Key Technology Trends That Will Impact Businesses in 2023

Over the years, technology has greatly altered our lives by changing the way we do things, and it continues to reshape the world as we know it. Over the past year, we have witnessed several new technological advancements and how they affect our lives. In this blog, we’ll explore how technology is changing our futures, what the economic outlook for 2023 looks like, and some of the key trends for the coming year.

The Role of Technology in Our Lives and How Innovation is Our Best Bet in Times of Economic Distress

In such a short time, humanity has made great strides—from the domestication of animals to space travel and microchip development. Our lives have been changed forever by the advent of technology. We are fortunate to be living in a time when science and technology can make our lives easier, help us rethink the way we go about daily tasks, and innovate in ways we never have before.

However, the rise in inflation and the looming recession have led most people to feel a financial squeeze. Many businesses are also worried about an economic downturn in the near future. So, how do businesses deal with the threat of recession while still being forced to compete in such a rapidly changing market?

The answer, of course, is technological innovation.

During periods of economic downturn, technological innovation can provide a much-needed boost to our nation’s economy.

The recovery of some companies following previous financial crises suggests that they increase investment in innovation as a way to survive. Technology helps them stay ahead of the curve, gives them an edge in the competitive market, and makes them more resilient in the face of future downturns.

Top 5 Tech Trends for 2023:

The future will undoubtedly hold technological advances that may seem hard to fathom today, but by studying current trends, it is possible to make some guesses about what the world might be like decades and centuries from now. Here are some key technology trends that will play a major role in shaping 2023:

1. AI Will Enter the Mainstream

In 2023, AI will take on a greater definition. It will become a part of everyday business life. No-code AI, with its easy drag-and-drop interfaces and built-in machine learning capabilities, will empower any business to create more intelligent products and services.

In the last year, OpenAI made breakthroughs in artificial intelligence by giving the non-techie public access to AI tools for tasks such as writing and image creation. The Dall-E 2 AI art generator could generate images of nearly any conceivable subject. The ChatGPT chatbot was able to write letters, articles, and even passably good literature essays by using a large database of words.

In the coming year, more AI-based tools will be integrated into existing technologies. Microsoft, an investor in OpenAI, has already added the Dall-E 2 technology to its products such as the popular search engine Bing.

AI’s ability to mimic human behavior seems almost magical, but it is also flawed. As AI expert Peter Norvig explains, “AI systems have some problems that make them less reliable than we would like: they can be susceptible to adversarial inputs, and their performance degrades as the size of training data sets increases.” Although artificial intelligence is still a developing technology, we can expect to see significant progress in its application in the coming year.

2. The Metaverse Will Influence the Real World

With the rise of virtual reality, some have begun to refer to the new internet as a “Metaverse,” a place where we can work, play and socialize in an immersive way. The popularity of this platform has risen rapidly over the past year, and it is likely that parts of it will become a reality in just a few short months into 2023.

The metaverse could grow to be a $5 trillion market by 2030, according to some tech researchers at McKinsey and Company. Moreover, this year will be pivotal for setting its course over the next decade.

In 2023, we’ll have more immersive meeting environments where we can talk and co-create, whether in the physical or virtual world. Microsoft and Nvidia are already working on developing such software platforms to help people work together on digital projects.

We are likely to see advancement in the use of AR and VR for training and onboarding purposes, the use of more advanced avatar technology, and much more over the next few years.

3. Digital Twins Taking Over in 2023:

A digital twin technology provides a data-driven representation of any real-world entity, from buildings and factories to entire cities. Organizations can use powerful query APIs to seamlessly integrate Azure data, analytics, and AI services to gain actionable insights into the business process.

Insights like these can help companies design better products, run their operations more efficiently and profitably, appeal to customers’ needs in new ways, and do all of this at a lower cost.

In the coming year, we expect the market for digital twin software to continue to grow as more companies become aware of how their competitors have adopted the technology and want to level the playing field.

4. Rise in Robotic Process Automation:

Robotic Process Automation, or RPA, is a software technology developed with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technology. It uses bots to automate simple day-to-day tasks like gathering information from databases and other sources without human intervention.

In the last 20 years, automation has become commonplace. If you had told people two decades ago that most of their day-to-day tasks would soon be done by robots they could control, no one would have believed it.

The reality is that automation has changed the way we work in countless ways, and this transformation continues at an ever-accelerating pace. In the year 2023, we are likely to witness the rise of new RPA tools that would enable the implementation of RPA across various industries. Moreover, integrating RPA with other tools and technologies might be a smart move to accelerate innovation and ensure an even greater impact.

5. Superapps Will Dominate the Space in 2023

Many of you might not have heard this term before, but it has been around for some time now.

So, for those of you hearing it for the first time, what are superapps anyway?

A digital mall on your phone that lets you network with friends, shop for anything, and bank from anywhere—if it were an application, what would you call it?

You guessed it right! A superapp. Superapps have gotten a lot of buzz lately, but what makes them so special?

When you take a break from work, what do you tend to do? Do you look at nature and enjoy the breeze or check social media on your phone?

Obviously, the phone wins. And that means the most valuable real estate in today’s marketplace is your smartphone.

If you install too many apps, your phone may slow down and become difficult to use. So, when a company offers you an easier way to carry out all these functions on your phone seamlessly through a single platform, there is no way you’ll be able to say no.

According to a recently published 2023 trends report by Gartner, if you are not using superapps yet, you might be missing out on an important channel for increasing business value and improving your mobile user experience. Superapps provide a mobile-first experience that is tailored to the preferences of today’s digital natives.

By 2023, more and more businesses will develop “superapps,” or apps that integrate many functions into one program. The superapp will allow employees and customers to simultaneously communicate and carry out several tasks without having to download multiple programs, providing a better and more tailored user experience.

What is the Way Forward?

We are certain that 2023 will see rapid advancement in these and several other technologies as the world deals with radically-changed circumstances in a post-pandemic world, and looming threats of a global recession. Sitting on the sidelines is no longer an option for companies that want to succeed in today’s business climate. Businesses need to embrace these emerging technologies or run the risk of being left behind.

We at Intech Systems are here to help you navigate these technological changes taking place in your industry and use them to become a more powerful player and stand strong in times of economic distress. With our powerful Business Intelligence solutions using Power BI to AI capabilities with RPA (Robotic Process Automation) in Power Platform, we are helping businesses globally to become smarter and more efficient.

We are a Microsoft-certified Solutions Partner for Business Applications and are one of the top-managed partners in India. We have over four decades of experience in delivering top-notch technology solutions for Microsoft Dynamics 365F&OBusiness Central, CRM, Power BIPower AppsMicrosoft Azure Cloud, AI, loT, and other custom-developed applications.

Contact us at sales@intech-systems.com to learn more about such technological advancements and how you can invest in them early to stay ahead of the curve.

Get in touch with us today!

Why Migrate from QuickBooks to Business Central?

As a small business owner, you are always looking for ways to save time and money. As fellow entrepreneurs, we know how much time you have to dedicate to managing your finances and doing business-related tasks like filing taxes or collecting receipts.

Most start-ups soon find that manual bookkeeping is not sustainable as their business grows. Using accounting software to manage your finances reduces repetitive tasks, helps keep better records, and produces professional-looking financial reports.

Accounting software can help by relieving you of the need to manually track your finances in spreadsheets or on paper, saving you both time and energy (which means more cash in your pocket).

