This year has been challenging for almost every industry. The supply chain is one of those who have suffered significantly due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  While the industry seems to be coming to terms with the coronavirus's challenges, some companies are still struggling to cope with the after-effects. Other supply chain companies have shut down entirely because they can no longer sustain operations and maintain a profitable balance. Although things have not worked out as many anticipated this year, there are various steps that can help ensure your success in 2021 and beyond.

 As the coronavirus pandemic has proven, a good supply chain is critical for operations in various industries. It helps companies achieve efficiency in things such as customer centricity, operational efficiency and compliance, all of which are necessary for success. If properly handled, the reputation of your company can significantly improve. With the changing business landscape, what worked yesteryears are no longer effective. Some of the things that have changed include increased customer expectations, fluctuating demands, increased competition and globalization, all of which have tested the players in the supply chain industry to their limits. The simple solution to this challenge is the adoption new strategies, one of which include cloud computing. Here are the reasons why you should migrate your supply chain to the cloud.

• It has become hard for the on-premise supply chains to cope with today’s needs

The increased competition in business has accelerated the need for the adoption of new strategies to cope with the emerging customer needs. Some of the demands include faster delivery of goods, transparency in the supply chain and the challenge of new entrants. With so many things to consider in the market, lack of agility and scalability can only make things worse. With the on-premise supply chain management, you can incur unnecessary expenses not to mention lack of flexibility that is necessary to respond to customer needs appropriately. With cloud computing, the supply chain rigidity, that is known to hinder growth, will be avoided while visibility will be ensured. You will also run away from the costs of maintenance and upgrades while focusing on innovation.

• Integration

Unlike on-site supply chains, cloud computing enables integration. It is allows sharing, input and output of data and lets teams and individuals to work on projects across the organizations. Accordingly, cloud computing solutions enable data to be sourced from one cloud to the other. This gives supply chain professionals the opportunity to work with robust platforms that have advanced capabilities. Through various standardized protocols, multiple platforms can work together. These platforms also build higher trust and transparency among those who use the cloud.

• Scalability

For supply chains that operate at a global stage and need to ensure communication channels are open and collaboration is enhanced, accessibility of datasets requires unmatched scalability. Cloud computing allows these companies to keep multiple networks of individuals and organizations under one cloud defying geographical boundaries. With just an internet connection, storage, communication and sharing of files can be done fast and efficiently. You may need such scalability for enhanced operational procurement and purchasing teams. Within a short time, supply chain managers can extend their services to a global marketplace. As such, there is room for growth and more advanced capabilities. With cloud-based analytics, your business can isolate their main inefficiencies in the order fulfillment process, that will boost your growth. 

• Enhanced security

The importance of data in supply chain data cannot be matched. Therefore, when your data is hosted in the cloud, you must be confident that it will remain secure. This can only be achieved by investing heavily in security features such as regular updates, encryption and scanning. Unlike the on-site storage, cloud service providers have advanced logical and physical security features that are good for your business.

• Ease of use

The cloud-based supply chain can be deployed fast and allows you to outsource many activities such as management, maintenance and purchase of necessities. This means that the time that you could have spent in managing different aspects of the on-site storage can be used in innovation. Moreover, there are other benefits of adopting the cloud such as simplification of user activities, fast and quick access and the possibility of using it in collaboration with other tools.

With the mounting challenges brought about by the rising customer demands and complexity of the work environment, companies are always looking for ways to improve their operations and deliver the best service. Technology is one thing that promises to transform different industries and facilitate innovation. Supply chain is one of the industries that have benefited immensely from technology. Here are some of the technologies that you can make use of if you are to be competitive: