March 2021 - Stridely Solutions

Marketing Automation – Why You Need It And Which Platforms the your Best Options?

Posted on March 30, 2021April 4, 2023 by stridely

Ask any business owner what is the most tedious yet crucial task and you will get effective marketing as an answer. Though it is essential to bring your business into the limelight, it is an uphill struggle that ask for life and blood.

However, marketing professionals or businesses that are using marketing automation are taking a breather while enjoying the best ROI from existing marketing campaigns. It is the talk of the town for good reason.

Also Read: Developing and Implementing Lead Scoring Solution For A Service-based Business

The adoption of marketing automation in a business ecosystem has shown positive and lucrative outcomes at every front. If you still have no idea what marketing automation is, this post is just for you.

Marketing Automation – The Game Changer

As the name suggests, marketing automation is the process of automating menial and repetitive tasks of the marketing domain. It is obtained via the implementation of assorted software, AI technologies, and custom-build tools.

For instance, using lead management software for marketing allows a team to set-free from the burden of lead sorting, continual follow-up, transferring the lead to the concerned department, and many others. All of these jobs will be done without asking for human intervention.

When implemented rightly, marketing automation tools will have a positive impact on businesses’ growth, revenue, and marketing presence. Have doubts? Pay attention to the below-mentioned statistics:

Marketing automation is the need of the hour and more and more businesses are adopting it. Recent research revealed that around 51% of companies adopted marketing automation by 2019.
Chatbots, an integral part of marketing automation, is going to take over 95% of customer service by the end of 2021.
Business owners have witnessed around a 77% spike in ROI and conversion rates after implementing marketing automation rightly.
75% of marketing professionals who have used marketing automation once have admitted that it is essential for success in the e-Commerce world.
A study by Invespcro has revealed that marketing automation can bring around a 14.5% spike in sales team productivity and a 12.2% dip in marketing-related expenses.
Presently, 75% of marketers are using at least one type of marketing automation tool.

After reading the above text, no confusion must be there in your mind regarding the viability of marketing automation in an ecosystem. If you are using it then congratulations as you have made the right choice.

If you haven’t adopted it then it’s high time that you should do it. You should get a cutting-edge marketing automation tool for your business. While you do so, keep all your sense awake and make the right choice as only a feature-rich and functional marketing automation tool is capable to reap all the benefits that we have stated.

Here are some things to keep in mind while picking up a marketing automation tool:

Pay attention to features

A Marketing Automation Software is only good if it has the right set of features. Features make or break any option. Features like lead management, email campaigns, reporting & analysis, alerts, team collaboration, social media marketing, and marketing tracking are some of the essential but not limited features of a marketing automation tool. There are many other advanced features as well. Choose as your business demands.

Learning curve

Do you know that 86% of marketing professionals prefer ‘ease of use’ tools for marketing automation?

There is no point in getting a complex marketing automation tool as your team won’t be able to use it properly. Your money will be wasted for sure. Make sure it comes with an easy learning curve and is easy to implement.

Try to pick the one that offers free off-site on-site training. It lets your team have a better understanding of its modus-operandi. A free live demo or trial for certain days is a cherry on the cake as it helps the business to find out the real-time viability of the chosen tool in its ecosystem.

Integration

Marketing automation is not the only tool that you must be using for your business. There must be CRM, HR, Invoice, and various other kinds of software as well. A tool that offers multiple integrations and can collaborate with other existing software is a blessing when streamlines are considered.

Cost Involved

This one is a brainer. No matter what, pick the one that falls into your budget. If you don’t have a budget, set one before making any decision.

Going for an option that offers multiple kinds of subscriptions s good as you can always upgrade without any hassles.

Mobile App

Mobile apps are boon for humankind. They have made our lives easier than ever and have increases productivity. With a marketing automation mobile app, you can work on the go. It will surely have a positive impact on the team’s productivity.

Even if you remain aware of all these deciding factors, making a wise choice would be a tough task. Don’t forget; there are thousands of options to compare. No business can afford to squander away crucial work hours on this task. This is why; we are suggesting your top three marketing automation options. Scroll down to know more about them.

The 3 Top Marketing Automation Platforms

D365 for Marketing – The Leader by All Mean

Offered by Microsoft, D365 or Dynamics 365 is a high-end and AI-driven integrated marketing management tool designed to bring effortlessness in marketing operation, planning, execution, and implementation of marketing strategies across all the operational areas. It is capable to do lead management across multiple campaigns and can increase the quality of the leads.

Finding out leads and nurturing them becomes easy as it can connect the sales and marketing departments over a single platform. Not only it keeps marketing jobs in place, but it also keeps you updated with the latest marketing trends.

It can be implemented on the cloud and on-premises which is a great thing. One more thing that has impressed us about Dynamic 365 is its ability to integrate effortlessly with Microsoft Power Platform, Office 365, and LinkedIn. It improves productivity at the multi-dimensional level.

It allows you to generate multiple dashboards for Sales, Goals, Marketing, Tool, and Collateral sections. The dashboard will show charts, graphs, and widgets that you want. This way, it gives an in-depth overview of your marketing operations.

The social media marketing feature is capable to capture leads from the online platforms and disperse them to the concerned department.

Their responsive customer care support ensures that none of your queries and questions goes unanswered.

Suitable For

Amazing integrations. The recently launched versions of Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics CRM are included.
Provided real-time marketing reports and do regular data analysis.

Against the tool

A little bit complex for first-time users.
Many users have experienced fewer features in mobile apps.

Mobile App – Yes; for iOS and Android platforms.

Costing– $1,500 per tenant, per month only for a marketing tool. If other Dynamics 365 apps are used, costing would be $750 per tenant, per month.

Salesforce – A Stellar Performer

Salesforce needs no introduction. It has already garnered a lot of praise and appreciation for its amazing products. Pardot is its AI-driven marketing automation tool. It is a very easy-to-use tool and comes with a clean interface.

Because of a wide range of email automation, lead management, and many features, it is going to streamline every front of marketing. It offers a dedicated Engagement Studio wherein you can create specific marketing campaigns.

As far as social media marketing is concerned, you can share your marketing posts in real-time directly to platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Suitable For

Amazing automation branching
Wide range of features
In-built email builder
A dedicated search marketing tool

Against the tool

No drag-and-drop facility

Mobile App – No

Costing – Basic plan starts with 1,250 per month.

HubSpot – A Pocket-friendly Choice To Make

If you’re looking for a high-performing marketing automation tool without spending too much, HubSpot Marketing is the best bet. With generous features and amazing integration, this marketing automation is winning hearts.

Small to medium and enterprise scale businesses that are looking to strengthen out the marketing core can pick this one. Its dynamic browser-based email editor and builder will empower your email marketing.

To be very honest, its email creation is the simplest out of all three and can generate basic emails in the blink of an eye.

One thing that makes it stand out of crowd is its ability to update contacts after each interaction. So, businesses don’t have to invest much time and effort to update the database.

Its online marketing tool is robust enough to fetch the demographic details by simply using the URL. When you are using it for Facebook, it allows you to create Facebook-specific lead generation campaigns. It will auto-capture the submissions and bring them to the HubSpot. This way, online marketing will become an effortless job.

Suitable For

Ample of options in social media management
In-built CRM integration
Supports VoIP

Against the tool

Poorly-performed SEO feature

Mobile App – Yes.

Costing – Beginner plan starts with $50 per month.

Wrapping Up

If you are not using marketing automation tools then you are missing a lot. This single tool has all the powers to leverage your team’s productivity, reduce marketing overheads, and churn out more results for efforts made.

While you are planning to introduce this tool into your system, make sure that you’re choosing one which is feature-rich, easy to use, cost-effective, and can blend easily into your system. If you could manage to pull off of this, handling the marketing activities will become a cakewalk for your business venture.

To get expert help during the integration of marketing automation capability in your system, you may rely on Stridely Solutions. Our team is capable, experienced and reliable. With years of experience, we can consult you for perfectly deploying this new efficiency for your business and make it work in your favor. Contact today.