QuickBooks is a popular accounting software that helps small and mid-sized businesses process bills and make business payments.

This software has become one of the leading accounting software for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), with nearly three-fourths of the global market share. This accounting system can invoice customers, settle bills, render reports, and even prepare taxes!

There are two main products in the QuickBooks line made by Intuit: the desktop version, QuickBooks Desktop, which is installed on a computer and hosted locally, and QuickBooks Online (or QBO), which is hosted on the cloud and is accessible from any computer, tablet or smartphone with an internet connection.

Despite its continued popularity, QuickBooks’s reign as the top accounting software for small and midsize businesses may finally be coming to an end.

Users’ access to QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Services, Live Support, Online Backup, Online Banking, and other services through QuickBooks Desktop 2020 software will be discontinued after May 31, 2023. This also means your software won’t support critical security updates, starting June 1, 2023.

So what does this mean for small-to-mid-sized businesses like yours looking to streamline and simplify the accounting process?

It is time to migrate to the latest Microsoft Dynamics Business Central!

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a cloud-based solution that connects sales, service, finance, and operations teams to enable them to make smarter decisions faster.

Business Central provides a connected cloud business management solution for growing small and mid-sized businesses. It offers several benefits, such as seamless integration with other business applications, cost-effectiveness, enhanced customer experience, scalability, extensive security features, compliance, and easy accessibility. What are the features that make it a top choice among ERP systems? (See image.)

businesscentrea

What’s more, Business Central also includes web-based reporting portals that support heavier transaction volumes and a higher number of users as compared to Quick Books.

Even though some versions of QuickBooks may continue to operate well beyond 2023, most QuickBooks users are convinced that they are better off migrating to the new and enhanced Business Central. Do you want to know why?

Check out the comparison below:

quickbooks

These enhanced functionalities make it possible for you to confidently move your business to the cloud and achieve operational speed, execution, and insights needed for continued growth.

So, are you ready to take the first step toward a brighter future?

Get in touch to migrate to the latest and upgraded Dynamics 365 Business Central!

If you are still unsure whether Business Central is right for your small business, we have something that will help you make up your mind.

Join us for our webinar, “Upgrade from QuickBooks to Dynamics 365 Business Central,” if you want to learn how you can connect your financials, sales, service, and operations to succeed like never before. The details are mentioned below:

Date: Wednesday, 25th of Jan 2023
Mode: Online, Microsoft Teams
Time: 3 PM – 4 PM IST

Register today to learn how Business Central can help you stay ahead of your competition!

Register now: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=5oP_ILS1_kqR3DuWKclpXxld7P1xhk9Eg8KcfkdI9mhUNFIwMFg4UEgzNThOUEhSNjVUTkI3U1NJWS4u

Powering Digital Transformation Across The Professional Services Sector With Microsoft Business Applications

The professional services industry is undergoing a period of rapid change, as economic changes drive clients to demand excellent service delivery in addition to value for money. It has become more important than ever for businesses to deliver top-quality services to meet these increased expectations.

Most industries worldwide have adjusted to the new normal, regaining pre-pandemic levels of efficiency. As a result, in 2021, the global professional services market grew to over $6 trillion, an impressive increase from the last decade’s number of only $4 trillion. Professionals are adopting new technologies such as artificial intelligence and automation to enhance their productivity – a move that has also helped drive this growth.

However, as more professional services firms adopt innovative digital practices, competition in the industry has never been so fierce. If your competitors can deliver better results in a shorter period because they are able to handle more projects at once, you may lose some of your most loyal customers. So, how do businesses keep up?

Many professional services firms are struggling with the challenges that come along with providing specialized expertise to clients in a fast-paced environment. The rise of these rapidly-evolving technologies has created many opportunities for the industry, but it also poses several challenges. Here are some of the significant challenges faced by the professional services industry today- (See image).

What are the top challenges facing the professional services industry today?

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In the face of such challenges, how do you change your approach and find information that will help address these issues? When dealing with a range of clients and projects, oftentimes, it is hard to keep track of everything while trying to run your business at the same time.

While it is getting increasingly difficult to manage, with the right business tools, you can continue to grow and thrive in such an increasingly competitive environment. To mitigate the challenges that accompany these changes, you can leverage business tools such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform for the professional services industry to streamline your project operations, manage projects more effectively, and always stay ahead of the competition.

If you want to drive a strategic approach and roll out efficiency across your organization while optimizing process flow and ensuring on-time delivery, implementing Microsoft Business applications for professional services could be a profitability-driven deal with a high ROI.

How do Microsoft Business Applications help?

Let’s look at some ways in which Microsoft Business Applications are helping professional services firms manage their operations better:

1. Budgeting and Planning

Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations helps businesses maximize profits, boost financial visibility, and prepare actionable insights that enable them to forecast their data. This leads to maximized scalability with high-level results.

2. Streamlining Project Operations

By leveraging the capabilities of Dynamics 365 Project operations, you can combine advanced project sales and delivery capabilities with accurate project accounting tools and planning/management functionality to boost profitability. Moreover, you can also drive success throughout your project-based business by gaining visibility into prospects, collaborating with partners and suppliers, and achieving agility across key operating functions.

3. Lead Nurturing and Campaign Management 

Employ the Dynamics 365 Marketing module to orchestrate customer journeys and use targeted messaging and advertising campaigns to deliver the right message at the right time to significantly improve your chances of conversion.

4. Sales Management

Generate actionable insights that help you track leads, ensure personal engagement with customers, and create sales forecast reports to gain visibility into your sales performance. You can do all of this and more with the Dynamics 365 for Sales module.

5. Managing Human Resources Operations and Payroll

Engage and deploy the right talent, optimize your resource allocation, instantly resolve issues and increase employee satisfaction to improve your efficiency levels with the Dynamics 365 for Human Resources module.

6. Gain Business Intelligence Analytics

Microsoft Power Platform provides professional services firms with critical capabilities for improving service quality and managing projects and resources, as well as packaging expert knowledge in new ways. With the business intelligence capabilities of Power BI, expert analysts can combine data from internal and external sources and analyze this information in different ways, making connections between disparate pieces of information to explore broader implications for the clients.

7. Work Smarter with the low-code/no-code Power Apps Platform

The Microsoft Power Platform is a unique suite of services that help firms unify and leverage their data, upskill their entire workforce, and develop super-specific, easy-to-code apps that improve the client experience—all while boosting the bottom line. Businesses can reduce their development costs and do more with less by enabling everyone to rapidly build and share low-code apps using Microsoft Power Apps.

Ensure your business succeeds, no matter what.

A digital transformation process can be a difficult and time-consuming endeavor, but it’s the only way to remain competitive in today’s marketplace. It also provides an opportunity for professional services companies to reevaluate their methods and improve the way they operate. These changes will help the team reach their project management goals and earn client approval.

The Microsoft Business Suite has been a driving force behind the success of thousands of organizations worldwide. It offers enhanced project management capabilities, streamlined financial reporting on projects and resource utilization, and improved business impact through greater visibility into internal operations.

Professional Services organizations that leverage this digital force can lead successful, profitable project-centric businesses while future-proofing their technologies, systems, and processes for 2022 and beyond.

Are you wondering how you can make your business more agile?

