Omnichannel demand is still going strong. Capabilities like BOPIS (buy online and pick up in-store) and SFS (ship from store) are no longer nice-to-haves. They’re expected.
Customer loyalty hinges on your ability to consistently meet their expectations for a positive experience. But if you fall behind on expectations, that loyalty can become tarnished and it won’t be easy to polish up the relationship.
If your order management system isn’t supporting your customers’ expectations, they can move to another brand. So, the ability to implement and scale omnichannel capabilities is top of mind for many.
The keys to business continuity and growth are resilience, responsiveness, and scale. The cloud can deliver all three of these, giving companies the ability to accommodate business growth, along with growth in the supporting technology. For example, implementing AI-infused automation will be much easier if your ecosystem is based in the cloud.
Resilience and responsiveness rest on your company’s ability to create a technology ecosystem that is integrated to work together for peak performance and efficiency. For instance, if your OMS doesn’t have access to your warehouse management system or transportation management system, it won’t be easy to optimize processes to ensure accurate inventory and SLA-focused shipping.
The business case for OMS
Order management systems (OMS) are the new delivery system for omnichannel capabilities. In the past, many companies succeeded without a dedicated OMS platform. ERP systems and similar solutions worked fine for order management.
But omnichannel demand has changed the game. In order for a customer to buy products any way they want — whether it’s online, buy online and pick up in a store, or buy on social media — companies need to streamline the processes that support each of these channels. And the only way to do that is with a dedicated OMS such as IBM Sterling Order Management.
IBM Sterling traces its roots back to 1978 and the application has evolved into an industry-leading platform with the power to run a global sales and fulfillment operation selling multiple brands and shipping millions of SKUs.
In contrast, many other OMS platforms are new to the scene. If your company is a large enterprise that’s struggling with order transparency and visibility, you’ll need an enterprise-grade solution to help you continue to meet rising customer expectations.
Migrating OMS to the cloud
If you’re currently an IBM Sterling OMS customer, migrating it to the cloud will get you started in implementing the omnichannel capabilities your company needs to fulfill its business goals. It also helps you do an end-run around mounting technical debt in the data center.
By keeping OMS on-premises, you’ll have a difficult time reducing system maintenance costs, including the costs associated with software upgrades and patches. It will also be difficult to develop a connected ecosystem of supply chain applications that share information to help you optimize processes.
Technical debt can also hinder innovation and limit the ability to quickly adapt to changes in the market or business requirements. In the event of another unforeseen disruption in the market, you may be left behind.
In the cloud, software upgrades and patches are taken care of for you. And because the cloud has become the home base for innovation, it’s where you’ll find the ability to seamlessly integrate your ecosystem and take advantage of innovations like AI-infused automation.
A trusted partner for business growth
Pivotree works with more than 250 companies around the world — including large brands, retailers, and manufacturers — to enable business transformation through technology. Our clients work with us because they want their customers to trust that they can find, buy, and get the products they want, delivered where and how they want, every time they make a purchase.
Pivotree can help your company make a smooth transition from the data center to the cloud with IBM Sterling OMS and Pivotree solutions such as Pivotree WMS, Pivotree Control Tower, and Pivotree Connect, which work together to help you integrate, operate and monitor your cloud-based OMS system.
About Pivotree: Pivotree designs, builds, and manages frictionless commerce experiences for brands and their customers around the world. We provide end-to-end solutions and services in Commerce, Data Management, and Supply Chain for hundreds of brands globally.