For a number of years now, the IT world has been very enthusiastic about the cloud. The cloud has already been heavily implemented in consumer markets with a high number of easy to use applications that improve the day to day lives of millions. It also offers a number of obvious benefits for the world of business: flexibility, security, capacity, costs, etc.

As far as the feed industry is concerned, a number of distinct characteristics set it aside from other industries and businesses. 

The feed industry is characterised by a high level of internationalization (departments work on projects with colleagues from all over the world), new markets are being developed quickly, there’s a constant strain on raw material prices and an ongoingdemand for improved customer service.

How can feed milling and trading organizations use technology to face the industry's challenges and improve their business? What are the advantages and why should you consider shifting some of your solutions to the cloud?

Think global - act local

Using cloud-based solutions to support your business enables your organization to provide employees with up to date information. Feed advisors no longer have to update their ingredient matrix during their weekly visit to the office. Whether an employee is working in the central office, a subsidiary abroad or visiting a customer on-site, they all have access to the same centralized database. The solution makes sure the correct information is available to authorized users. Having instant access to correct data allows improved decision-making on every level of the organization.

The only threshold for having access to a single source of truth is the reliability of the internet connection. Many major IT companies, such as our partner Microsoft, realize the enormous potential in providing a stable and performant internet connection to even the most remote areas. Worldwide access to the internet is no longer science fiction and will allow feed businesses to offer accurate nutritional information about feed and rations to farmers in remote locations.

This global connectivity allows an optimal collaboration and enables feed organizations toimprove their customer service.

Lower costs - higher flexibility

Cloud solutions not only provide employees with easier access to essential information and the opportunity to provide a better customer service. Other important reasons to consider the cloud are the added flexibility and lower costs.

Thanks to the nature of a solution in the cloud, pricing is flexible and scalability is never an issue. You only pay for the number of users you need. When the time comes to add additional users to your solution you don't have to worry about upgrading hardware.

With cloud solutions there’s no need for maintaining your own technology infrastructure(along with software costs, licensing fees, …) to keep your software up and running. You also no longer need to worry about protecting your IP from malware, viruses and trojan horses.All data is securely stored in the cloud by your supplier. Having a centralized cloud solution and database also eliminates the need of maintaining the software on each individuals' laptop.

By being scalable and taking infrastructure tasks out of the hands of feed organizations, cloud solutions allow you to focus on enhancing your core activities and increase your agility when pursuing new business.

Updates

On top of being cheaper and more scalable, cloud solutions are also easier to keep up to date. Because of the constant connection to the cloud and because there are no compatibility issues with the infrastructure of each user, your supplier can easily offer patches and upgrades to make sure you are working with the latest version. The cost of these upgrades are usually included in the monthly or annual fee.

Because it’s easier to offer and roll out updates they are also more frequent and users get access to new functionality much quicker. This means new models and legislation are added to the cloud software as soon as the development process is finished.

In the quickly evolving feed industry the automatic, quick and easy installation of upgrades can provide you with a competitive advantage.

Streamline processes

By providing users around the globe with the same synchronised data you can easily align your business activities and processes. Using a centralized solution to access your IP allowsbetter collaboration between the different business units. Many cloud solutions also allow their users to build their own apps to access the information available through the cloud solution. With the help of your supplier or third party developer, you can personalize the information flow coming from your cloud solution. This way you can modify the information output to better fit your current workflow.

In conclusion

A cloud solution allows you to get more work done, more efficiently. It enables you to grow your business whilst giving a higher quality service in a more efficient organization.