The Benefits of Moving Global Trade and Transportation Operations to the Cloud

Businesses around the world have increasingly moved their enterprise applications, platforms and infrastructure to the cloud. In the latest QAD Precision Report we look at the benefits of moving to the cloud, and the advantages of leveraging cloud-based processing for global trade, transportation and logistics operations.

Blockchain, the Internet of Things, machine learning and data lakes… These are the technologies that have garnered the most headlines in recent years. But the headlines don’t reflect the fact that many enterprises are not rushing to be early adopters. This is understandable. Change simply for the sake of change is disruptive. More importantly, technological innovations must first prove to be worthwhile in terms of both ROI and improved operational processes.

Cloud computing is one innovation that has proven its value. Although the cloud has been with us almost two decades, widespread migration has been slow. That has changed — and is continuing to change.

In the last five years or so, businesses around the world have increasingly moved their enterprise applications, platforms and infrastructure to the cloud. The change to cloud-based processing is not simply to keep up with technology — there are tangible benefits too. Let’s take a brief look at these.

Why Move to the Cloud?

REVENUE AND PROFIT GROWTH

The first most important benefit is revenue and profit growth. IBM looked at over 800 IT leader surveys across 24 industries in 13 countries. Despite the different challenges posed by their varying industries and economies, strategic cloud adopters had one important thing in common: growth. These companies exhibited twice the revenue growth and achieved 2.5 times the profit growth of companies working in traditional IT environments.

SCALABILITY

One of the major reasons cloud solutions offer such great opportunity for revenue and profit growth is scalability. That’s also the biggest advantage of the cloud, and the one that drove its development.

A cloud-based system offers dynamic allocation of resources. In other words, if you need more processing power, storage, memory and so forth, the cloud allocates it.

FASTER DEPLOYMENT

Another great advantage is that cloud deployment is faster. Instead of upgrading individual users or groups one at a time, cloud deployment and updates happen at a centralized application or platform level.

REDUCED MAINTENANCE AND IT COSTS

Would you rather have your IT staff working on improving your business performance and developing strategic advancements or on routine IT maintenance? The answer is obvious. With the cloud, your service provider looks after that. Better still, they’ll often resolve issues long before you even encounter them.

In addition, your provider is responsible for hardware maintenance and upgrades too. As a result, when infrastructure is eventually updated, it’s invisible to your IT organization and your finance department.

DISASTER RECOVERY

If you use a cloud solution built on virtualized hardware resources that are geographically and systematically independent, you have a built-in disaster recovery plan. In the event of a disaster, all you need to do is find an alternative access to your cloud solution.

REDUCED CAPITAL EXPENSES

Replacing or upgrading your systems is a huge capital expense. However, a subscription or recurring licensing fee is a predictable operational expense. This means you know exactly how much your IT needs will cost, which in turn, helps you to manage your cash flow.

Global Trade, Transportation and Logistics in the Cloud

We have had a look at the general benefits of the cloud, but there are also specific advantages for global trade, transportation and logistics. Let’s have a look at these.

UPDATED TRADE COMPLIANCE REGULATIONS

The major advantage to using the cloud means you have ongoing and real time updates with trade compliance regulations. This is vital. A cloud-based shipping logistics platform is also a matter of risk management, and one that helps you avoid costly penalties.

Lee Specialties Ltd. of Red Deer, Canada is a cautionary tale. The company was fined $90,000 for inadvertently shipping $15 in Viton® o-rings to a country for which export of such products was prohibited. Penalties up to 6,000 times the value of shipped goods might be an extreme, increasing compliance enforcement is a reality for shippers.

EASY, AUTOMATIC ROLLOUT ACROSS YOUR LOCATIONS

For large shippers with multiple distribution centers and warehouses platform rollouts are time-consuming and complicated. With a cloud deployment, however, all your facilities and teams receive features and updates simultaneously. That means no communications downtime between facilities and no intricate planning.

GREATER FLEXIBILITY

With a cloud based solution, changing to meet adapting business needs is quick and easy. Adding new applications, scaling back capacity or even adding or subtracting users is quick and easy.

GAIN A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Cloud deployments for logistics solutions create a competitive advantage. If you always have the newest application features and up-to-date data, you have an edge over competitors in terms of delivery, customer service, and cost savings.

NO NEED FOR IN-HOUSE EXPERTS

If you use a cloud-based solution, you no longer need a team of in-house software experts to make your systems work. If you have a small team, or indeed an individual expert, who knows and understands your home grown systems, there’s an ever-present risk to your business.

RAPID ROI

Last but not least is return on investment. Because deployment of cloud architecture is much faster than on-premise, ROI is realized much quicker —  in some cases in as little as 10-12 weeks.

Precision Premium Private Cloud

Cloud services provide growth-minded organizations with the ability to move capital expenses to operational expenses, while requiring less maintenance and automatic upgrades. Customers moving to cloud technology eliminate the need for IT and hardware resources while moving their information to a secure, private cloud environment. Our integrated cloud service provides your organization with the newest application features, propelling you forward past your competitors and giving your logistics solutions a competitive advantage.

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• SSAE 18 Certified
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Further Reading

3 MINUTE EXPLAINER: WHAT IS MULTI CARRIER SHIPPING SOFTWARE?

WHY INTEGRATE EXPORT MANAGEMENT AND TRANSPORTATION

MULTI CARRIER SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS: KEEP UP WITH CUSTOMER DEMANDS IN A BUSY PARCELS MARKET