From boarded-up retail outlets to depressed demand for chemicals and refined products, 2020 was a wake-up call for many industries.
Organizations had to deal with a head-spinning volume of turbulence in the past 12 months. One crucial lesson was that yesterday’s best practices simply cannot meet today’s business needs.
After the SAPPHIRE NOW Industries track day, I gathered experts together for a livestream to share their thoughts on the track sessions and what trends they’re seeing for industries. (You can watch the replay of the livestream HERE.)
Here are some of the key takeaways.
Early digital investments paid off
Some may have been tempted to hunker down and try to weather the storm without changing the way they do business. But such organizations missed the point: disruption isn’t an excuse to postpone digital transformation – it’s a reason to accelerate.
“There’s so much disruption, fast disruption, going on in the automotive industry.” – Scott Luton
The leaders – those who invested in digitalization – were better positioned to steer their organizations through disruption, safeguard their businesses, and prepare for future success. Lean, automated processes helped them react nimbly to the unexpected.
Lots of innovation to learn from
The past year also showed us how interdependent product, service, and public sector organizations can be. We’ve seen that every industry can learn from looking at the experiences of others.
It’s a good time for everyone to take a step back and look at how business has been, or needs to be, redefined.
“There is great business need for agile, fast, digital transformation, and sustainability embedded by design and value for all of these industry verticals.” – Sally Eaves
2021 will be a critical year for several key industries, from consumer products, banking, and retail to industrial machinery and components, public sector, and oil, gas, and energy. Those that redefine themselves will become more agile and resilient and reduce risk, so they’re better prepared for the next unforeseen shock, whatever that may be.
Run, don’t walk
Don’t postpone your transformation.
Watch a recording of the SAPPHIRE NOW conference session, “Redefine Your Industry to Become More Agile and Resilient with Lower Risk,” to hear more about the top trends impacting industries. Learn how SAP solutions can support urgent operational and strategic initiatives, including:
- Moving to the cloud to reduce complexity, lower total cost of ownership, and achieve greater value
- Integrating processes to optimize performance and agility
- Applying industry best practices and innovations to outpace competitors
- Building interconnected business networks for scale, speed, and resilience
- Running sustainably to enable renewed profitability and growth
During the session, SAP’s chief marketing and solutions officer and newest board member, Julia White, shared her insights on industries redefined and how SAP solutions can help transform your business and redefine your industry.
SAP partner IBM looked at how companies can speed up the journey to becoming an intelligent enterprise, including through the RISE with SAP offering, industry cloud apps, and industry co-innovation. And SAP partner Capgemini spoke about helping your business transform into a “renewable enterprise” in a constantly changing market.
Other highlights of the Americas session include:
- Cristina Palmaka, president for SAP Latin America and the Caribbean, and DJ Paoni, president of SAP North America, discussed what “industries redefined” means for their regions
- Futurists Amy Webb and Martin Wezowski explored how industries could evolve through the year 2030
- Sony Pictures Entertainment explained how it has transformed its business and stayed agile during a tumultuous 2020
- Footwear company Alpargatas spoke about how it is innovating in its industry
In EMEA, session highlights include:
- Eco-focused online marketplace Queen of Raw delved into the values of transformation and sustainability with futurist Martin Wezowski
- The Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team talked about an exciting transformation in car racing
- Discovery Bank revealed how it is helping redefine the financial services industry as a “shared value” bank