Your Modern Data warehouse for Elevated Needs – Know about SAP BW/4HANA

Posted on March 24, 2021April 4, 2023 by stridely

Diligent considerations and planning is required while establishing modern data. Practical methods are there to acquire an integrated and advanced data warehouse. However, there are less transparent notions regarding – which implementation will be a precise fit for your company. SAP BW/4HANA is one great choice in this scenario.

Today, in this article, you will get a detailed overview of the probable paths to take and some major aspects to keep into account while mapping out the migration roadmap of modern data warehouse SAP BW/4HANA.

About this Warehousing Aid – What is SAP BW/4HANA?

It is a full-featured data warehouse for SAP HANA. It is one significant data warehouse layers of SAP’s business technology policies for on-premise deployments. The solution permits you to synthesize data throughout the organization to achieve an agreed-upon vision over consistent data.

Source: SAP

Why do you must consider SAP BW/4HANA?

It upgrades itself over the outdated BW versions and provides significant amenities in functional sectors, such as agility, IT strategy, and productivity.

Also Read: SAP DWC: The Future of Data Warehousing

Along with that, all the crucial versions before SAP BW 7.5 will be going out of maintenance by the end of 2020 and can’t be supported again. The customers of SAP BW 7.5 will get their service by the end of 2024. However, they must also shift to this warehousing solution as soon as possible to avail of better services.

Leading paths to SAP BW/4HANA

The greenfield approach

You must not select moving your existing data with a relevant ‘greenfield approach’. Therefore, you should opt for establishing a top-notch SAP BW/4HANA system from the start. It will be a fruitful option if anyone wants to revise your recent reporting procedures entirely. That is why an essential greenfield approach will make sense if you are recently incorporating an SAP BW/4HANA greenfield, which you want to take advantage of this full-featured data warehouse for SAP HANA too.

Benefits

Simple-to-use and hassle-free data models
If you opt for a phased approach, reducing risks of data missing
Migration of only one domain at a time
Capability to support efficient business content from SuccessFactors, SAP BW/4HANA, and many others

Major challenges

Takes significant time for application
Needs additional maintenance if you choose to preserve the new system
If you are contemplating the reporting procedures again, it might be more exorbitant when you select two systems to operate simultaneously

System conversion

Another probability would be a partial or entire system conversion. Here users will migrate their existing and outdated system to SAP BW/4HANA. Three routes can be considered here with such premium options. Therefore, all of them needs some seamless technical preparation upfront:

In-place conversion

In-Place conversion starts with SAP BW Powered by SAP HANA. SAP BW system should be running on BW 7.5 on HANA support package 5 or on higher version.

If BW system is not running on HANA or on a lower release version or support package and decided to do in-place conversion, then as a prerequisite step for in-place conversion, migration to SAP HANA database and release or support package upgrade is required.

First step of In-Place conversion is to install SAP BW/4HANA Starter Add-on and as a second step, you need to implement SAP BW/4HANA Transfer Cockpit on your machine. Once you install it enables several modes in SAP BW system, which define the road to SAP BW/4HANA:

For the smooth transition of your SAP BW system from one mode to another, SAP has provided pre-check program that scans the entire system for incompatibilities.

The Scope Transfer Tool is based on a task list that lets you select objects and get them automatically converted to HANA-optimized counter parts. The process keeps the object names intact (as far as possible) and brings all data along (*).

Code Scan Tool, available in the SAP BW/4HANA Transfer Cockpit helps to find out obsoleted objects such as infocube, datastore objects etc. referenced in any of the custom code.

Once your system is fully HANA-optimized and custom developments are adjusted, the system can be switched to B4H mode and one can remain in this mode until cut over day to SAP BW/4HANA.

Switch to “Ready for Conversion” mode immediately followed by the technical system conversion to SAP BW/4HANA.

System is ready for SAP BW/4HANA after performing some post upgrade activity.

