Page 20 - Logistics News - June/July 2021

CLOUD MIGR AT ION

Why cloud migration is crucial

in employing warehouse

management confidence

Courtesy www.bizcommunity.com

By moving the warehouse management system to the cloud, organisations are supported by a
comprehensive solution that is continuously updated.

https://www.bizcommunity.com

hen companies rely on a dated warehouse warehouse
Why cloud migration is crucial in employing very core of the business, any scenario that puts it at
management confidence risk can be detrimental to getting products out the
management system (WMS) to run
Wdistribution centres, it’s not uncommon door.”
When companies rely on a dated warehouse management system (WMS) to run distribution centres, it's not uncommon for the IT
for the IT staff familiar with the system to move on.
staff familiar with the system to move on. Unfortunately, this leaves the company without an in-house expert to manage issues as
Unfortunately, this leaves the company without an Miti gati ng risks
they arise. in-house expert to manage issues as they arise. Added One of the ways to mitigate this risk is to accelerate
to this, if the original vendor is no longer supporting cloud migration. By shifting the WMS to the cloud,
Added to this, if the original vendor is no longer supporting that version of the system, it can be difficult to get the system back up
that version of the system, it can be difficult to get
organisations are supported by a comprehensive
and running. the system back up and running. solution that is continuously updated. This guards
against new trends forcing upgrades to the system
down the road. “A trusted cloud partner should have
a substantial investment in IT personnel that would
be difficult for some of the largest organisations
to match. A small army is dedicated to monitoring
the organisation’s WMS and its data to ensure both
optimisation and protection,” adds Lewis.

A recent CIO tech priorities survey by IDG showed
that “despite increased budgets and interest in new
technologies that can positively impact business in the
future, organisations still face familiar challenges to
adoption. Th e top challenges that IT leaders encounter
are lack of suffi cient budget (48 percent), lack of staff (46
percent) and lack of skill sets (42 percent).”

Image source: Gallo/Getty
It’s time to shift the responsibility of managing
“Over time, each organisation builds the and maintaining the organisation’s WMS over to
"Over time, each organisation builds the distribution ecosystem that uniquely addresses its needs. The challenge emerges when
distribution ecosystem that uniquely addresses its a cloud provider with modern capabilities. “With
only a handful of people understand how to manage and maintain that system successfully and perhaps only one individual truly
L O GI S T I CS NEWS system successfully and perhaps only one individual their IT staff, but also ensure their WMS always has
needs. The challenge emerges when only a handful of
this approach, organisations will not only create an
understands the complete picture," says Phil Lewis, Infor’s VP of Solution Consulting EMEA.
people understand how to manage and maintain that
opportunity to reset expectations and priorities for
"With a mission-critical WMS and corresponding data at the very core of the business, any scenario that puts it at risk can be
truly understands the complete picture,” says Phil
the support it needs to stay up and running so that
detrimental to getting products out the door." customers receive their orders on time and in full,”
Lewis, Infor’s VP of Solution Consulting EMEA. “With
Mitigating risks a mission-critical WMS and corresponding data at the concludes Lewis. •
18 JUNE/JULY 2021 www .l o g ist i csn e w s .c o .z a
One of the ways to mitigate this risk is to accelerate cloud migration. By shifting the WMS to the cloud, organisations are
supported by a comprehensive solution that is continuously updated. This guards against new trends forcing upgrades to the
system down the road.

"A trusted cloud partner should have a substantial investment in IT personnel that would be difficult for some of the largest
organisations to match. A small army is dedicated to monitoring the organisation’s WMS and its data to ensure both optimisation
and protection," adds Lewis.

A recent CIO tech priorities survey by IDG showed that "despite increased budgets and interest in new technologies that can
positively impact business in the future, organisations still face familiar challenges to adoption. The top challenges that IT leaders
encounter are lack of sufficient budget (48%), lack of staff (46%), and lack of skill sets (42%)."

It’s time to shift the responsibility of managing and maintaining the organisation’s WMS over to a cloud provider with modern
capabilities.