STORIES & SOLUTIONS FOR THE MODERN BUSINESS USER

My high-school-aged son is taking a personal finance class, and he recently asked some good questions about my retirement plans and investments. Since I’m a super-smart adult and knowledgeable about all things, I confidently answered his initial questions. Then he started asking more involved questions, and I was forced to fall back on my go-to answer: “I don’t know, actually, but I’ve got a guy for that.” (Since my retirement advisor is male, I’m ok with the guy terminology, but from now on, I’m sticking with person.)

This article was originally published in Training Industry Magazine.

While millions of college students head back to school for the new semester, many institutions are focused on innovations and changes in the higher education ERP industry. We asked our Workday Student team at Avaap to look into their crystal ball and share predictions on the role ERP and technology will play in higher education in the upcoming year.

For healthcare organizations that are seeking to improve productivity, increase efficiency, and reduce costs while improving care quality, a cloud-based ERP system is the perfect move to kick off your digital transformation strategy. Organizations that haven’t made the move to cloud yet are likely to be running a newly implemented EHR that is only partially, if at all, connected with your legacy ERP.

Hospital and medical dramas are ubiquitous on TV (For some of my younger readers, I’ll point out that TVs are things that we used to use to watch Netflix and Amazon Prime shows back before we had Netflix and Amazon Prime shows. See my OK Boomer! post for more details.) A staple of the hospital drama is the attending physician wearing scrubs and a white coat running into a patient’s room during a Code Blue. Most of us know that Code Blue (or for the cool and hip among us, simply a “code”) is an alert that goes out throughout the hospital notifying clinicians that a patient’s heart has stopped beating. When a code is called via the overhead speakers, assorted clinical folks rush into the room to start CPR, insert a breathing tube, and give medications to try to revive the patient. It’s quite intense.

According to the most recent McKinsey Global Survey on digital transformations, more than eight in ten respondents say their organisations have undertaken such efforts in the past five years. Digital transformation provides a valuable opportunity to move away from manual processes, increase productivity and efficiency, and allow leaders to focus on more strategic initiatives.

I’ll admit it. I’m just gonna put it out there: I’m an Apple fan boy. Ok? It’s out there. I love everything about Apple: their no-nonsense aesthetic; their hardware and software connections; even their headquarters building in Cupertino, California. I think Apple is cool. Does my fascination with all things Apple mean that I overlook their warts and sub-optimal output from time to time? Yeah, to some extent, that’s exactly what it means!

As the new decade rolls in, there is no denying the escalating buzz around cloud and digital transformation. The most recent McKinsey Global Survey on digital transformation notes that more than eight in ten respondents say their organizations have undertaken such efforts in the past five years.[1] The real question on everyone’s mind now is how will this technology improve organisation performance and impact the manufacturing industry in the upcoming year? Avaap’s Global Manufacturing General Manager Robin Irvine shares three bold predictions for ERP software in 2020:

Back when I was in medical school – a million years ago – students spent hardly any time in the hospital or working with patients until their third year. My third year began on July 1, and on that date, I found myself rounding on the colorectal surgery service of a huge hospital. Jokes aside, beginning my real medical training with surgery was quite the plunge into healthcare. While I had a ton to learn about surgically related diseases and treatment, understanding what I could and could not touch in the operating room was among the most important lessons to master. After surviving a few days in the OR, I moved onto more essential preparation for a clinical career.

ERP projects represent significant change for organizations. They are high risk, high-value initiatives, and often are scrutinized heavily. How well organizations prepare for the change and how it will impact the people, is a significant predictor of success. While ERP projects are often heavily supported by IT, ERP projects should be viewed as business investments and led by the functional workstreams.