But what if the disruption was already at your doorstep, and you missed the memo?
Mitch Lowe’s fantastic article in the latest edition of Digitalist Magazine opens with this clincher:

“You know you’re being disruptive when everybody says: There’s no way that business is going to work.”

For the uninitiated – Mitch Lowe is the co-founding executive of Netflix, the president of RedBox, and a top-listed business speaker.
Mitch talks about how, way back, Blockbuster refused the offer to buy a 50% stake in Netflix, because they didn’t think Netflix was a good idea.

Interesting isn’t it? There it was, this million-dollar opportunity, just sitting at the goalpost. And Blockbuster missed the kick, by a mile! And this is not an isolated occurrence. You’d be amazed at how often ground-breaking ideas are written-off by big businesses – because investors didn’t have the right predictive insights or they simply were resistant to change.

Think about this:
Today, Netflix is booming, with more than 167 million subscribers worldwide.
And, Blockbuster?
Well, they went out of business 10 years ago.

Identifying disruptive trends through data-driven analytics

There are a lot of thinking-points in Mitch’s article. I’ll leave you with one.
When was the last time you laughed away an idea because you thought it was absurd?
If it was anytime recently, I’d suggest you think again. Do some market research; use powerful analytical tools to extract hidden insights – and let your data do the talking, instead of simply relying on your instincts.

I bet it can make a world of difference. Do you think disruption is the future?

So, next time you’re prepared to meet disruption head-on, as it walks through your door!

Let me know what you think.

By: Venkat Nanduri[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The post When was the last time you laughed away an idea… appeared first on Phoenix Business Consulting.

Prominent cities across the globe are facing lockdown. One of the biggest trade shows in Barcelona – the Mobile World Congress – was cancelled last month. The Olympic games are on the verge of being postponed or even cancelled.No virus has created such havoc in the recent times as the COVID-19.
I was traveling from Saudi Arabia to India last week, and was taken aback by the gripping fear that is sweeping the globe. The aviation industry is perhaps the worst hit from Corona. The airports wore a deserted look like more and more people chose to stay home.
As if this wasn’t enough, oil prices plunged to multi-year lows yesterday, as tensions between Russia and Saudi escalate, sparking fears of an all-out price war.

To my last week’s Tuesday Thoughts, I received a very interesting question:

“In view of the current COVID-19 situation, what went wrong with predictability here?”
My answer is this:
Some things will always remain beyond the scope of any scientific prediction. The Coronavirus “pandemic” is one such.
So, rather than focus on the things beyond our control, what we can do instead is to stay prepared and stay resilient.

Another question:
Now that the worst has hit, how can business leaders prevent disruption amid the global turmoil?
My answer? By embracing a more digital-friendly core for your business – for customer operations or employee empowerment.

For example, as of now, most of your customers are looking to prevent daily physical interactions.
It makes senses for your business to facilitate digital service delivery through a range of virtual channels. An example is increased e-commerce adoption, if you are in retail.

Invest in creating seamless virtual experiences – not just for customers, but for your employees too.
With a powerful digital core working at the heart of your business, it becomes easier to evolve your businesses operations in challenging times, to ensure that your customers, employees and partners do not face disruptive consequences.

Let’s use technology-fueled experiences to stay diligent and responsive in uncertain times.
What’s your take on COVID-19? I look forward to hearing it.

By: Venkat Nanduri

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The post How to stop losing your business to corona appeared first on Phoenix Business Consulting.

Today’s companies predict market forces, so much so they know exactly what decision to take at what time. After all, timing is everything especially with technology!

Thanks to intelligent technologies, like IoT, machine learning and artificial intelligence, that fear of failure is no more with these young, dynamic startups. We need to capitalize on technology.

My question to you is this – when you know that newer technologies can help you take right decisions at right time, why don’t you put them to use?

Your consumers depend on your products to make their lives better. Your stakeholders look up to you to take the business to new heights. You DO NOT want to let them down.

