Are you considering migrating your transportation and logistics organisation to the cloud? A large-scale cloud migration has multiple complexities to consider, but the benefits of cloud migration far outweigh the temporary difficulty of the migration process.
Cloud computing, machine learning, the Internet of Things (IoT), and connected technologies have opened up a vast new range of opportunities for transportation and logistics. With cloud connectivity and real-time data from the supply chain, you can streamline deliveries, cut costs, and improve your organisation’s bottom line.
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the transportation and logistics sector. Key challenges facing vendors and enterprises include:
Lessons learned during a time of COVID now drive new ways of managing transportation and logistics challenges, and provide impetus for cloud migration.
According to KPMG, only 13% of Australian companies have complete visibility throughout their supply chain. More than 80% are seeking tools to give them that visibility with real-time reporting. Predictive modeling is just one example of how cloud-driven analytics and data services can help ready your organisation for spikes in resource needs and customer-side demands.
If you have limited resources but are already facing increased customer demand, the time could be ideal for cloud adoption. Your company can apply cloud services to supply chain management, relieving the necessity to establish your own IT infrastructure and minimising the costs of digitisation.
As per research from the Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia, the anticipated benefits of IoT for transportation and logistics is a close second only to Big Data Analytics. However, more companies have already implemented IoT than have embraced data analytics at scale. Robotics comes in third on both lists, with 39% of respondents listing it as a game changer for the industry, and 39% already having robotics in play.
A 2019 report from Deloitte notes that 42% of Australian businesses are using paid cloud. One in four companies in transportation and logistics are already leveraging cloud service. However, adoption and migration come with obstacles. The most cited challenges in moving to cloud services are lack of in-house skills to manage the migration, the cost of large-scale migration without downtime, and the existence of legacy systems that are difficult to integrate.
Partnering With Cloud-Savvy Specialists Can Streamline Your Cloud Migration
Transportation and logistics vendors are tapping into cloud development, but the most successful are doing so with support. The best option is to make the migration assisted by experienced digital system management (DSM) partners who have the knowledge and capability to spearhead large-scale migrations while safeguarding stability and security. Using such a partner can bring much-needed expertise to the process, allowing you to:
Preparing for Successful Large-Scale Cloud Migration
Identify which processes and operations are most suitable for cloud migration, and plan your move in stages. These will include the simplest processes and plug-and-play applications. Heavily customised solutions will require more finesse as you migrate.
Complex solutions with layers of functionality may need to be broken down into modules, and restacked within your new cloud-based logistics platform. Finally, legacy operations may need to be rebuilt entirely, as compatibility issues may prove more costly to troubleshoot than simply shifting to a modernised version that accomplishes the same purpose. Low-code/no-code options can act as an intermediary between legacy and modern systems at a lower cost of development if budgetary constraints preclude a complete rebuild.
Prioritise supply chain functions such as:
The future prospects of cloud-supported logistics and supply chains are bright. Partner with Unisys to unlock the benefits of large-scale cloud migration.
Explore our logistics industry resources to learn more.
Tags- cloud-connectivity cloud-driven analytics Digital Service Management (DSM) Internet of Things (IoT) Large-scale Cloud Migration Legacy operations optimisation predictive maintenance Robotics Supply Chain Management Transportation & Logistics