The futurist CFO’s guide to business model innovation with Dynamics 365  

Organizations across industries are disrupting their markets with digital, subscription, project, and service-based business models. This trend began in IT and has now spread to other sectors. By leveraging data, companies are transforming customer experiences and blurring industry lines.

Service-based models allow companies to create renewable, predictable revenue streams through subscriptions, project-based services, and fixed-fee models. These models foster long-term customer relationships by engaging them in new ways.

Traditional ERP systems, however, often hinder this transformation due to a lack of business visibility and manual processes. To adapt, businesses need modern ERP solutions that integrate financial management, sales, project management, resourcing, and people management. These solutions must unify financial, operational, and organizational data to unlock insights and drive success in a service-centric environment.

Research indicates that 50% of CIOs in the United Kingdom are seeking enhanced ERP solutions with AI, machine learning, automation, and business intelligence capabilities. Additionally, CIOs believe ERPs equipped with deep learning and predictive analytics can provide a competitive edge. In a survey, 43% of market leaders expressed the need for new and improved technologies in their ERP systems to facilitate faster operations and upgrades.

Adopting Disruptive Business Models is the key to survival

Disruptive business models are innovative strategies that significantly alter traditional business methods. These models often leverage new technologies or methods to substantially impact the market, and they help displace established competitors.

Key characteristics of disruptive business models include:

• Innovation: Introducing new products, services, or processes that better meet customer needs.

• Accessibility: Making products or services more accessible or affordable to a broader audience.

• Efficiency: Streamlining operations to reduce costs and improve customer experience.

• Scalability: Utilizing technology to scale operations and reach a larger market quickly.

Common types of disruptive business models

The list of disruptive business models is exhaustive, but some of the common types dominating the business world include:

• Subscription models: Offering products or services through subscriptions to generate recurring revenue.

• Marketplace models: Connecting buyers and sellers on a centralized platform, extending reach through social media and virtual worlds.

• Experience models: Providing tailored, unique digital experiences to retain customers.

• Sharing models: Utilizing crowdsourcing and the gig economy to provide goods and services.

• Connectivity models: Using AI and machine learning to enhance product and service delivery.

These models require operational and organizational changes, linking financial indicators to underlying metrics and integrating data to drive value and improvements.

Business Operations Experience: Five strategies to optimize financial and operating models

To thrive in a service-based world, businesses must optimize their financial and operating models.

This can be done through Business Operations Experience, creating a foundation for better customer outcomes. It’s a strategy that maps how an organization delivers value to its customers, including how the value is captured (financial models), the way the business is run (operational processes), and how people work (organizational structures).

The Business Operations Experience outlines five strategies to achieve this:

1. Create a change catalyst: Connect financial, operational, and organizational leadership with timely insights. This drives continuous digital transformation.
2. Activate customer insights: Use a comprehensive understanding of customers to create personalized experiences. A real-time customer data platform (CDP) captures essential data to optimize business operations.
3. Innovate financial models: Adopt subscription and service-based models, monetize data, and use robotic process automation to scale and reshape business operations.
4. Transform operational processes: Shift from single transactions to growing customer lifetime value through seamless processes.
5. Align organizational structures: Adjust people and financial resources to meet changing needs, create new roles, and define required skills.

Let’s explore each of these strategies in detail:

Strategy 1: Create a change catalyst

Building an adaptive organization involves creating a blueprint for continuous optimization. Steps include:

• Assigning a digital transformation leader and forming a cross-functional team.

• Establishing a business rhythm with updates on market, customer, financial, and operational insights.

• Incorporating financial model research into planning cycles.

• Mapping out the Business Operations Experience (BX), detailing processes, channels, partners, and metrics.

• Designing scalable organizational structures.

• Strategizing where to pivot and accelerate business models.

Operations and HR leaders play crucial roles in optimizing resources, developing skills, and defining new roles to support subscription and project-centric models.

Strategy 2: Activate customer insights

Digital, seamless, and tailored customer experiences are crucial for growth. Effective digital experiences, as highlighted by Forrester, lead to better performance and preparedness for future growth.

A real-time CDP captures and analyzes vast amounts of data to create a 360-degree view of customers. Steps to leverage a CDP include:

• Creating a comprehensive customer view by integrating data from multiple sources.

• Enriching customer profiles with unique signals from first and third-party data.

• Using AI-driven insights to predict customer behavior and optimize business operations.

• Implementing secure CDP practices to build and maintain customer trust.

Strategy 3: Innovate financial models

Finance-first innovation is key to capturing value and fueling growth. To enable this, businesses should maximize financial visibility and profitability by:

• Cultivating a culture of change within the finance team.

• Adopting financial models that support continuous improvement and innovation.

Optimize faster with Microsoft Dynamics 365

Microsoft Dynamics 365 enables businesses to modernize and streamline their operations. This comprehensive cloud ERP suite integrates financial management, sales, project management, and other essential functions to create a unified platform. Dynamics 365 helps organizations automate processes, enhance visibility, and leverage AI-driven insights for better decision-making.

By implementing Dynamics 365 (one of the best ERP software), companies can:

• Enhance operational efficiency: Automate routine tasks, reduce manual errors and improve productivity.

• Gain real-time insights: Access up-to-date data and analytics to make informed decisions and drive business performance.

• Improve customer experiences: Provide personalized, seamless experiences across all customer touchpoints.

Integrating Dynamics 365 into your organization’s strategy can accelerate the transition to modern business models and ensure long-term success in a competitive market.

Take the next steps toward your future with Confiz

Through these strategies, CFOs can drive their organizations toward success in the evolving business landscape. Implementing the right tools and approaches, such as Microsoft Dynamics 365, will enable your business to adapt to new models, enhance customer experiences, and achieve sustainable growth.

Looking for an ERP implementation partner? Confiz can help. As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, our team of 150+ certified Dynamics 365 consultants has a proven track record of successful Microsoft ERP implementations. Start your digital transformation journey with us. Contact us at marketing@confiz.com for more information.