Join us at our exclusive event, “Powering digital transformation across the Professional Services sector with Microsoft Business Applications,” to learn how your business can grow by modernizing its systems with Microsoft Business Applications. We’ll discuss strategies for increasing revenue, reducing costs, and remaining agile across the Professional Services sector.

Register now

We at Intech are empowering hundreds of other businesses across the professional services industry to leverage Microsoft resources to the fullest extent possible by integrating with their existing infrastructure, and your business could be the next.

If you can’t make it to the event but want to learn more about how Microsoft Business Applications can give you an edge in today’s fiercely competitive market, talk to one of our experts today!

Contact us at sales@intech-systems.com

Attention, NAV Users! Extended Support is Expiring Soon. Take Action Now.

As ERP systems mature, organizations have a tough time deciding whether to continue supporting the legacy product or migrate their ERP to the latest version.

If you are using Microsoft Navision, you must be aware that the mainstream support for NAV 2016 will end in June 2022. The obvious next step is to move to the latest and improved Dynamics 365 Business Central. However, it does take time to test out a new ERP software and go through with the implementation. Users need a thorough assessment to decide if it is in the best interests of their organization to migrate to Business Central, and more importantly, when.

We at Intech Systems are committed to providing our customers with the best solutions according to their business requirements. We want to leverage our industry expertise to help our customers make informed decisions. In this article, we will answer some critical questions about the end of life support for Navision.

The product Navision 2016 and all services are covered under a fixed life cycle policy. A fixed life cycle policy is defined as a set support lifecycle period from the time the product is launched. There are several phases to the Fixed Lifecycle Policy-

Mainstream Support

During the mainstream support period, the product will continue to receive the latest features, security, and non-security upgrades. Once the mainstream support ends, you will be eligible for extended support. If your solution still meets your business needs, there is no need to transition. You can rely on extended support.

Extended Support:

Once the product moves past the mainstream support period, it will only receive security updates throughout the extended support cycle. Even with the extended support, there are several limitations, such as:

  • Users cannot request warranty support, latest features, or design modifications
  • No support offered for consumer software, hardware, or multimedia products
  • If you still want to receive benefits for products and services, you need to register for a paid support program.

As discussed, NAV mainstream support will end in June 2022, and the extended support ends in April 2026. The level of risk increases substantially once you reach the end of support. Beyond the end of support, the product won’t receive updates of any kind. It is also challenging to find a partner willing to provide support once the product moves past its expiration date.

Microsoft recently rolled out a new and improved support policy. The modern life cycle policy has transformed how Microsoft handles situations like the end of life cycle support.

What is the Modern Life Cycle Policy?

D365 Business Central and other subsequent updates are covered by the Modern Lifecycle Policy. The Modern Lifecycle Policy provides support and servicing, including bug fixes, new features, and the latest tax upgrades.

The Modern Lifecycle Policy covers products and services serviced and supported continually. However, users must stay current as per the servicing and system provisions issued for the product or service. Users can stay current by taking one of the planned Dynamics BC releases during the year. Those releases typically happen in April and October.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central:

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central has been making headlines since its launch in April 2019. It has set a successful track record and made a big splash with the limitless functionalities it offers. Many international companies are leveraging this change to drive their business towards growth.

With automatic biannual upgrades, pay-as-you-go scalability option, seamless integration, extensive compliance, and additional security features, transitioning to Business Central is undoubtedly a great choice.

Most users are convinced that migrating to Business Central is the obvious next step for their business with the breadth of extended functionalities that this software offers. However, they take a step back when they realize the nitty-gritty of migrating all their data to a new ERP system. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that hard with the right implementation partner.

We at Intech Systems are committed to providing our customers with the best solutions according to their business requirements. Our firm focuses on implementation, development, and support services for Microsoft technologies. Intech is amongst the top Microsoft Dynamics partners in India today and is trusted by 200+ customers globally for its digital transformation solutions. With offices in India and the United States, Intech has over four decades of experience in delivering top-notch technology solutions for Microsoft Dynamics 365, F&O, Business Central, CRM, Power BI, Power Apps, Microsoft Azure Cloud, AI, loT, and other custom-developed applications.

We are on a mission to help businesses like yours get ready to embrace and leverage these technological changes to position themselves better for the future. We are here to help you evaluate the best way forward for your business now that the NAV 2016 support has ended.

As you must be aware, mainstream support for NAV 2016  ended earlier this year in June’22, and we are now approaching the end of the NAV 2016 extended lifecycle. Now may be the perfect time for you to move your legacy software to the cloud if you haven’t already! What’s more, you are getting 60% off license prices, among several other benefits with the Bridge to the Cloud promo.

Microsoft launched the Bridge to the Cloud promotion through its Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program last year.

This promo was launched for the existing Dynamics Price List (DPL) customers who have licensed Dynamics 365 Business Central on-premises, Dynamics NAV, Dynamics GP or Dynamics SL so they could renew their Enhancement every month through the CSP program, and acquire Dynamics 365 Business Central online licenses at a 60% discounted price. The promo ends on the 31st of December, 2022. It is time to switch gears and get into action now.

Get in touch with us today to learn more about the eligibility criteria and the benefits of the bridge to the cloud promo. Email us at sales@intech-systems.com to get started today. We are also offering a FREE Migration Assessment to some early birds. Hurry!!! Limited slots open.

Enhancing productivity with Dynamics 365 for Manufacturing

In the current digital landscape, revolutionizing operations and enhancing productivity are among the top priorities for businesses. Complex supply chain processes, global disruptions, labor shortages, and changing consumer needs make it challenging for manufacturers to embrace top-level productivity throughout their supply chain processes. Fortunately, Microsoft introduced Dynamics 365 for Manufacturing to enable businesses to execute operations swiftly and efficiently.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Manufacturing provides a powerful business management solution that facilitates businesses to seamlessly track and control their supply chain activities and simplify their processes with new tools that enhance productivity.

In the face of changing dynamics, manufacturers face challenges like siloed systems, fluctuating market demands, and broken business processes. Dynamics 365 integrates critical business functions, such as sales, marketing, and customer service, into a unified platform. This centralized approach helps manufacturers get 360-degree visibility across their supply chain, product lifecycle, warehouse management, and delivery timelines. Moreover, it automates operations and provides a common platform to analyze, forecast, and solve complicated issues that may arise during the production cycle.

Dynamics 365 is a suite of twelve dedicated business applications that offer an end-to-end cloud-based platform. This platform harnesses the power of data analytics, AI, ML, and IoT to assist businesses in leveraging the latest technologies to stay agile.

Let’s look at the top 5 benefits of Dynamics 365 for the manufacturing industry:

1. Improve customer service: 

With data analytics and customer insights, you have the means to deliver quicker and more personalized services to your customers. In this increasingly digitized world, it is paramount to build stronger and more meaningful connections with your customers if you want to stand out. This unified platform offers multiple communication channels, including a real-time user chat feature. With functionalities like remote assist, you can deliver smoother customer experiences faster and build customer loyalty.

2. Agile manufacturing: 

This platform offers dynamic management of production orders, including advanced storehouse and logistics management tools. With these tools, the user can easily follow orders through each stage of the production cycle and guarantee timely delivery of the finished goods. Moreover, it enables the user to share data across the organization in real-time while optimizing functional tasks, thereby enabling a more agile manufacturing process.

3. Accelerate innovation and time to market

Automation, AI, ML, data analytics, and IoT enable the user to understand their products better and improve their processes while maintaining high-quality customer service. With actionable insights, you can rapidly identify defects or inefficiencies and use this data to improve future operations. This approach drives innovation and reduces the time to market. Moreover, thanks to mobile devices, cloud-based platforms, and the increasing use of IoT, businesses can offer supplemental services such as remote monitoring and predictive maintenance.

4. Increase Profitability

With the capabilities of this cloud-based application, augmented by business intelligence, manufacturers can improve customer service, ensure timely delivery, offer more customer-centric solutions, reduce waste, and optimize the overall process to provide more value to their customers.

5. Enable a collaborative and engaging environment for the employees:

A fun and collaborative workplace make employees more productive, thereby improving the overall profitability of the company. Dynamics 365 offers role-specific tools to boost the efficacy of day-to-day tasks and creates a structured workflow by connecting diverse business processes. Additionally, it provides continuous feedback to the employees and collaborative assessments to make the workplace more enjoyable.

With minimal production waste, reduced errors, connected processes, faster time to market, data-driven business decisions, and enhanced productivity, Dynamics 365 for Manufacturing enables businesses to digitize their operations for improved ROI, a stronger customer base, and louder impact, enabling manufacturers to reimagine a future that was never before possible.

Do you want to learn more about Dynamics 365 and how it can expedite your business operations? Catch our distinguished panel of speakers shedding light on how you can create a future-ready manufacturing business prepared to take on emerging challenges. Join us for our exclusive event, “Enhancing productivity with Dynamics 365 for Manufacturing.”

Do not miss this chance to catch the top industry experts from Microsoft and Intech discussing how businesses can bring together the right productivity apps, intelligent cloud services, and security to reduce downtime, boost workplace safety and enhance compliance.

Register today! 

7 Digital Transformation Trends That Will Shape the Manufacturing Industry in 2023

Industry 4.0 has transformed how businesses manufacture, enhance and distribute their products. In the last two decades, we have witnessed rapid shifts in technologies, industries, processes, and societal patterns at large. Industry 4.0 has enabled manufacturers to employ advanced tools and technologies that facilitate increased connectivity and smarter automation to provide businesses an edge in this ever-changing marketplace. Digitalization has helped manufacturers improve operational visibility, accelerate production, lower costs, and deliver unparalleled customer support. So, what is next for the manufacturing industry?

Industry 4.0 inspired an era of rapid change across the world. There is no doubt that it has reshaped the manufacturing industry for the better. However, it is now time to shift our attention to what is coming next. Where Industry 4.0 focused on utilizing technology to streamline operations and optimize production, Industry 5.0 is all about smarter collaborations between humans and machines. Experts are now discussing how man and machine can work synergistically to augment each other’s capabilities. While some suggest we are on the brink of witnessing the unfolding of this new era, some others believe it is already here.

Come what may, there can be no doubt that businesses must continue to embrace these rapidly emerging technologies to stay ahead of the competition and thrive in this post-pandemic world.

Let’s look at the top 7 digital transformation trends that are likely to shape the manufacturing industry in 2023:

1. AI, ML, and Automation 

Businesses produce a ton of data each day. Reports suggest that the amount of data that we are going to generate in the next two years is equivalent to the amount of data that we have generated in the last 3 decades. The implications of collecting and analyzing data are known far and wide. Experts are always talking about new ways we can utilize this information to drive better business decisions. We are sitting on a goldmine, but you would be surprised to know that we are only utilizing a small percentage of the data at our disposal.

It is a shame that despite the abundance of software and tools available in the market today, and all the talks touting the value of this data, we are so far behind in making good use of it.

However, more and more organizations are now investing in technologies that can process large volumes of data accurately, and in real-time. By integrating Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) into their services, infrastructures, and applications, manufacturers are accelerating their data processing and making it more efficient.

Automation, ML, and AI-powered digital transformation are making industries more robust by streamlining and automating various tedious operations, processing large volumes of data accurately, and empowering manufacturers to predict future trends and improve quality governance, delivering products faster, lowering costs, and reducing waste.

While there is no doubt that machines are getting more intelligent by the day, it is the combined force of man and machine that will make for the most formidable team. Men and machines will together reimagine the future of the manufacturing industry.

2. IIoT 

The ‘Industrial Internet of Things’ (IIoT) is the use of smart sensors and actuators to improve manufacturing and industrial operations. IIoT harnesses the power of intelligent devices and real-time analytics to drive better business decisions faster.

This network of intelligent devices is connected to form systems that monitor, gather, exchange and interpret data. They can be deployed in the field, at factories, or in other remote locations. These devices capture and broadcast information straight to the data communications infrastructure, where it is processed into actionable insights. These insights are utilized for optimizing industrial operations, improving field service, energy management, and predictive maintenance.

The interest in IIoT has been growing over the last few years, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, due to the possibility of remote monitoring and predictive maintenance. It is not always possible for field service technicians to arrive at the job site at a moment’s notice. With IoT-enabled devices, technicians can monitor equipment performance and identify issues at hand to determine potential solutions even before arriving at the job site.

3. Industry Clouds 

Despite forecasts of a rapid shift in cloud adoption, accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, and Gartner predicting a $651 billion public cloud market in 2024, businesses have been slow to leave their legacy infrastructure and move to the cloud.

At a time when businesses have only begun to explore public cloud adoption, it may seem odd that experts are already discussing the next big thing in public clouds. However, one possibility worth exploring is industry clouds.

Industry clouds enable businesses to digitally transform with tailor-made tools, workflows, and data models developed to solve specific industry problems. Industry Clouds deliver capabilities that help the core operations and necessities of the industry. These comprehensive manufacturing cloud solutions comprise released and latest capabilities that securely link individuals, assets, workflow, and industrial operations, empowering manufacturers to be more resilient.

4. Smart Manufacturing:

Smart manufacturing is a broad notion. It is a combination of various tools and technologies that are enforced collectively in a manufacturing ecosystem to improve the end-to-end process. The objective of smart manufacturing is to leverage these tools and technologies, or “enablers,” to improve productivity and make industrial processes faster and more efficient.

Some of the preeminent enablers in the industry today are AI, ML, Automation, IIoT, Robotics, and Blockchain, among others. These enablers improve quality control management, production scheduling, and inventory planning. They are also known to reduce production costs.

5. 3D Printing:

3D Printing may sound fascinating and like something out of a science fiction show, but you would be amazed to know that it is not a recent innovation. It has been a staple in additive manufacturing for 40 years now.

3D Printing has been regarded as one of the most transformative manufacturing technologies in recent years. Businesses across industries are using this technology to develop novel products. This process creates objects from digital data. It utilizes lasers to spread coatings of material, which solidify to construct the object. This technology can be used to make spares or entire products.

Manufacturers rely on 3D Printing to develop prototypes. It is a highly effective way of designing new products and troubleshooting issues before they go into mass production. Furthermore, it has revolutionized the tedious and costly process of tooling. Back in the day, it would take factories months to produce the spares required for the mass production of heavy equipment. However, the same process is now completed within a matter of days.

6. Predictive Maintenance:

Did you know that most manufacturing units incur major losses due to disruption in the production schedule because of unexpected equipment downtime?

A report by Gartner suggests that the average cost of IT downtime is $5,600 per minute. Different businesses operate differently, and downtime can range between $140,000 per hour to $300,000 per hour on average and go up to as much as $540,000 per hour on the higher end.