So what leads to business failure?

Most business failures can be traced back to a series of bad decisions, including to not stay up to date with technology. Decisions taken in the heat of the moment; decisions taken without the right insights at hand.

Traditional businesses are more prone to making bad business decisions, as they do not have the right data to back them up.

Intelligent Enterprises, on the other hand, are bold and fearless. They are confident of their decisions as they are backed by solid business rationale. They are ever-ready to embrace change, as their firm technology base gives them a leg up on innovation and agility.

Which is why the future belongs to them.

In my 30+ years of experience, I have helped many businesses transform into intelligent enterprises using SAP’s market-leading technologies. I can help you do the same. Write to me for consulting advice.

Fear not; it’s free of cost!

By: Venkat Nanduri[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The post What Leads To Business Failure? appeared first on Phoenix Business Consulting.

Customers and prospects are in constant touch with you through social media, phone or emails. As a business owner, it is crucial that you know the key metrics you must capture so that, in every interaction, you provide them the WOW experience.

Here are four critical steps to make your data talk:

Step 1: Start with one simple question: What are my various customer touch points?

Step 2: Make a list of all touch points and gather data from each touch point

Step 3: Now, select the top five touch points in descending order.

You’re not done, though, because the next step is the most important step….

Step 4: Once you’ve completed steps 1 through 3, the next best practice is predicting your key metrics for the coming months, quarters and years. This is where top companies have been highly successful and what separates them from the pack.

In my own 30-plus years of experience in the software industry, I have not seen anything like SAP Predictive Analytics. I’m not saying it because I belong to the SAP fraternity, but because it’s 100% true.

SAP is far ahead of others in predictive analytics, machine learning, IoT and AI.

SAP analytics integrates deeply into every process. It enables you to see and share data across functions and departments. It gives you the ability to arm your team with accurate, timely and complete insights, empowering them to make informed, on-the-spot decisions.

The smart companies are those that make use of data-points to sketch their customer stories, make sound decisions about customer experience based on those stories and in turn have scaled up to unimaginable levels.

Is it possible that your data-points are trying to tell you a story that you cannot see or hear because of the lack of the right tools for analytics?

Possible, right? If you are interested in making sure your data speaks your language, please let me know. I’ll be happy to share my insights and recommendations on the predictive analytics tools that can make a huge difference to your business.

By: Venkat Nanduri

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The post What Story Is Your Data Telling You? appeared first on Phoenix Business Consulting.

Let’s get this straight: If you look at your business processes, you will see that every customer touch-point is really the sum total of all “listening” (experiences) accumulated across the connected channels!

Business Intelligence
In January 2019, SAP commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate the demand among business analytics teams for leveraging embedded analytics with the aim of discovering, procuring, and provisioning Business Intelligence (BI) data more effectively. Conducting a survey of 219 enterprise IT and analytics leaders, Forrester found that embedding analytics within relevant transactional applications and business processes makes analytics contextual, actionable, and pervasive, thus better supporting business outcomes.

Download: Forrester Report on How to Optimize Business Intelligence Efforts

In this age of social media, the fact that we all are evaluated by our customers on the experience we deliver shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

So, here is my thought: Now is the time to make sure all your customer-centric processes are collecting the data and information you must have to ensure a quality customer experience.

At Phoenix, we help companies become Intelligent Enterprises. Reach out to me if you wish to learn more about our services.

I look forward to hearing from you.

By: Venkat Nanduri[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The post How to Optimize Business Intelligence Efforts appeared first on Phoenix Business Consulting.

To become an Intelligent Enterprise, customers need to rely on a solid Digital Platform to manage data from any source, in any format – and rapidly develop, integrate, and extend business applications. How do you think your business will handle this integration?

