The digital supply chain is the new normal, with technology supporting every step in logistics, from source to delivery. However, legacy technology can hold back even the smoothest functioning supply chain. The answer lies in migrating to cloud based supply chain management.

Legacy IT: tripping up supply chains

The ongoing migration to cloud-based technology provision, software-as-a-service (SaaS) and the service-oriented approach (SOA) is a cross-industry phenomenon. The public cloud alone is set to soar to $331.2bn in 2022, according to Gartner, while supply chain management (SCM) is one of the biggest spending areas in cloud-hosted SaaS applications. It’s a transformation driven in part by the problems that legacy IT present. SCM, just like so many other fields, struggle with problems including high maintenance costs which is often due to difficulties in finding support staff.

A lack of scalability is also a problem alongside low responsiveness. Finally, SCM is highly reliant on information sharing and data consistency but legacy software systems commonly offers conflicting data and presents hurdles to data flows.

Why switching to cloud based supply chain management

Aside from resolving many of the problems presented by legacy systems, cloud SCM also offers a range of unique benefits. Some of the biggest benefits of cloud based supply chain management include:

Cost optimisation . SaaS cloud solutions have a relatively low cost of entry, rapidly enabling new SCM applications. It is a good alternative, particularly where IT resources are limited, while also carrying the benefit of minimal hurdles to executive buy-in. With no on-premise equipment running costs are low too.

. SaaS cloud solutions have a relatively low cost of entry, rapidly enabling new SCM applications. It is a good alternative, particularly where IT resources are limited, while also carrying the benefit of minimal hurdles to executive buy-in. With no on-premise equipment running costs are low too. Improved customer service . Acting as a single source of truth, an integrated cloud-hosted SCM solution can ensure customers always get the right answers. Cloud solutions offer faster issue resolution too, with unrestricted insight into supply chain data.

. Acting as a single source of truth, an integrated cloud-hosted SCM solution can ensure customers always get the right answers. Cloud solutions offer faster issue resolution too, with unrestricted insight into supply chain data. Intelligence and flexibility. SCM in the cloud offers a level of intelligence which legacy software systems cannot match. Predictive analytics facilitates actionable insights that power data-driven decisions allowing to smoothen the supply chain, increase efficiency and lower supply chain costs. Furthermore, cloud SCM is flexible, making it easy to integrate third party software solutions.