Remote conversions

In discover phase, once decided for remote conversion, it`s time to install and setup brand new SAP BW/4HANA system and run old SAP BW and SAP BW/4HANA system parellally. Prerequisite is to have SAP BW system on 7.3 or higher version

Remote conversion will help us to built a clean system by importing only required data models. With the help of Transfer Toolbox. System will automatically convert old BW objects to BW/4HANA (I.e. DSO and Infocube to ADSO, MultiProvider to Composite Provider) supported objects on the fly at the time of transferring them to new system.

In a subsequent step, SAP BW/4HANA Conversion Cockpit will be used to bring the data over from SAP BW and convert the request management (from Request IDs to Request Transaction Sequence Numbers). If existing BW system is not on HANA it is also recommended to HANA-optimize your ABAP code at this time.

Once the transfer of all required objects, developments, and configuration, looks good it`s time to switch to new system. This is a low risk approach as it runs in parallel with your existing SAP BW system, which remains unchanged.

Shell conversion

Shell conversion is similar to Remote conversion approach where you can only bring data models and flows to the new system. This approach is for the customers who like the Remote Conversion approach but want more flexibility when it comes to the data that should go into the new SAP BW/4HANA system.

This is where a Shell Conversion approach is useful where you can bring data models and flows like a Remote Conversion. However, neither master nor transaction data are transferred to the new system. This gives you the following options:

Re-load as much data as from your source systems,

Load data from existing SAP BW system, or

Simply ignore historical data and start from the scratch.

The Shell Conversion is already in general availability and works for SAP BW 7.0 or higher version.

Transformation of landscape

The last pathway is to develop more intricate data warehousing landscapes causes single and global SAP BW/4HANA system. SAP’s Landscape transformation team can profoundly help with a customer-oriented moving project across well-defined methodology and re-utilizing optimum tools.

One reason for landscape transformation could be that you are operating copious legacy or SAP BW systems that you think of consolidating on the potent SAP HANA platform. Another reason could be working out with the chosen data flows for the SAP BW/4HANA system.

Establishing an SAP BW/4HANA roadmap: What do you need to do?

Create your business case

Properly documenting the data will benefit your company in order to persuade the decision-makers that it is the correct course of action. Never forget to incorporate a budget estimate also.

Amass architectural advice

During the establishment of an SAP BW/4HANA atmosphere, it is significant to figure out its prospective impacts on your previous architecture upfront, such as cloud or on premise, SAP or non-SAP.

Evaluate your recent landscape

It includes what you are converting, what you are preserving, and what you want to eliminate altogether? Are there any essential requirements that are not being fulfilled recently which need different solutions?

Opt for an appropriate transition path

Relying on your requirements and subsisting IT landscape, an amalgamation of a multitude of scenarios can be granted. Opting for the correct path is not that much easier. Fortunately, Stridely Solutions possess abundant years of experience in migrating projects and can thoroughly assist you throughout the process.

Frame an implementation plan

Are you thinking of working in innumerable waves or handling the project in one plunge? Have you sustained your previous atmosphere operating parallelly with your new SAP BW/4HANA systems? If yes, then how long? When you have robust answers to these questions, you are ready for grand inception!

How to get it Deployed?

Have you made up your mind to transform the existing landscape through SAP BW/4HANA? Do you want to know the leading methods of the data warehousing journey?

We, at Stridely Solutions, will be happier to assist you. With our significant years of expertise, we can provide custom-fit solutions to organizations and industries throughout the world. Establish your personal roadmap with our veteran, SAP BW/4HANA professionals.

Do you like this article? Do not forget to like, share, and subscribe! If you have any question regarding SAP, kindly let us know, we will be happy to solve your queries.

Monitor your PLC-SCADA System through Modern Cloud

Posted on March 15, 2021April 4, 2023 by stridely

Your enterprise might be using PLC-SCADA systems in its manufacturing units to keep a track of business operations for a long as of now. It indeed is an amazing remote monitoring and control tool when real-time supervision and data acquisition is concerned.

If you are willing to connect your SCADA systems to the modern cloud, such as Microsoft Azure IoT Core, then it is a wise decision for sure. Read this article to find out how you can do that.

