In recent years, there has been a significant shift from on-premise computing to cloud based solutions, bringing flexibility, agility and mobile functionality to many industries, including consumer goods. Using technology as simple as a web browser on a low-cost mobile phone, today’s users have instant access to rich solutions, capabilities and innovation.
With increasing remote working practices, organisations are looking to the cloud for agile solutions that keep them ahead of the competition.
Aforza is the leading industry cloud and mobile solution for consumer goods, empowering businesses of all sizes to sell more and grow faster. Trusted by industry leaders like Distell, WOW Tech and Photos Photiades, Aforza connects trade planning and field sales teams in real-time, solving the problems of unprofitable promotions, declining market share and a lack of revenue growth.
Trade Promotion Management (TPM), Retail Execution, Digital Asset Management and eCommerce are key areas where cloud technology can underpin business growth and create a competitive advantage in the consumer goods industry.
Through increased accessibility to real time promotions and seamless on-device access, online or offline, CPG teams can work smarter and more effortlessly, while offering their customers the best possible service.
Whilst the Consumer Goods industry has been slower to adopt the cloud when compared to other leading industries, the transformation is now critical to survival and competitive advantage. Let’s break down the key advantages and differentiators of cloud solutions:
1. Accessibility
The cloud provides easy access to rich functionality and data from anywhere and on any device. No longer is functionality restricted to the computer it is installed on.
Imagine connecting your trade planning and field sales teams in real-time. Your trade planners can implement promotions in hours and share with the field. With real-time access to the latest promotions on the road, your sales team can complete an order on-site, execute the promotion and share the invoice – all from their mobile device.
Speed of deployment is one of the biggest advantages of cloud computing, removing lengthy installation processes. Aforza works out-of-the-box, so you can get started quickly without complicated setup, customisation or training. With regular innovation releases 3-times a year that are automatically deployed, you will always be able to take advantage of the latest product features and current version. All without business interruption or a manual internal IT roll out.
2. Flexibility
Specifically built to address the requirements and processes of today’s Consumer Good industry, Aforza connects HQ planning to field execution, in real-time. The highly performant pricing, recommendation and segmentation engines uniquely allow our cloud solutions to work in exactly the same way; whether online or offline.
Continued digital transformation and a need for flexible, automated technology environments driven by global events is pushing the cloud agenda to create better digital experiences and greater business agility. A cloud solution allows you to develop and launch new product offerings and promotions rapidly and without expensive IT involvement. For example, the Aforza Trade Promotion Designer is so flexible and intuitive to use, that a trade marketer can launch a promotion in hours without any technical knowledge or expertise.
3. Real-Time Analytics & Insights
Valuable insights into customer trends, data driven business planning, customised tracking and reporting are all linked into the holistic view of your data which is available through cloud analytics, paving the way for both growth and efficiencies.
The cloud provides an ideal canvas for connecting different data sources regardless of origin or location.
4. Cost
Put simply, the initial outlay for expensive hardware and enterprise software licences is replaced by subscription fees linked (and scalable) to the number of users. Typically, local solutions will incur the cost of a significant upgrade, thus showing 3-5 year TCO comparisons for on-premise solutions as more expensive.
As the graphic below illustrates, cloud solutions can offer significant cost savings compared to their on-premise counterparts.
Without these costs, system updates run by in-house IT teams and associated compatibility checks, greater investment can be made into growing the business.
Consider also the reduced impact on the environment as you no longer need to power on-premise servers or maintain their environment.
5. Security & Business Continuity
Intuitively, on-premise software and storage might sound like the safer option, but this is far from the truth. The security measures taken by cloud providers are often beyond the means of most businesses, meaning data is better protected in the cloud than on a local server. Aforza is built on Salesforce and Google Cloud, two trusted cloud technology giants.
Cloud data, not stored locally on servers, laptops, tablets or mobiles, can easily be restored if a device is lost or stolen. Cloud solutions also remove the risk of on-premise servers being damaged or inaccessible in unpredictable disaster recovery situations.
Why Aforza?
Aforza is the leading industry cloud and mobile solution for consumer goods, empowering businesses of all sizes to sell more and grow faster. Rather than a locally built custom offering, Aforza offers a far superior solution, not least because rich innovation upgrades, maintenance and support are included. Built on Salesforce, Aforza has pre-built backup/recovery, high availability and incredible security (trust.salesforce.com).
Most importantly, Aforza already works out-of-the-box, thus enabling much faster-time-to-value.
Aforza is primed to help the Consumer Goods industry provide next-level technology and innovative ways of doing business. This, in turn, results in a better experience for the customer and promotes a competitive advantage. Aforza offers a fully connected cloud based planning and execution system for the CPG industry. A perfect blend of global best-in-class software vendor with proven experts, who have successfully implemented the product with customers.
In an unprecedented time of change around the globe, it would seem to be a question of how, not whether, Consumer Goods Companies will choose to grow their business in the cloud.
As a next step, sign up for our free 30-day trial and get complete access to the Aforza industry cloud & mobile solution.