Ones to watch
Taking visibility beyond the Human Eye
The volume and complexity of data businesses now have to deal with is far more than can be dealt with, without the aid of technology. And as technology drives greater understanding of data, business leaders will need to ensure more than ever before that they have an effective IBP process to leverage their decision-making and therefore take greater control of their performance delivery.
Growth of IBP
Our experience at Oliver Wight shows that organisations are increasingly beginning to see the importance of integrated plans that span a rolling horizon, over three years or more and all the signs are that this momentum will continue into 2020.
People and process revisited
2020 will see a resurgence of people defining processes, which are targeted at maximising the benefits of new technology. Nonetheless, the big question remains, how many organisations will have learnt the lesson that people and process must come before the tools? People will need to be stretched to maximise the opportunity, and education will be an absolute requirement to drive significant change.
New roles
Although Centres of Excellence have been around for a few years, they will start to play increasingly more prominent part looking ahead and subsequently, businesses will need to work out how roles should evolve over the coming years. New roles will be required alongside new core competencies. Some people will be capable of being (re)educated and of moving on to the new process, whilst some capabilities will need to be recruited externally.
Enterprise integration
We are seeing a move towards enterprise connectivity and for the first time it would appear that technology will deliver a truly integrated system with financial projections and integration of strategic plans with a rolling planning horizon, with the capability to integrate across the entire enterprise. At Oliver Wight we see this as a move towards Enterprise Business Planning.
Mediocracy or Excellence
In 1999, there was a rush to ensure that systems were year 2000 compliant. The subsequent data showed that only seven per cent of organisations that implemented new systems gained any real business benefit. Yet with organisations now needing to make decisions over legacy systems or systems like APO that will be unsupported after 2025, how many will learn from their 2000 experience and take the opportunity to invest in people to define excellence before just implementing yet another system?
51 years changing the face of business
In 2020, Oliver Wight will enter its 51st year of supporting business and people with the latest thought leadership. Over this time, we have supported tens of thousands of individuals and thousands of businesses on their journeys. I am sure that business will be different over the next 50 years and that technology will continue to disrupt, but I am also sure that people will still want to work with thought leaders to define future excellence and to apply it.
Les Brookes
Les Brookes is CEO at Oliver Wight. Oliver Wight believes sustainable business improvement can only be delivered by your own people; so, unlike other consultancy firms, it transfers its knowledge to you. Pioneers of Sales and Operations Planning and originators of the fundamentals behind supply chain planning, Oliver Wight professionals are the acknowledged industry thought leaders for Integrated Business Planning (IBP).
www.oliverwight-eame.com