A Quick Introduction to PLC-SCADA

SCADA (Supervisory control and data acquisition) relies on PLCs (Programmable Logic controllers) for storing, compiling and delivering the information. As this software can easily integrate with all kinds of product equipment, businesses in various industries prefer to use it.

SCADA systems are preferred in the oil & gas industry, power & energy sector, chemicals businesses, automotive ventures and Food & beverages manufacturing units.

Why is it essential for Industrial Data Collection?

Manually filling all the data for your manufacturing operations handled by machines requires a lot of time, and more than that, faster processing. This means, your enterprise will have to employ a larger number of people for this purpose. Even after that, the collaboration and data collection won’t be flawless.

SCADA, on the other hand, has the ability to automatically compile such information and deliver it to the desired storage/processing unit. This information can be sent in real-time and is accurate.

Collecting the data from the manufacturing unit is crucial in order to detect problems, inventory status, and other such things. With such information in hand, experts can forecast and prevent the issues easily.

Why Monitor Your PLC-SCADA system through Modern Cloud?

In general, businesses used to gather the fetched and processed data to their local on-premise SQL databases. However, the cost of physically and digitally securing such data was quite high. Enterprise Data mobility and access for such arrangements are limited too.

With the SCADA system’s monitoring through a Modern Cloud, manufacturers can share the fetched data across multiple locations for their enterprise faster. Storing data in such a way also renders all the benefits of using cloud storage in general.

Experts at Stridely can help you connect your SCADA system to Modern Cloud. Here, we will take the example of Microsoft Azure to demonstrate how this deployment can be done.

Also Read: Enable your Legacy Device to Modern IoT Cloud through TCP Connection

Connecting your SCADA System to Azure

Selecting Hardware and Assuring Compatibility

Your industrial PLC or SCADA system first needed to be accessed for its compatibility with the implementation you are going to do.

Luckily, MQTT, Modbus or OPC UA protocols can be used for a wide variety of PLCs that are generally used by manufacturers, while working to connect it with Microsoft’s cloud (like, in our case). Even if you cannot connect using these, there are a few third-party connectivity tools for this purpose.

Next, you need an industrial gateway. You may choose it from the Microsoft Azure Device Catalog.

After these two, you must also figure out a secured controller, 8-port manage switch, external power supply aid, breaker and IO module to move ahead and enable monitoring of the PLC-SCADA system through Microsoft Azure.

Please note that the process and hardware choices will differ as per your industrial PLC setup and choice of the cloud solution.

The Networking Part

It majorly depends upon the gateway you have selected. For example, you might use Ethernet ports or LTE connection.

To strengthen the security of your deployment, you must use the network switch and place the industrial PLC in a different subnet than the network connected to Microsoft Azure cloud.

Connecting the Industrial PLC to Azure

The open-source software solutions by Microsoft, such as Azure IoT Edge, can be used at this step. It uses Windows/Linux OS as the human-machine interface (HMI). You may choose the OS that you and your employees are habitual of using.

For older versions of Linux, you might need to compile the IoT Edge source code with OS scripts. However, the same won’t be needed for newer versions.

To connect your chosen protocol (e.g. Modbus), you can find out the right IoT Edge module in the IoT Edge Marketplace.

Once you have all the prerequisites, do the following:

Install IoT Edge
Add the Azure IoT Hub for the PLC-to-cloud communication
Connect your SCADA-PLC system to the IoT Edge using the chosen protocol
Configure the SCADA with Azure IoT Hub by registering port and defining publish intervals, registers, frequency of polling and so on)

Making the final Security Arrangements

You must add device-level, network-level as well as Azure-level security in order to keep your industrial data safe.

For the device-level security, make sure that no one on your premises access the system with ill intentions. Also, assure that the data being fed to the SCADA is not being distorted.

For the network-level security, there are TLS and supports X.509 certificates that your control network might use. You should also follow the security standards to make the needed arrangements for the secured data transfer. Using IP filtering, VPNs and other such network security deployments can further improve your data’s security.

As far as the Azure-level security is concerned, you need not worry about it. Microsoft Azure is considered the complex-most and compliance-adhered industrial choice that covers over 70 compliances. Its cloud security standards are just perfect for your PLC-SADA to Cloud data acquisition process in real-time.

