1. Don’t let dying technology create friction in your operations.

Now that technology has leapfrogged ahead, there is really no excuse to maintain a Frankenstein legacy environment. The time to tackle your legacy technical debt is now. And chances are, you’re probably already aware that any organization still using a combination of disparate, on-premise, or outdated systems is basically operating on borrowed time. These systems can create a huge risk — both in terms of a system failure, exposure to malware attacks, as well as reduced revenue resulting from unreliable data, time spent on manipulating reports needed to make informed decisions, and broad operational inefficiencies. It can also make it harder to implement necessary improvements to deploy omnichannel retail initiatives.

2. Find a solution that respects your data

Data is the backbone of an organization. How do you expect to make decisions about what products to sell, at what price, and to whom, without reliable information? Retailers are making huge investments into technology and infrastructure to support their brands. Using systems and reliable data to facilitate fast decision making is critical in remaining competitive. If you can’t deliver on your brand’s promise while others are relying more heavily on technology to steer the ship, it’s likely your brand is going to fall behind.

3. Keep yourself in the mainstream

Sunrise’s founder and former CIO of a major consumer brand always says:

Think of technology as the mainstream with little side streams that come and go. Microsoft is always going to be the mainstream.

Any CIO that chooses to deviate from the mainstream is taking a risk that the vendor will not be around to innovate and support the product long term. Microsoft will always be relevant as smaller competitors continue to be acquired or go out of business. And with a budget of over $1B annually dedicated to R&D, Microsoft’s focus on continuously improving its business applications

4. Eliminate segregating inventory by channel

You know that delivering the right inventory to everyone, everywhere is critical. In order to do that effectively, we’ve found it’s best to keep your inventory as close to a single pool as possible; channel-less. The more inventory is segregated for wholesale, ecommerce, brick-and-mortar, and pop-up events, the more challenges you’re likely to have ensuring that the right product is at the right place at the right time. Make it easier for your organization and drive to eliminate the room for error.

5. Embrace a platform for the long term

Good news! You no longer need separate order management, point of sale (POS), warehouse, and retail replenishment systems now that a single, intelligent platform is a viable alternative. One example is Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain integrating seamlessly with Dynamics 365 Commerce. It’s time, now more than ever, to consolidate the number of solutions, minimize the dependency and expense on point-applications, and truly plan for the future by enabling unified commerce and all the benefits available in a long-term platform approach.

6. Implement a single business application for multiple legal entities and global footprint

You know your business best, so don’t let your business applications dictate how you run your legal entities. While it sometimes makes sense to approach your business as separate entities, it should be your decision – not your software’s. With more and more companies viewing global expansion as increasingly critical for long term survival, you’ve got to have a solution that can handle the complexities of multi-legal entity structures, multi-currency, multi-language business, as well as adapting to the various regulations found in other countries. Your systems should enable and support your growth, no matter how far you plan to expand – not inhibit it.

7. Take control of your supply chain

There are very few companies that manage a fully integrated supply chain within the bounds of the company ownership. But just because you’re working with OEM suppliers or contract parties, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t model your full supply chain. You can add value and gain insight by having a global view of your entire supply chain. The companies that set out to add more value and help suppliers cut costs are the ones that win in the end. Leaving it up to a third party to give you the best value doesn’t cut it anymore. Gain the visibility you need to remain competitive and relevant to your supply chain and, ultimately, your customers.

8. Be smart about reporting and business intelligence

To get the most value from your IT department, free them from being at your managers’ beck and call to create and run reports so they can focus on building your business infrastructure for growth. By allowing your users to create and view reliable reports that enable better quality and faster decision-making helps to democratize the ability to run useful reports, at your users’ fingertips. This frees your IT department so they can keep their eyes on the ever-changing, cutting edge of technology and bring even more value to the business users.  Today, it’s easier than ever to manage and access big data, dashboards, and machine learning at every level including real-time business reporting. You’re leaving money on the table if you don’t start taking advantage of these advances. In fact, in his recap of NRF 2019, Forrester Vice President and Principal Analyst, Brendan Witcher, said “Data is the 2019 competitive weapon for retail — if you don’t have a data strategy, you won’t have a successful digital strategy. You cannot create great experiences for customers whom you don’t understand or manage a business that you can’t properly evaluate.”