“Over 95% of organisations are planning to increase their cloud spends in the coming 12 months as the adoption of cloud technologies has become vital.” reported TechGig in Oct 2020
Albeit a turbulent year, 2020 has provided a pinnacle platform for momentous transformation in consumer behaviour and business services alike. The way we work, the way we communicate, the way we shop, and the way we interact with companies has rapidly changed. Cloud technologies including CRM, ERP and BI have supported companies throughout this accelerated evolution.
As we start to think ahead towards 2021, let’s look at the changes that will shape our businesses for years to come.
Insight Atlantic Technologies; What we have Learned
As with many companies, 2020 has been a year of rapid adaptation, agility and learning. The immediate requirement for people to work from home has hugely played a part in the rapid increase of cloud transformational projects. Cloud technologies have been pivotal to the survival of many companies. We have had to become increasingly reliant on technology, and have seen the long term benefits of this change.
Adapting to Change with IT
At the start of the first lockdown in March, Atlantic Technologies shared our internal goals and processes to enable rapid adaptation allowing us to focus on how we can support our customers. Some of the challenges we have been able to help customers overcome include;
- Rapid deployment of Salesforce Service cloud to enable customer service agents to work efficiently from anywhere
- Introducing AI and intelligent Chat Bots to reduce wait times and improve customer service experience
- The introduction of Tableau Reporting to eliminate manual data analysis across international markets and provide improved data insights to help target sales and marketing budgets
- Providing consulting services to recommend the best use of IT budgets, providing a cost effective and quick health check on CRM and BI solutions
We have since launched a series of webinars to help educate and support the industries we work alongside as they adapt to their new business models.
Multi-cloud approaches for a Single Source of Truth
Atlantic Technologies have combined leading cloud technologies for over a decade, using Salesforce CRM, Oracle ERP, and Tableau BI solutions for manufacturing, automotive, pharmaceutical, business services, and other industries. In the last year we have seen Salesforce acquire Tableau, and more recently Slack, confirming the
Atlantic Technologies continues to bridge the gap between departments and data sources by integrating platforms into our offering. “Alongside Salesforce CRM we use platforms such as Oracle and Infor for ERP. We then push this data out to AWS and Azure for vast enterprise crunching.” Fred Walker, Atlantic Technologies
As public cloud providers such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft adopt a multi-cloud offering, Atlantic Technologies empowers clients to be ahead of the game with a hybrid digital transformation strategy that simplifies operations and cross-department communication.
Atlantic Technologies Accelerator Programmes
In light of our multi-cloud approach to digital transformation, Atlantic Technologies has created a series of Accelerator programs that help clients get up and running effectively with cloud computing. We have created helpful demo’s that enable you to understand how our proven process will support your business objectives. You can experience a demo with a member of our team on any of the following programmes;
- Marketing Accelerator
- Sales Leads Scorecard
- Contact Centre Accelerator
- Intelligent Chat Bot Integration
- Tableau Reporting Accelerator
Remote Working in 2020
Whilst early concerns that physical distance between employees may deflate communication and company culture, we soon found that remote working led to an increase in meaningful conversations across departments. Ourselves and our clients alike saw an increase in the effectiveness and efficiencies of cloud solutions when forced to make full use of digital processes.
On the social side of things, Zoom initiatives meant that social activities were no longer segmented by office or country. Instead, we found a boost in global company culture initiatives which seamlessly resulted in the acceleration of the opening of Atlantic Technologies, Denver.
Global Growth meets Family Values
Discussions surrounding our expansion into the US were triggered by the success of opening our London office in 2018. However, keeping our Italian heritage, and the company culture of an SME meant that waiting for the right time was key. Whilst working from home became the new normal in 2020, Atlantic Technologies have been able to affirm our global company culture, enabling our team to work from anywhere in the world.
We are proud to announce that Atlantic Technologies now has representation in Italy, United Kingdom and USA.