Besides these security-related measures, you must also be careful while choosing the hardware devices and deploy legit identity management constraints for the same.

The Final Word

Monitoring your PLC-SCADA system through Modern Cloud is an advantageous move. However, the process is complex and requires making optimal choices. Even after choosing the hardware, implementation of the connectivity and deployment of security is not tough either. A little mistake might cause damage to your precious industrial data.

Therefore, always consider consulting the experts and hiring the Azure or Modern Cloud experts so that the procedure remains smooth.

Enable your Legacy device to Modern IoT Cloud through TCP Connection

Posted on March 2, 2021December 29, 2022 by stridely

The usage of IoT devices is increasing in many verticals, and at the same time, it is entering newer verticals at a good pace too. In the last few years, the number of IoT devices has been multiplied by manifolds.

Organizations of all kinds are looking for opportunities to use IoT in their business processes. After all, it could improve their operations, automate tasks better, increase revenue and get faster access to real-time data.

But there is a problem!

Most of the enterprises are using legacy systems, old networks for communication, and outdated devices.

Considering the modern standards of security and networking, such aids cannot be used directly with the IoT infrastructure. Also, you cannot suddenly replace all your devices and migrate all existing data for the sake of digitizing the business as per the most recent technology standards. Even if (though very impractical) you did so, you will have to repeat it very frequently.

The Solution – Data Ingestion and Modern IoT Cloud

There is a lot of data and operations that rely on your legacy systems, so enterprises can set up data ingestion tools, such as Edgeline.

Or, just like Automation that used IoT cloud & OneEdge to fix the HTTP disconnection problem for its legacy devices and people on the field, you may do the same.

Data ingestion provides organizations with a medium/framework to upload, import, gather, process, send and integrate their data, spread across multiple devices/systems. They are capable of working with (and fetch data through) a rich range of legacy protocols & interconnects. With these tools, you can ingest a wide variety of industrial data.

Once ingested and kept in the modern IoT cloud, your enterprise data can be handled without hassles. You will be able to use it with IoT devices (e.g., sensors), modern streaming platforms (e.g., Kafka), and protocols (e.g., TCP/IP).

In short, your legacy system architecture’s data will be extended using a pipeline and cloud storage in order to make your business’s communication with the rest of world smoothly.

Modern IoT Cloud, such as AWS IoT Core can be used for this purpose. You may also use IoT platforms that let modern and legacy protocol sensors connect securely.

How Modern IoT Cloud improves security?

Your enterprise may have hundreds of legacy systems, sending data to your Ingestion tool. Now, for modern networks, this ingestion tool acts as a gateway. Those networks don’t consider that the data is coming from diverse sources but one source.

An ingestion tool can be integrated with or feed the data to a modern & secured system for further usage. As an IoT Cloud is secure and has a good potential to handle multiple interactions, it naturally becomes a good choice for legacy devices.

This architecture lets a good range of devices and cloud services use the fetched data with modern protocols for efficient and faster communication.

If you are looking for a very flexible and cost-effective system IoT architecture, Microsoft Azure will be a good choice.

Why TCP Connection for modern IoT Cloud & Legacy Devices?

As the device-to-cloud communication happens over the transport layer, enterprises might either use TCP or UDP.

TCP is indeed a better choice here because the protocol allows connection-oriented transmission of data. It implies that each successfully-sent data packet will be acknowledged. This will prevent your packets from getting lost.

While you may think that the overhead of using the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is very high for IoT applications in this case, but for legacy systems, streaming the data through reliable mediums is always preferred.

At the application layer, HTTP will be our pick between the 2 protocol bridges (TCP Bridge and MQTT Bridge) the modern IoT clouds generally utilize. The MQTT Bridge requires device connection while HTTP works using a connectionless communication method (request/response). Besides that, an HTTP Bridge utilizes a half-duplex TCP connection and is light-weighted.

The Process to Enable Legacy Device to Modern IoT Cloud through TCP

There is AWS IoT and a few other modern clouds that you might choose for your enterprise.

