An Enterprise Architecture Team – The GBS and IT Bridge?

Leaders from Amway and Beiersdorf share perspectives on best-of-breed vs. ERP solutions and the role of an enterprise architecture team in integrating GBS and IT operations.

RPA Governance Framework

There was hype around RPA as a solution for automation. It cannot improve bad processes and will instead make them more complex. Strict RPA governance should help evaluate opportunities, process execution, and RoI. To avoid falling for the hype around new technologies, including Generative AI – there is a need to understand capabilities, create business cases, and implement them in a phased manner.

Best of Breed vs ERP solutions

SaaS offerings come with extensive functionalities that are often underutilized. Unutilized capabilities that are already present in the system must be explored for possible business cases. Though, best-of-breed solutions do promise greater benefits than ERP platforms. This creates a discussion about whether to stick with what organizations already have or opt for the best-fit technology, considering the potential increase in complexity and inefficiency. This decision is majorly influenced by the need to deliver higher value to justify the increased costs associated with best-of-breed solutions.

Process-Led Tech Transformation

Centralizing technology spending under the CIO’s oversight can improve budgeting and investments. GBS and IT collaborate on business cases, research, and process design – driving merit-based budget allocation. There is a need to align technology with process requirements and ensure effective integration within the architecture.

Enterprise Architecture Team

There is a growing need for technology investments to ensure future success. It is important to match digital transformation strategy and its investments with strategic priorities to ensure that projects have a solid business case. Though, GBS often comes with strong business cases, providing confidence and trust to the organization. Critical GBS projects around digitalization and transformation initiatives are long-term initiatives that benefit the overall organization along with the GBS itself. Explicit digitalization teams can be instituted to drive organization-wide initiatives, such as implementing a procurement tool that benefits procurement, finance, and GBS organizations. The overall business case needs to be considered to ensure value generation.

Aligning global and regional business priorities

There is a struggle between the technology-focused product organization and the process-focused GBS. A joint decision-making process between business and technology partners is necessary. Establish an architecture board to oversee and validate the solutions’ connection within the overall value chain. Therefore, investment in the enterprise architecture team can ensure seamless integration and communication between technologies.