Watch this video to learn how to position SAP HANA Data Management Suite and SAP Cloud Platform as a unified Digital Platform to connect, analyze, govern, secure and deliver trusted data and applications. Watch the video below to really understand how the SAP Cloud Platform goes hand in hand with the Intelligent Enterprise.

Today, the end customer wants everything on the secured cloud. It’s a brave, new cloud world out there. Are you ready? if you are, please read on and share your thoughts.

Let me know your thoughts and if you would need any help in moving to the cloud.

I look forward to hearing from you.

By: Venkat Nanduri[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The post It’s A Brave, New Cloud World… appeared first on Phoenix Business Consulting.

When I ask this question to my “smart” CXO friends in the industry, almost 4 out of 5 confidently say – “Exceptional Customer Experience.”

They are smart. And they are right. Is that something that every business needs, exceptional customer experience?

Exceptional customer experience doesn’t happen in a day or two, and doesn’t make them “smart” right off the bat. It needs to be consistent across channels, devices and physical touch points – all 366 days (2020 is a leap year!).

But why is it so tough to be consistent, and how do you measure it?

Let me try to answer this – delivering an exceptional customer experience comes from understanding the data available. For this, you need to invest in newer technologies that can convert data into actionable insights, and have a smart enough insight on how to allocate it.

However, the real value is in connecting experience and operational data with advanced technologies such as advanced analytics, AI, machine learning, and in-memory data management in the cloud. This helps to deliver intelligence that not only improves real-time decision making, but can also predict future behavior and outcomes to improve the chances of your business’ success.

When organizations put into use technologies that turn data into real value, they become intelligent enterprises that provide exceptional, smart customer experience.

Adopting an Intelligent Enterprise strategy is the best way to guarantee positive outcomes for your business, across your entire enterprise.

So, what do you think most successful businesses do? Let me know your thoughts.

Look forward to hearing from you.

By: Venkat Nanduri[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The post What Is The One Thing Most Successful Companies Are Always Doing? appeared first on Phoenix Business Consulting.

Some predictions come true and some don’t. But a few things are sure to happen – come what may with the resolution.

Innovations, resolutions, and disruptions will dominate 2020 and beyond. In its newly published infographic titled: The Roaring 2020s: Six Trends Impacting Midsize Companies in the Next Decade,” IDC predicts that “by 2023, 50% of midsize companies will report that transacting and communicating digitally is a critical priority. This includes not only eCommerce, but also connected supply chains and goods sourcing.”

This is must-read material for any executive:[/vc_column_text][rb_sc_button title=”Download: The Roaring 2020s: Six Trends Impacting Midsize Companies…Study: Millennials’ impact on HR” customize_align=”1″ aligning=”center” btn_size=”small” btn_style=”simple” btn_font_color=”#ffffff” btn_font_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#3b7eff” btn_bg_color_hover=”#3b7eff” btn_border_color=”#3b7eff” btn_border_color_hover=”#3b7eff” url=”https://www.sap.com/documents/2019/12/62118a34-787d-0010-87a3-c30de2ffd8ff.html?url_id=text-glo-socialnurture-2020s-DigMag-012220-ThreePredictions:CRM-YM20-CON-20WEBI1″ custom_styles=”.vc_custom_1603383940914{margin-top: 30px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;}”][rb_sc_text show_divider=”1″]In a related article published by Digitalist Magazine, Meaghan Sullivan, the Head of General Business and Global Partner Marketing at SAP, comes up with three dominant predictions for midsize companies in 2020 and beyond related to resolutions:

1. Employee and customer experiences will rule everything: The value of customer-centric experience models will be so enticing that 55% of midsize companies will either adopt or progress toward them by 2024.
2. Innovation-driven transformation will be a priority: Companies that prioritize transformation initiatives will be two times more likely to report double-digit revenue growth and four times less likely to experience revenue decline.
3. Technology and data will determine growth scalability: More than 25% of growing businesses will focus on building a connected ecosystem of platform providers to accelerate digitalization. 40% of companies will adopt intelligent solutions to offset skill shortage and elevate the strategic value of work.

