sysco recently announced a collaborative partnership that brings in-depth and industry-specific Microsoft expertise and implementation resources to Irish-based organisations. As you’ll hear from Microsoft’s Paul Hennessy (Dynamics Lead for Ireland) in the webinar, this is a major development that is fully endorsed and supported by Microsoft.

If you cannot make the webinar dates (or if you are reading this after the event), then do get in touch and we can email you the Executive Summary.

To request your copy or for more information on Total Microsoft Business Solutions for Ireland, call the eBECS Dublin office on +353 (0)1 893 4931 or get in touch by using our contact form.