Manufacturing facilities must implement the best operational practices to measure and improve the efficiency and availability of their machinery and types of equipment. Predictive maintenance can reduce unexpected outages and extend the lifetime of your equipment by years.

Manufacturers are now automating the data collection process using the IoT technology and gathering valuable predictive analytics that can help get a better understanding of how their machinery works, so they can act ahead of time to prevent plant breakdown and avoid disruptions in the production cycle. This is a proven way to save time, money, and resources.

7. Augmented and Virtual Reality

Augmented Reality (AR) enhances the user’s surroundings by adding digital components to a live view. Virtual Reality (VR), on the other hand, substitutes a real-life environment with a simulated one. The user is completely immersed in a digital environment in VR.

Both these technologies are being used in manufacturing to boost industrial processes and improve efficiency. For instance, a manufacturer may use AR to display instructions for producing an item on its employees’ smartphones and tablets or create a simulation of their production line in a virtual setting so employees can understand the process and see what the finished goods would look like before they begin production.

In 2020, the market value of VR/AR technology reached $12 billion. It is projected to grow at a CAGR of 54% and reach $72.8 billion by the year 2024. The coming year will see several advancements in AR/VR and other technologies. It is a prime opportunity for manufacturers to leverage these emerging technologies to make production smarter and faster than ever.

With the myriad of tools and technologies available in the market today, it is challenging for manufacturers to pick the right solution for their business needs. Moreover, change management is a significant limiting factor for businesses in India. Most conventional manufacturing approaches are built around human interactions, and businesses face several technical and cultural hurdles in going digital.

However, with changing times, manufacturers are now looking for solutions that can help them effortlessly connect with their customers, automate business operations with unique and comprehensive solutions, and harness the power of AI, BI, IoT, and data analytics to drive innovation and decision-making.

With global disruptions and a shift in workforce patterns, change is inevitable, but how fast manufacturers respond to this change remains uncertain. Nevertheless, what we know with certainty is that with these emerging tools and technologies, the future of manufacturing is looking brighter than ever.

Do you want to learn more about the tools and technologies that will dominate manufacturing in 2023, and how you can benefit from them? Write to us at sales@intech-systems.com today!

Key Highlights from Microsoft Inspire 2022

Microsoft revised long-running initiatives at the company’s annual partner event, Microsoft Inspire 2022. The key focus points for this event were revisiting digital transformation, industry-oriented marketing, co-selling, and differentiated cloud offerings.

Microsoft Inspire marks a transitional phase for the corporation’s partner ecosystem.  Microsoft holds this event in July each year to celebrate the work partners are doing across the globe and to recognize the impact they are creating on businesses of all sizes across industries. Among other important announcements this year, the company highlighted how they are planning to drive growth and profitability in the coming quarters with partner-focused platforms, how businesses can power innovation through modernization and migration, and how partners can help customers streamline their security across platforms.

At his Microsoft Inspire keynote, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, urged partners to go beyond “talking about digital transformation to delivering on the digital imperative for every organization.” He further describes the digital imperative as infusing digital technology into all business processes- “It’s what will make the difference between organizations that thrive and those that get left behind.”

Let us round up the top 5 recurring themes from Inspire 2022:

1. Digital Technology: A deflationary force in an inflationary economy

The digital business race and the battle between leaders and laggards is nothing new. However, the latest economic developments, such as inflation, make the need for transformation all the more urgent. “Digital technology is a deflationary force in an inflationary economy. It’s the only way to navigate the headwinds we are confronting today,” suggested Nadella.

This is a prime opportunity for enterprises to capitalize on these emerging business trends and leverage these technological changes to become more successful than ever before.

2. Top 5 ‘Digital Imperatives’ for every organization:

The event highlighted five key digital imperatives for every organization to do more with less:

 A. Migrate to the cloud:

Companies are rethinking their IT infrastructure investments to lower costs, increase business scalability and reduce their carbon footprint. By 2025, 95% of new digital workloads will be deployed directly into the cloud. By migrating to the cloud now, partners can help customers drive operational efficiency, deliver faster time to value, and reduce costs.

Microsoft offers a wide range of benefits to its customers moving to the cloud:

  • Competitive pricing to run Windows and SQL Server VMs on Microsoft Azure.
  • Azure as the world’s computer with 10 new data centers in 10 different markets, spanning four continents, to be launched next year.
  • Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty, provides policies, controls, and technologies that will enable customers to meet a government’s specific data sovereignty, security, and privacy requirements.
  • Azure Arcenables customers to leverage the power of Azure in hybrid, edge, and multi-cloud environments.

B. Empower Fusion Teams:

Today, every company is a digital company. Organizations are keen to equip fusion teams of pro and citizen developers with state-of-the-art tooling to scale their impact together, and they are eager to adopt DevOps, which is quickly becoming the default platform to deploy code to production.

From Azure DevOps and GitHub to Visual Studio, Microsoft has the most comprehensive and trusted cloud platform to help developers transition from idea to code, code to cloud, and cloud to the world.

  • Azure DevOps and GitHubenable developers to collaborate, code, and deliver their solutions faster than ever before.
  • Azure Container Apps and Azure Spring Apps Enterprise are bringing the much-needed ease of developing and deploying modern and Java apps at a larger scale.
  • The Power Platformallows citizen developers to automate tedious operations and build low-code to no-code 365-degree business solutions at lowered costs.

C. Unify data and apply Artificial Intelligence (AI) models

Companies are becoming increasingly reliant on data to drive their decision-making process. We are in the midst of an AI revolution. AI is not only being used to process data but also to produce it.

The Microsft Intelligent Data Platform is helping customers refine their data journeys, from reducing the total cost of ownership to increasing the performance of data processing.

Microsoft has also developed and trained powerful AI models in Azure and has made them available as platforms to apply as use cases to unravel some of the greatest challenges we face as a society today.

 D. Collaborative business process:

The global workforce today is split between two choices. Some employees are looking for the flexibility to work remotely, while others miss the face-to-face brainstorming sessions and the office banter. Moving forward, one thing we know for certain is that the hybrid work model is here to stay.

With Microsoft 365, companies have a comprehensive suite of solutions to optimize hybrid work and ensure that all their employees can collaborate easily, and work with ease and comfort, no matter where they are located.

Dynamics 365 is purpose-built for this new world of business processes. Microsoft’s intelligent and reliable business applications connect data, processes, and teams, ushering in a new era of hyper-connected business and offering unparalleled value.

Microsoft also announced the launch of the Microsoft Digital Contact Center platform, which brings together Dynamics 365, Azure Communication Services, Teams, Power Platform, and Nuance into one, open, extensible, and collaborative platform to deliver seamless omnichannel customer engagement.

  E. Prioritize Security

Security must be the top priority for any company with a digital presence. Organizations are encountering an increasing number of cybersecurity threats and attacks.

Microsoft is combining technology and human expertise to deliver a comprehensive and secure platform for all its customers. From identity management to endpoint security, compliance, and data governance, Microsoft is offering multi-cloud support for all of a business’s security demands.