So, here are my conclusions based on industry predictions:

• Innovations and disruptions are expected to accelerate in 2020. But, the right technology will remain the differentiating factor between thriving midsize companies, versus the bare survivors.
• Businesses that wish to transform using innovative technologies, such as AI/ML and IoT, need to make sure that their underlying data is real-time and accurate. This will ensure their customer experience is as exceptional as their upcoming product innovations.

Do you agree with me?

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.

By: Venkat Nanduri[/rb_sc_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The post The Roaring 2020 Predictions appeared first on Phoenix Business Consulting.

Every time I meet with CXOs, this is the one question I can always count on them asking.

And my two-word answer is – Intelligent Enterprise.

Intelligent Enterprises use the latest technologies to turn insight into action across the business – in real time. As a result, they accelerate data-driven disruption and process automation, launch new business models, deliver exceptional experiences, and more. Do you believe the use of Intelligent Enterprises will be the future? How do you think your business will adapt to it?

Anything intelligent is smarter, and smarter brands build exceptional experiences that attract and compel customers to act in a certain way. What would you consider a “smart brand?” An intelligent enterprise connects operations using experience management (XM) solutions, a business technology platform, and a suite of applications, as illustrated below…

By looking at this image, you could see that experience, intelligence, and operations will always be relevant in the Intelligent Enterprise world. In the digital world, experience is the #1 differentiating factor. Don’t believe me? See what a dozen thought leaders and influencers had to say about the economy and experience management.

Driving the digital transformation of our organizations toward becoming ‘intelligent enterprises’ is the choice we as leaders must make. My question to you is this: How do you want to make your organization into more of a real-time, data-driven organization in 2020 and beyond?

Let me know your thoughts.

By: Venkat Nanduri[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The post Intelligence – Where Experience and Operations Meet appeared first on Phoenix Business Consulting.

Enter the millennials – the generation that will comprise nearly three-fourths of our workforce in the next five years.

Millennials are born into technology. This is an ambitious generation – digital natives – defined by their fierce technology dependence.

Study: Millennials’ impact on HR

Previous studies by SAP point out that millennials place utmost importance on trust-based relationships at the workplace, followed by attributes like simplicity, practicality, mobility, personalization, and convenience.

Technology is a very intricate part of this equation. Make no mistake – while other generations may have put up with flickering screens, erratic system outages or painfully slow processors in their day, the millennial will just give up on defective technology and move on.

Which is why enterprises across the globe are making existential changes to the way they function, to make the millennial workforce feel welcome and motivated.

Steve Strauss, in his article “Top Work Trends For 2020 And Beyond” in the Digitalist Magazine, says.

Top Work Trends in 2020 And Beyond

“Younger workers expect more out of work and their employers … Are you ready for flextime and remote work and BYO devices and gig workers and all the rest? Because I can tell you, big businesses are, and as a result, they will snag the best and the brightest if you don’t keep up with these changes and pivot accordingly.”

For instance, enterprises should ensure their ERP technology is intelligent and flexible enough to support the digital generation’s basic requirements, like on-demand information, real-time collaboration, ubiquitous virtual communication, gig-work and multi-screen connectivity.

Not just employees, millennial customers and stakeholders, too, expect this from businesses!

So, can your present-day technology give your millennial employees (and customers) the innate sense of “connectedness” and purpose that they so resolutely seek?

Consider an “intelligent” upgrade, to get past the millennial disruption today.

Phoenix Business Consulting has been a leading SAP implementation partner for more than two decades now. We have helped businesses transform into intelligent enterprises.

If you wish to know how you can transform your business to meet the growing needs of the millenials, please feel free to write to me.

By: Venkat Nanduri[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The post Watch out! The Millennial’s Can Disrupt Your Business Like Never Before appeared first on Phoenix Business Consulting.