Stats and Insights from our Cloud Platform Partners
2020 CRM Insights from Salesforce
As we move into 2021, efforts to create a single source of truth for business data have become a necessity, helping companies to create hyper-personalised customer journeys whilst understanding ROI across departments. To highlight its effectiveness, here is what Salesforce has achieved in 2020:
- Salesforce has 150,000 users from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies
- Salesforce increased its market share in 2019 by more percentage points than the rest of the top 13 CRM vendors combined. Salesforce is also #1 in sales, customer service and marketing applications. [Source: Salesforce]
- The annual revenue of Salesforce reached 17.1 billion USD in its 2020 fiscal year, a record high, compared to 13,28 billion USD in 2019, according to Statistica
- After their purchases of Tableau in 2019, Salesforce moved to acquire business communication developer, Slack, in Q4 of 2020
2020 Business Data Insights from Tableau
Atlantic Technologies have been Tableau partners for Business Intelligence, alongside Salesforce CRM for over 6 years. Salesforces’ acquisition of Tableau in 2019 solidified the seamlessness of two complementary data sources that will help to establish a single source of truth and to empower employees and departments to make informed decisions to achieve organisational metrics. This year, Tableau provided the following key insights in their 2021 trend report:
- Due to demands that businesses be data-driven, organisations are making an average of $15.3 million investments this year
- 41% of this budget is being allocated to skill development as Gartner rates poor data literacy as one of the top roadblocks to creating a data-driven culture and experiencing its advantages
- By 2020, 80% of organisations will initiate deliberate competency development in the field of data literacy to overcome extreme deficiencies. Gartner, Fourth Annual Chief Data Officer Survey, 2019
So, what do these insights mean for your organisation?
Cloud Technology Trends from 2020
Hybrid IT solutions became increasingly important in 2020. As business models became dependent on agility and flexibility, it became clear that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits all approach. Companies have found that, whilst public cloud solutions may be sufficient for content sharing, operational and organisational data must be controlled using private solutions. The effectiveness of IT solutions increases when more departments can benefit from data also means that what may work for one company, will need to be adapted and tailored towards another.
Atlantic Technologies global services are split into three complimentary solutions; CRM, ERP and BI. Let’s look at key 2020 trends from each department that will shape decision-making as we move forward into 2021.
CRM in 2020; Managing Customer Relationships
Empathetic engagement became key in 2020. Information technology allows us to build a whole picture of each customer’s journey, coupled with a consumer’s demand for businesses to switch their focus to how they can help their customers over how they can sell, has led to an expectation of hyper-personalised, empathetic customer experiences.
“For B2B and B2C consumers alike, there is no reason why your customer shouldn’t feel as understood through automated online experiences, as they would by a customer in store.” Mo Jasset, Atlantic Technologies
ERP in 2020; Business Solutions in times of Change
A customer-driven economy means that different departments must work together to provide the best possible customer experience and value. Progression in AI-powered automations in 2020 have meant that data can more accurately support customer decision making processes whilst empowering employee decision-making through intelligent data processing and smarter insights.
In recent years, the development of ERP has meant that it has become more accessible for SME’s. Additionally, mobile applications mean that ERP solutions can be accessed on the go, anytime and anywhere. This helps to create efficiency and effectiveness through real time insights. Our manufacturing customers can tell if materials are delayed, or pharmaceutical companies will be able to track batches – improving traceability.
With the Internet of Things and ERP working in harmony, a clear picture of data is provided for valuable insights.
BI in 2020; Business Technology to Build a Single Source of Truth
In March, Tableau highlighted six key 2020 behavioural trends that will shape the future of Business Intelligence:
- Data literacy must be prioritised in academia
- Artificial intelligence is no longer an abstract concept, it is now an actionable resource
- Data storytelling: Gartner predicts that by 2025, data stories will be the most widespread way of consuming analytics, and 75% of stories will be automatically generated using augmented analytics techniques
- Data equity makes workplace transparency an integral part of employee motivation
- Data culture places accountability at the forefront of successful strategies
- Data management to place seamless integration and harmony as a key priority
Planning IT Budgets for 2021
In 2019, the overall global IT purchases amounted to around 3.5 trillion USD, according to Statistica. In 2020, IT has become the backbone to the success of organisations across a plethora of industries including retail, manufacturing, life sciences and more. This has resulted in a projected global, cross-sector increase in IT budgets as we move into 2021.
What this space for 2021 insights and predictions from Atlantic Technologies.
If your company is ready to benefit from a multi-cloud, hybrid digital transformation strategy, the Atlantic Technologies crew look forward to hearing from you.
Book a demo or find out more about our services.