3. The MCPP (Microsoft Cloud Partner Program) Switch

Inspire 2022 was notable for being Microsoft’s first prominent partner event since it announced that it is pulling the current Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) program in October and replacing it with the new Microsoft Cloud Partner Program (MCPP). The company highlighted how they are planning to drive growth and profitability through partner-focused platforms. The revised partner program is set to debut later this year. It will discern partners according to their proficiency in the following six areas:

  • Data & AI (Azure)
  • Infrastructure (Azure)
  • Digital & App Innovation (Azure)
  • Business Applications
  • Modern Work
  • Security

 

4. Microsoft for Industry

Another key highlight from this year was Microsoft’s hyper-focus on industry clouds. The company has planned six industry-specific cloud offerings-Financial Services, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Retail, Nonprofit, and Sustainability.

Industry Clouds focus on specialized processes with tools and business solutions devised to cater to a specific industry. These tailored industry solutions enable organizations to accelerate time to value, speed up innovation and drive benefits for their customers, employees, and the organization.

Microsoft is encouraging partners to leverage these industry cloud platforms and tailor their offerings for the industries that suit them best. As Althoff, Microsoft’s chief commercial officer, said during his portion of the keynotes, “Our partners are key to our industry strategy.”

“Go vertical” isn’t a new appeal from Microsoft. The company has been compelling partners to take a vertical industry approach for years, and they strengthened it further by introducing the six industry clouds at Inspire 2022.

5. Roundup on Modern Work, Security, and Azure

As expected, Inspire 2022 was laser-focused on the Azure cloud, how Microsoft customers worldwide are profiting from it, and how partners can capitalize on these emerging trends to become more successful.

“Doing more with less doesn’t mean working harder or longer,” said Nadella. “That’s not the way we’re going to scale, but it does mean applying technology to amplify what you’re able to do across an organization, so you can differentiate and build resilience. And it all comes down to how we can help you use the Microsoft Cloud to help your customers overcome today’s challenges and emerge stronger. No other cloud offers our breadth or depth. No other cloud offers not just best-in-class products, but best-in-suite solutions across the entire tech stack.”

Data is everywhere, and Azure’s AI capabilities are required to harness that data for functional use. “This is the age of AI,” said Nadella during his keynote address.

Microsoft also announced several noteworthy product launches and product updates as a part of Inspire 2022, including:

  1. Azure Migrations and App Modernization
  2. Enterprise Collaboration Upgrades on Display
  3. New Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty Helps Government Customers Meet Requirements
  4. Microsoft and Oracle Announce Database Partnership
  5. Microsoft Enlists Nuance Tech in New AI-Powered Contact Center
  6. Microsoft Touts Cost-Saving Benefits of All-in-One Security Solutions
  7. Microsoft Cuts Ribbon for ‘Azure Space Partner Community

Want to know more about these emerging technologies and our partnership with Microsoft?

Contact us at sales@intech-systems.com today.

Intech on AppSource – Helping businesses drive digitization through smarter solutions

Here are the top 12 Commercial Marketplace offers published by Intech that are now live on Microsoft AppSource-

With changing times, businesses are now looking for solutions that can help them effortlessly connect with their customers, automate business operations with unique and comprehensive solutions, and harness the power of AI, BI, IoT, and data analytics to drive innovation and decision-making.

Organizations with manual and decentralized mechanisms require careful consideration for internal and external data platforms’ standardization, integration, and automation. However, in many cases, companies miss out on a 360-degree business software evaluation based on features, functions, compliance, and risk evaluation.

Intech has made a rapid push towards custom solutions to address these changing business needs and has been able to assist over 275 companies across the globe in adapting Microsoft-led technologies with Intech-tailored solutions built using the technical stack of Microsoft ERP, CRM, BI, and data analytics.

At Intech, our expertise and experience across global markets have helped organizations leverage Microsoft productivity and data technologies along with tailored business apps from Intech, such as Intech E-Commerce, CRM Address Locator, Product Configurator, and EXIM for the Service Industry.

We are leveraging the powerful capabilities of the Microsoft suite of business applications and building on the highly extensible software to standardize their solutions and launch them as ready-to-use apps or add-ons on Microsoft AppSource. Over 25+ business apps are certified by Microsoft and available on AppSource.

Intech has one of the highest numbers of add-ons and stand-alone applications published on AppSource. Let’s look at our top industry accelerators in detail:

1. Advanced Quality Module:

Intech’s Advanced Quality Module for D365 F&O is the enhanced version of the built-in quality module in Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations.

This module guarantees efficient assessment and measurement of all key metrics associated with the quality control process. It ensures that all the mandated quality checks are completed on time. The user can define item-wise quality parameters, access Power BI dashboards, define ISO sampling plans, calibrate instruments, and get vendor-wise non-conformity and CAPA tracking.

Product: Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management

Industries: Distribution & Manufacturing

2. EXIM for Manufacturing:

The Government of India offers exclusive benefits to traders and exporters to encourage more foreign trade. These schemes are governed by the FTP (Foreign Trade Policy).

Our EXIM for Manufacturing app integrates all EXIM incentive schemes and the end-to-end compliance process into a single platform to help you finish in one go. This module covers duty exemption schemes, duty remission schemes, and export promotion capital goods schemes.

Product: Dynamics 365 Finance

Industry: Manufacturing

3. EXIM for Service Industry:

EXIM is a core part of the financial functionality needed for organizations that export services. Intech has developed EXIM for Service Industry as an end-to-end solution for service organizations to manage export and import functions per the Service Export from India Scheme (SEIS).

This module provides you with an accurate duty scrips amount per the norms defined by DGFT under the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP).

Product: Dynamics 365 Finance

Industry: Service

4. Gate Entry Management:

Intech’s Gate Entry Management app can easily be integrated with the Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations using connector tools.

With this app, all the gate entries are recorded in the system in real-time. Each gate entry can be assigned to a purchase order, sales order, transfer order, or return order. The user can also capture the gate entries of vehicles entering the factory premises for material loading and unloading.  With the Gate Entry Management app, users can easily maintain gate entries with reference to open purchase orders.

Product: Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management

Industries: Distribution & Manufacturing

5. Item Code Generator:

Item Code Generator produces a unique item code or SKU code that makes it easy to find, search and refer to products from lists, invoices, order forms, etc.

With this app, the user can quickly generate unique codes for all their inventory items and ensure that each item has a unique code for better storing, locating, and consuming. Item Code Generator makes your work easier and streamlines the process of inventory and supply chain management. The user can rest assured that no duplicate codes will be generated, thus avoiding errors and losses.

Product: Dynamics 365 Business Central

Industries: Manufacturing & Retail

6. Product Configurator:

Product configuration is an activity of customizing a product to meet the needs of a particular customer. With the help of this tool, a salesperson can give a quotation for a customized product at any time without help from the technical department. Moreover, the user can also check whether or not the customer’s requirements are feasible.

Product configurators represent one of the most successful applications of artificial intelligence principles. This app offers several benefits, including reduced lead times, fewer errors, and shorter learning periods for new employees in engineering companies.

Product Configurator accommodates the needs of assemble‐to‐order, make‐to‐order, repetitive, and even some engineer‐to‐order manufacturers.

Product: Dynamics 365 Business Central

Industries: Automotive & Manufacturing

7. Product Catalogue:

In any software, every item is defined with a unique code to avoid conflicts. While creating a sales quote or a sales order document, the user needs to enter the item code in the sales line. However, with larger organizations, tracking and updating item codes for all the products in the inventory can be a real hassle.

With Intech’s Product Catalogue, each item in the inventory is tagged according to the product name, category, and model. This app makes it easier for the user to identify and select items, and makes sales transactions faster and more efficient.

