Order management (OM) sits at the intersection of marketing, information technology, and logistics as a function of coordinated supply chain management. Marketing strategies put pressure on supply chain logistics to help satisfy, keep, and attract new customers. When these customers, empowered and connected by mobile devices, rapidly elevate their service expectations, the logistics processes involved in order management grow more complex.
In step with this cycle of growing expectations, the corollary demand for investment in and innovation of order management systems (OMS) increases. Capable of bridging the gap between the supply chain, marketing strategies, and the customer experience in the digital economy, OMS is essential to the future of successful businesses.
What is Order Management System Architecture?
Order management system (OMS) architecture is made up of three tiers: engine, application, and database. The OMS engine moves the flow of information. The application tier provides the functionality and security the organization needs, and the database supports high speed, high performance reporting and analytics.
A fully functional OMS on its own is not sufficient to drive business value. Organizations must decide what they want to do with the data flowing through OMS. They can collect the data to make better decisions, turn the data into insight, and turn that insight into action. The digital marketplace brings a need to compete and win based on speed and agility.
The Value of Order Management System Architecture
The enterprise engine drives the flow of information through the order management system.
The core engine provides end-to-end OM functionality. It offers business users the ability to configure and manage data, routes, and systems from a single platform. The engine includes:
· Solution architecture that integrates external systems
· OM business intelligence and analytics
· Content management
· Complete enterprise resource planning (ERP) integration
· Easy-to-implement solution that’s easy-to-use
· A technology partner to manage the solution
· A global support strategy
· Proven solution
· Built for speed
The cloud-based order management system offers a hosted platform that keeps your business connected. Integrating with your enterprise engines, the cloud-based mobility solutions provide:
· Access to your data so you can create and manage fulfillment from any location.
· Access to your customers and partners so you can empower them and stay connected across the entire business.
· Rapid time-to-value with no hardware, software, or capital expenditures.
· Easy-to-implement technology that’s easy to use.
· End-to-end visibility with real-time shipping information and customer-facing mobile applications.
· Proven cloud service provider that manages your business continuity.
· A global support strategy that delivers the best support.
· A flexible cloud solution that allows you to scale with your needs.
The OMS engine sits on the application tier. The application tier includes the data processing, interactive user interface, and event logging. The engineering of the application tier is based on the business requirements of the solution.
The database tier comprises the platform that supports high speed, high performance reporting and analytics. It has the requisite horsepower and scalability to propel analytics and reporting.
Who Uses Order Management System Architecture?
The evolution of order management system architecture makes clients—connecting supply chains, brands, customers, and partners—the focal point.
With a wide array of customer-facing and field service business models, physical and digital experiences, and mobile applications, companies apply various OMS architectures to address the individual needs of each customer segment. The solution architecture serves as the framework and blueprint for the effort.
How Does Order Management System Architecture Work?
Order management system architecture uses the strength of its business partner to provide solutions with:
· Global infrastructure with multiple cloud solutions
· Access to content from mobile devices
· Mobile integration with enterprise systems
· Global cloud support
· Efficient performance with a robust IT infrastructure
· Business continuity
· Content management
· Rapid time-to-value
· Agile integration
· A flexible cloud-based solution
· Proven methods with a global support strategy
The Benefits of Order Management System Architecture
Order management system architecture combines cloud-based solutions with enterprise software to deliver a holistic cloud solution. The solution incorporates the cloud capabilities of the tier with the information flow of the engine and interaction capabilities of the application.
A cloud solution is a ready-made solution that can be configured and deployed at any size or scale to match your business requirements. With the ability to tailor the solution to support new business models, cloud solutions are a significant enabler to the software-defined business.
A cloud-based solution simplifies the effort to get started. Eliminating the need for a significant upfront investment in hardware, software, personnel, and physical assets is self-funding for your business.
Conclusion
In order management system architecture, the customer is king. Confronted by a digital economy, companies must take a holistic view of the customer by embracing the integration of the customer experience for a digital economy.
The systems that support the order management system must connect with customers, marketing strategies, supply chains, and logistics in this new digital economy. The demand for flexible, configurable solutions that optimize customer experience is growing rapidly.
The enterprise engine is the core foundation. It processes, enriches, manages, delivers, and dispatches data in motion. The business definition of the data describes the rules for the data flow and data processing. The application tier manages the user experience, enabling data to be displayed for analysis. The scalable database tier enables high speed analytics and reporting.
Order management system architecture brokers information. It links supply chain, logistics, and customer experience.
The digital marketplace offers a tremendous opportunity for businesses to compete and win based on speed and agility. The strategic imperatives of strategy, technology, operations, and people converge on a single point: order management system architecture.
Improving performance requires new thinking. The engine components of the order management system architecture, including data architecture, business intelligence, and analytics, come together in the enterprise engine. The engine supports the customer. The cloud is the model.
A business in the digital economy needs order management system architecture to control the flow of information. This includes the customer information that imbues everything with the voice of the customer. The enterprise engine in the cloud supports the customer, spawning a business that is unobstructed by technology.
Implementing an order management system architecture starts with mobile and cloud. The next step is the evolution of the order management system. The mobile solution guides the process. The partner offers machine learning, analytics, and artificial intelligence. The enterprise engine turns data into information that becomes knowledge. The solution becomes smarter through time, while knowledge maps customer experience. The order management system architecture supports businesses that control the flow of information.
Information is power. Information that flows automatically provides intelligence. The power to make informed decisions leads to business agility. Order management system architecture makes the business agile.
Business agility is the foundation of the software-defined business.
This concludes our discussion of the Order Management System Architecture.
Should you have designed a robust and sustainable OMS with your chosen Cloud Delivery Partner that meets your customer needs in the digital economy?
Then a stack review is what you need.
The process is simple and straightforward:
The full process for the stack review is described below:
· The customer fills out a detailed questionnaire on their current OMS
· Software, Hardware, Database and Network Requirements are reviewed.
· The customer answers questions along a list of use case scenarios their business faces.
· The Sales Engineer then provides a fully functional demonstration of the OMS. The Sales Engineer then asks further questions to validate if this solution is a good fit for the customer.
· The Sales Engineer then gathers all the necessary information to structure a proposal to the customer.
· The Sales Engineer then gets in touch with the selected partner(s).
· The selected partner attends a demo with the customer and in turn provides an offer for the Cloud Delivery Partner.
The customer can then check the feedback, the solution offer from the partner and decide if they would like to engage further.