To enable your legacy device to modern IoT cloud, you will have to do 2 things:

Data Inquisition (as explained above)

As we know the legacy systems and devices might have incompatibility as a security issue, an enterprise must use a gateway, edge server, or data inquisition tool to gather and process the device data. The fetched data can be further used with the IoT Cloud.

Connecting your Data Inquisition Gateway to the IoT Cloud

There are multiple libraries (C, Python, JavaScript, etc.) to choose from, as provided by the IoT Device SDK of your chosen IoT Cloud service. We will be using the JSON format.

Now that we have to explain the steps, let’s consider AWS as your IoT Cloud service provider here. For other IoT clouds, the process will vary a bit. Here are the steps to connect legacy devices to IoT Cloud over TCP:

Get the AWS CLI installed. Keep the default location as ‘us-east-1’. Create a user and its credentials and configure it properly. After receiving the Access ID and Key, use this command:

AWS configure

To get permission to download the IoT tools, you will need certifications. For that, follow these steps:

Create a folder in order to keep your certifications using the ‘mkdir’ command.
Now, enter this folder using the command ‘cd’ and generate a private key using these lines:

openssl genrsa -out privateKey.pem 2048

openssl req -new -key privateKey.pem -out cert.csr

Go to the certOutput.txt file and check the value of Certificate ID. Copy the ID from here.
Thereafter, run these lines (replace cert_ID with the copied text here):

aws iot –endpoint-url https://i.us-east-1.pb.iot.amazonaws.com describe-certificate –certificate-id <cert_ ID> –output text –query certificateDescription.certificatePem > cert.pem

Create a policy document using the ‘vi policy.doc’ command and insert this text:

“Version”: “2021-02-21”,

“Statement”: [{

“Effect”: “Allow”,

“Action”:[“iot:*”],

“Resource”: [“*”]

}]

}

Save and quit the document by using the ‘:wq’ command.

Run this command:

aws iot –endpoint-url https://i.us-east-1.pb.iot.amazonaws.com create-policy –policy-name PubSubToAnyTopic –policy-document file://policy.doc

Go to the outputCert.txt and copy the value of certificateArn field. Use the below command while replacing this value in <pri_arn> field:

aws iot –endpoint-url https://i.us-east-1.pb.iot.amazonaws.com attach-principal-policy –principal-arn <pri_arn> –policy-name “PubSubToAnyTopic”

Install the needed SDK for the IoT Cloud on the client or your legacy device data/inquisition tool.
Finally, to create the device-side application, you will have to:

Add a module to the client code in the IoT Cloud.
Instantiate this code using the private key & certification you created in the initial steps.
Start a connection. Use TCP to publish it to the IoT cloud and for subscribing.
Determine a callback mechanism to fetch back the data.
Define the messages as needed by your application.

The Final Word

While you might need to enable your legacy device with the Modern IoT Cloud using the TCP connection, there are possibilities that you will hesitate or get stuck when following the procedure because it is not very straight-forward. If you are unsure about handling secure IoT enablement process for your enterprise, hire experts from Stridely Solutions to do it fast, securely and smoothly.

Ariba Guided Buying – What is it and how businesses can use it for their benefit?

Posted on March 2, 2021February 8, 2023 by stridely

Organizations trust SAP Ariba to make their procurement, financial supply chain management, and fulfillment processes well-streamlined. From enterprises to mid-sized businesses and expanding ventures – all kinds of companies use it, and rightly so. This system is optimal for all types of products and services. Be it spending (buying), sourcing, payment, or contracts, SAP Ariba is a productivity-booster for all your business operations.

Now that you want to deploy guide buying for your organization, SAP Ariba can make the process simpler and smoother. In this article, we are going to tell you what does Guided Buying mean, how will it be advantageous for your business, and how it works.

What is Guided Buying?

It is a persona-based purchase-related application that requires no or very little involvement of procurement departments in the buying process. Capturing the purchase policies, this process educates and guides your personnel to make purchases that adhere to those policies.