Product: Dynamics 365 Business Central

Industries: Manufacturing & Retail

8. Production+:

The Production+ Data Collection for D365 Business Central is an application that enables users to track and maintain all production operations on a single screen with minimal effort and reduce the errors associated with manual data entries.

Built by using Power Apps and Power Virtual Agents, the mobile app enables employees to view their ongoing, completed, and canceled job entry details in real-time.

Tracking the live progress of each active operation enables the user to ensure on-time delivery. Moreover, managers can use the recorded data to manage productivity, accurately predict delivery dates, and make more efficient business decisions. By automating Production+ data collection, the organization can increase data accuracy, reduce unnecessary overhead costs and improve efficiency in the workplace.

Product: Dynamics 365 Business Central

Industries: Manufacturing

9. Intech E-Commerce Portal:

Intech E-Commerce is a multi-channel responsive e-commerce portal, developed by Intech, and integrated with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. The solution not only simplifies business processes but also boosts the user’s ability to sell and market online.

Users can enhance their global presence with Intech’s scalable B2B and B2C eCommerce platform that lets its users roll out a web store for Microsoft Dynamics 365.

Intech E-Commerce Portal gives a rich shopping experience to the clients and a great selling experience to the user. The shopping cart and other in-built features give clients a seamless experience, and the integration with major payment gateways provides a smooth checkout experience. Moreover, the orders are sent directly to the user’s ERP.

Thus, you can make the most of your ERP investment by leveraging its real-time data in your web store: turning Dynamics 365 into a powerful e-commerce engine.

Product: Dynamics 365 Business Central

Industries: Manufacturing & Retail

10. Inventory Counting:

Inventory Counting is a stand-alone application developed by Intech. This application serves as a counting assistant that helps the store owners maintain and track inventory records across all their warehouses and store locations.

This application can integrate data from the existing ERP, and users can manage inventory directly through their phones or tablets. This app provides better flexibility to the users and one-click count details of the digital and physical inventory.

Product: Power Apps

Industry: Manufacturing

11. Visitor Management:

It is a standard protocol for most organizations to record visitor details at their reception desk or the security gate. However, the security and credibility of the data recorded remain questionable since it is accessible to everyone.

As more and more organizations move towards digitizing possibly every aspect of their day-to-day business operations, there is a need for a simple, secure, digital solution to manage visitor data entries.

A flexible, precise, and stand-alone application such as Visitor Management, designed and developed by Intech , is the right solution that manages all processes of tracking and handling visitors digitally. Moreover, this application can integrate data from the existing ERP software.

Product: Power Apps

Industries: Education & Manufacturing

12. CRM Address Locator:

Most salespeople are away on the field all day, and their managers find it difficult to track their location and plan their visits. It is also challenging to predict the field sales team’s productivity and progress.

Intech has developed the Address Locator app to capture the user’s current location in CRM directly through the mobile app.

The field sales team can create new leads/accounts directly from the prospect’s location through their mobile device. On checking “Get Address,” the system will fetch the current location and update the same in the lead or account. This saves time and enhances productivity. It also reduces manual errors as the location will be fetched automatically.

Product: Dynamics 365 Sales, Dynamics 365 Customer Service, Dynamics 365 Field Service & Power Apps

Industries: Financial Services & Manufacturing

Visit Microsoft AppSource now to find, try, buy, and deploy the business software and services that help expedite your business operations.

Looking for an add-on that best fits your requirements? Look no further. Get in touch with us at sales@intech-systems.com to sign up for our free trial today!

Intech for Pharma & Healthcare

The past decade has been a changemaker for the pharmaceutical industry. Most of the technological changes that we are witnessing today have been in the works long before the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the last two years have accelerated the adoption of these existing trends, reshaping the future of the pharma industry for good.

Digital technologies are rapidly transforming how patients engage with the pharma and healthcare sector in the post-pandemic era. These digital transformation trends are helping the pharma industry to speed up business operations, future-proof their products from disruptions, and make data-driven decisions.

In the face of changing business dynamics, businesses need the right solution to help them reposition themselves to flourish in the post-pandemic reality.

With the aim of providing a modernization blueprint, the resources, and agility needed to propel businesses forward, Intech’s two-decade-long partnership with Microsoft has constantly focused on innovation and business values. We are expanding on the suite of Microsoft business applications and helping pharma companies globally to transform by accelerating innovation, digitally empowering their workforce, driving manufacturing efficiency, and building a more sustainable future.

Let’s look at some of these solutions in detail:

1. Sales Force Management with Intech’s Automation Tool:

Research shows that medical representatives (MRs) spend most of their time aligning resources to make the right presentation before pitching their products to prospects. Most of their visits with the doctors are unplanned and they may not always get the time to prepare on the go. It is also a challenge for their managers to track their activities and manage their operations efficiently.

There is a lack of 100% visibility between the field force and the backend team. There is a need for a smart, data-driven, and multi-dimensional cloud-based application that can connect marketing and sales activities.

However, with intricate business models, incorporating digital solutions in this space is toilsome. With an increasingly remote workforce, and a limited pool of professional developers, the demand for low-code apps has grown in recent years.

To address the pressing needs of the pharma industry, Intech has developed an easy-to-use solution, using Microsoft’s no-code-low-code Power Platform and Dataverse, that enables seamless creation and delivery of multichannel content with analytics at every step of the content presentation, with offline capabilities. The solution also addresses operational challenges faced by the MRs, such as:

  1. Tour planning and visit.
  2. E-detailing, e-contracting, and e-sampling.
  3. Leave and expense management.
  4. Distributor management system.
  5. Institutional sales and tender management.
  6. Event management.
  7. Marketing and campaigns.

Our solution improves visibility across the marketing and sales cycle with a personalized approach to customer engagement and drives decision-making by unlocking actionable insights leveraging Power BI.

2. Personalized customer journeys across all touchpoints with D365 Marketing:

We have built on the existing capabilities of the D365 Marketing module to empower our customers to streamline their marketing activities, conduct targeted email marketing campaigns, and have a systematic approach to their brand marketing.

With this solution, users can unlock several benefits, including:

  1. AI-powered images & engaging content.
  2. Event management.
  3. 360-degree visibility & marketing insights.
  4. GDPR compliance.
  5. MLR (Medical, Legal, Regulatory Review) approval process.
  6. Integration with mobile apps and IMS.
  7. Integration with corporate and brand websites.

Our solution can help integrate customer information, automate marketing activities from a unified platform, and craft personalized journeys across all touchpoints to strengthen their relationships with their customers and earn their loyalty.

3. Boost sales performance with D365 Sales:

Dynamics 365 Sales enables your sales team to build strong relationships with their clients, take actions based on insights, and close deals faster. With this module, you can easily keep a track of your accounts, create sales collaterals, and nurture your customers across all touchpoints from leads through orders.

Using this module, we have created a solution that can help pharma companies streamline their tender management activities and standardize business processes through a common platform.

This solution serves as a single source for accessing technology expertise throughout sales channels across multiple regions. It also facilitates internal collaboration through multiple channels (CRM, O365, portal, document management & more). Some of the key benefits include:

    1. Alignment of complex tender processes with the involvement of multiple departments and costing parameters from finance.
  1. 360-degree visibility into product information, including customer and drug-wise contracts, and more.
  2. Better visibility & tracking across the sales cycle.
  3. Tracking of individual sales performance.
  4. Forecasting sales.
  5. Personalized customer engagement.
  6. Enhanced productivity.

Intech is changing the prospects of the pharmaceutical industry by delivering integrated digital solutions within the Microsoft ecosystem. By facilitating the successful creation of tailor-made cloud infrastructure and allied digital solutions, Intech is emerging as an internationally renowned digital solutions provider in this industry.

Top 5 Digital Transformation Trends in the Pharma Industry in 2022

The pharmaceutical industry is in the middle of a fundamental transformation. In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the industry is facing challenges with fluctuating market demands and changing consumer needs.

In the face of so many challenges, technology has shown to be crucial in keeping the pharma business resilient. Many digital solutions have been widely adopted to improve efficiency and streamline operations in the pharma and healthcare industry.

Two years into the pandemic, businesses must now decide how they are planning to leverage these emerging cutting-edge technologies to stay agile and best position themselves to thrive in the post-pandemic world.

There has been significant growth in the digital health market since 2010, and according to a Statista survey, around 74% of participants believe that the pandemic has considerably accelerated digital transformation in the pharma and healthcare industries. According to the latest ABI research report, the pharmaceutical industry is forecast to spend  $4.5 billion on digital transformation alone by the year 2030.

As the statistics suggest, we’ll be witnessing an era of rapid digitization that could possibly alter the global industrial landscape for good.

Before we dive into the latest technologies and trends shaping the pharma industry, let us look at some major areas of improvement that make digital transformation in the pharma industry more critical than ever before-

  1. Improve drug research and development process
  2. Cost-effectiveness
  3. Increase drug efficiency
  4. Reduce carbon footprint
  5. Better visibility into the supply chain
  6. A structured distribution model
  7. Improve patient care

We are certain that 2022 will see rapid advancement in AI, ML, Blockchain, and IoT as the world adjusts to life after Covid. This presents a prime opportunity for the pharma industry to capitalize on these emerging trends and leverage these technological changes for a brighter future ahead.

Let’s dive into the key trends and technologies shaping the future of the pharma industry in 2022 and beyond:

1. Artificial Intelligence & Computer Vision:

AI innovation in the pharma sector has observed a notable advancement in the past few years. The global AI in the pharma market is projected to grow from $934.56 million in 2021 to $1,236.09 million in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.3%.

AI has unimaginable potential, and within the next couple of years, it is likely to revolutionize every aspect of the pharmaceutical industry.

More and more pharma companies are implementing AI in their manufacturing processes for improved productivity, higher efficiency, and rapid production of life-saving drugs.

AI can be used to improve all facets of the manufacturing process, including method automation, design optimization, quality check, predictive maintenance, creating more affordable drugs and therapies, and reducing operational costs and pharmaceutical waste.

In addition, computer vision can be used to derive meaningful information from images, videos, and other visual inputs and improve quality control, packaging, drug traceability, and shipment tracking.

AI and computer vision offer a myriad of possibilities, bringing about a radical shift in the innovation paradigm of the pharmaceutical industry.

2. Big Data & Machine Learning (ML):

When it comes to the efficacy of ML, more data almost always renders better results, and the pharma industry is sitting on a data goldmine.

McKinsey estimates that big data and machine learning in pharma and healthcare could yield a value of up to $100B yearly, by optimizing decision making, improving the effectiveness of drug research and development, and building new tools for researchers, consumers, and regulators to meet the promise of delivering more individualized strategies.

The applications of ML in pharma and healthcare are the glimmers of an imaginable future in which synchronicity of data, analytics, and innovation is an everyday reality.

3. Internet of Things (IoT):

IoT is a game-changer for the pharmaceutical industry. Although it is still in its nascent stages of adoption, the use of machine-to-machine communication and smart devices has come at a time when the pharma sector is scuffling with declining R&D productivity and patent cliffs.

More and more companies are now leveraging the power of IoT to improve drug manufacturing, packaging, warehousing, and supply chain management.

Not only is IoT rapidly transforming the patient experience, but it is also revolutionizing other areas of the industry, such as R&D and the supply chain.  IoT supervises various unit operations, monitors real-time data, improves product efficiency, provides better visibility into the supply chain, and enhances operational effectiveness.

4. Blockchain:

Blockchain is all the rage in the world today. It is all over the news and has received praise for its dynamic nature and far-reaching applications. From financial services to the pharma market, its implications are known far and wide.

It is a booming technology that originated with the inception of Bitcoin and has gradually filtered into several other profitable markets.

In its simplest form, blockchain is software that provides a digital ledger system for records and log transactions by grouping them into chronologically-ordered blocks. These blocks are linked and secured using the latest cryptography technology.

Big Pharma companies are betting on the blockchain to provide a unified solution for secure and efficient management of pharma supply chains across the globe. Its uniquely distributed network would facilitate the development of comprehensive end-to-end supply chain management.

Blockchain promises several other benefits, such as quickly identifying bottlenecks and working on efficiently removing the same from the supply chain.

Now is the right time for the pharmaceutical industry to unleash the full potential of the blockchain to become more successful than ever before.

5. Automation:

The pharmaceutical automation market is all set to reach $18.2 billion by 2029 at a CAGR of 12% from 2022 to 2029.

Automation is revolutionizing the pharma sector by improving commercial production and enabling real-time monitoring.

Automation improves the overall productivity of the manufacturing process by performing repetitive tasks. Increased automation can help the pharma industry in improving the usage of energy and raw materials, enhancing regulatory compliances, improving product quality and consistency, and promoting safety in the work environment.

These technologies are also highly accurate and eliminate the possibility of human errors while processing and packaging pharmaceutical products. Moreover, they also reduce the risk of contamination and biohazards to the factory workers.

All in all, automation is bridging the divide between equipment, operations, and individuals.

Pharma companies need to step up and leverage these next-gen technologies to streamline and enhance their manufacturing and business operations. They need to strive to meet the new industry standards and expectations in keeping their business efficient and agile.

How do we leverage these technologies to best position ourselves for the future?

The last two years, while heartbreaking in several ways, have also served as a catalyst for an era of rapid change across the world. We are looking at the biggest structural transformation we have witnessed in ages.

Businesses need to reinvent themselves to survive in this increasingly digitized and fast-paced environment and stand strong in the face of changing business dynamics over time.

While the struggle may be hard and enduring, with the right digital transformation partner in your corner, you can unleash the power of these state-of-the-art technologies to prepare yourselves to come out of this crisis stronger than ever.

With a vision to catalyze digital futures in operation-centric industries globally, we at Intech Systems are assisting SMBs and enterprises across the globe to benefit from these emerging technologies and best position themselves in this post-pandemic world.

With powerful Business Intelligence solutions using Power BI to AI capabilities with RPA (Robotic Process Automation) in Power Platform, we at Intech Systems are fast-tracking digital transformation for businesses.

Intech, a Microsoft-certified Gold Partner, is amongst the top Microsoft Dynamics partners in India today and is trusted by 200+ customers globally for its digital transformation solutions. With offices in India and the United States, Intech has over four decades of experience in delivering top-notch technology solutions for Microsoft Dynamics 365F&OBusiness Central, CRM, Power BIPower AppsMicrosoft Azure Cloud, AI, loT, and other custom-developed applications. Our firm focuses on implementation, development, and support services for Microsoft Business Applications.

Contact us at sales@intech-systems.com to start your digital transformation journey and get a headstart on the latest trends in the pharma and healthcare industry in 2022.

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