Guided Buying makes your procurement interface more intuitive. It will prevent any kind of wrong decisions, helping you send procurement requests that do not violate the organization’s buying policies. Not just buying, you can also take its help while sending other requests, such as, non-catalog requests, service requests, sourcing requests, contracting, and so on.

Benefits of Guided Buying

Guided Buying is an in-built capability of SAP Ariba that you can leverage using SAP Ariba buying without spending any extra money. From the amount spend target to types of items, you may enforce policies for everything related to Buying with Guided Buying feature. Benefits of using this capability are:

Improved Productivity and improve Employee Performance
Generally, businesses put their most skilled procurement specialists for making the buying decisions. However, this process can be automated and handled much easier when you make a shift to Guided Buying.
Using simple search fields and landing pages, customized as per specific needs, SAP Ariba Guided Buying can make the whole process hassle-free. It enables a user-friendly interface for procurement of goods and services that is aligned automatically to the company’s buying and spending compliances.
With SAP Ariba, even the occasional buyers can pull off the buying operation well. Using this reliable tool, you can free up your most useful resources for other essential tasks and improve your productivity.
Improved Decision-making
Guided Buying lets each persona (in the process) enter data as authenticated so that clerical errors could be avoided. Businesses can add definitions of forms, details related to the field level system behaviour, persona configurations and user permissions while using SAP Ariba. With this much flexibility, you can streamline the processes better.
As SAP Ariba Guided Buying lets you apply rules from policies directly for the processes, you won’t be making mistakes while sending procurement requests. It helps you take better decisions and avoid flaws or mistakes that might happen due to human intervention or complicated policies.
Centralized Process for reduced incurring
You can centralize all your requisitioning processes through SAP Ariba Guided Buying. This way, the cost of ownership for your ownership could be reduced, and the incurring for the procurement department(s) will become lower too. As everything related to purchases is centralized, the related data and operations will become more manageable for your employees.

Functionality of Guided Buying

Organizations can allow their users to initiate Guided Buying through their company’s intranet e.g. in the employee portal, using SAP Fiori tile, or optionally, by integrating it with SAP S/4 HANA. You can fetch real-time master data through SAP Ariba Guided Buying. It means that details like business units, supplier details, commodity code, shipping address, etc.

The key capabilities of Guided Buying are as enlisted:

Use the same search box for searching through catalogs, forms, items, services, and partial items.
Let your employees plan and do sourcing well.
Guide employees throughout the procurement process through policy rules, errors, and warnings.
Fetch and submit real-time master data to and from SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Simulate demand, purchases, and requests
Create purchase orders, receipts, and invoices in a connected satellite system
Check budget and other major details without needing to read bulky policy manual.
Replicate approved demands and add them to SAP S/4 HANA as purchase demands to save time.
Replicate the confirmed purchase demands in the connected satellite system

Thinking how to do it?

Here is how to enable your organization for Guided Buying through SAP Ariba:

First of all, make a list of people in the organization that make purchases. Allot them user personas.
Make a list of all kinds of spends that may happen i.e. categorize your purchases as per item names and service names. Each purchasing unit has its landing page and can be accessed by authorized users once they log in. You may create landing pages for efficient searching through user interface itself, using JSON or through excel sheets.
For each type of spend, identify which supplier(s) will be suitable.
Define your policies to complete the process. You may create data validation policies, supplier selecting policies, checkout selection generation policies and supplier & touch policies. The policies data can also be imported to SAP Ariba Guided Buying through excel sheet(s).

Once configured, your internal procedures will be governed using these policies. Enterprises can add errors and warnings for violation of any policy so that high-value and high-quality procurement could be carried out.

The Final Word

Guided Buying in SAP Ariba helps ventures by streamlining the procurement process, making it automated and error-free. It is a smarter solution that can provide your employees with a single gateway for the completion of all types of procurement requests.

Through SAP Ariba Guided Buying, you can fully-automate low-value requests in bulk, while increasing your chances when it comes to high-value requests. So, if you want to tactically spend but reduce the manual efforts in the process, consider Ariba Guided Buying. Take help of Stridely Solutions for its successful deployment and improve your team’s productivity.