The business landscape constantly evolves, urging businesses to innovate to survive. Even Fortune 500 companies indicated that accepting change will be required to stay relevant, whether in technology or process. Thus, companies across all sectors are embracing initiatives to stay competitive, from cybersecurity solutions, artificial intelligence, to automated customer support.
Zero Trust – Redefining security for businesses
As more enterprises move their operations to the cloud, more than traditional network perimeter security is needed. In the face of imminent security threats, Zero Trust is a strategy for businesses to enhance their security posture. Zero Trust is a security model based on maintaining strict access controls and not trusting anyone by default, even those already inside the network perimeter. Founded on the principle of “never trust, always verify" in 2010, the Zero Trust model allows organizations to eliminate direct access to networks and resources, establish limited access controls, and gain visibility into user actions and traffic.
Zero Trust is not a necessity but a must for businesses.
In 2024, one of the key trends in zero trust security is the widespread adoption of remote browser isolation (RBI). RBI technology separates the web browsing activity from the user's device and the company's network and runs it instead in a remote environment. Hence, any harmful content during browsing is restricted within this isolated environment and cannot affect the user's device or the company's network. Embracing RBI would be a proactive measure to reduce the risk of attacks, especially for businesses with a large remote workforce.
Zero emissions vehicles – Driving towards a sustainable future
In 2022, global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from cars and vans grew roughly 1.4 percent year-on-year to 3.53 billion metric tons (GtCO₂). Realizing the large amount of exhaust from cars and vans, governments around the world have adopted electric vehicles (EVs) to promote sustainability. Europe was one of the pioneers in this movement, where EV adoption reached 8% due to policy mandates such as stricter emissions targets for OEMs and generous consumer subsidies. According to PwC, BEV (battery electric vehicle) sales in the top 5 European markets grew by 1.6% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to last year.
Countries are transitioning to EVs to promote sustainability.
Electric vehicles continue to gain traction and can be the norm for automobile manufacturing in other regions. Specifically, the UK introduced a zero-emission mandate in January 2024, setting a goal for all new cars and vans to be zero-emission by 2035. For Asian countries, China is the prime example of promoting EVs. In Shanghai, plates for EVs are free, while plates for conventional vehicles cost more than 12,000 USD. In Hainan, public vehicles would run on clean energy by 2025, and fossil fuel cars would be banned in the province in 2030.
Zero waste manufacturing – Achieving Net Zero with SAP
Every year, 9.2 billion tonnes of industrial waste from manufacturing processes are generated worldwide, often a by-product with no further use. Thus, various digital solutions have emerged to mitigate the impact of this waste and promote sustainability among manufacturing enterprises. SAP - an enterprise resource planning system - actively embraces sustainable business practices, such as reducing carbon emissions, optimizing energy consumption, and promoting ethical supply chain management.
With an aspiration to create a world with zero emissions, zero waste, and zero inequality, SAP came up with Net Zero plans to implement through a comprehensive and integrated approach that involves all functions in the company. The SAP net zero by 2030 initiative includes:
- Accelerating the transformation of on-premise customers to the cloud through market-leading RISE with SAP and GROW with SAP.
- Reducing emissions by improving energy efficiency with sustainable programming and a cloud carbon footprint calculator for all SAP cloud solutions.
- Adding sustainability features and functions into SAP S/4HANA, SAP Ariba, and SAP SuccessFactors.
- Providing best practices for measuring, managing, and reducing emissions through the SAP portfolio of dedicated sustainability solutions, including SAP Sustainability Footprint Management, SAP Sustainability Data Exchange, SAP Sustainability Control Tower, and more.
Discover the leading SAP trends in 2024 in our latest article: Top 4 SAP Trends in 2024: Smarter Solutions, Sustainability, and Skills.
Zero Touch – Leveraging the joint power of AI and Automation
Customer experience (CX) is highly critical in any industry. To further satisfy customers, businesses must resolve their concerns quickly. Indeed, 90% of customers rate an immediate response as essential when they have a customer service question. Thus, zero-touch is a strategy that utilizes remote devices to automate tasks without human intervention.
The most effective way to provide a zero-touch customer experience is to automate many processes that customers need to complete manually. For instance, rather than having visitors spend time searching for a product or a service, a chatbot could provide question prompts, understand customer search intentions, and navigate them to the right website. These chatbots can decrease the manual workload for employees. Additionally, companies can save money on operational costs and invest resources in other areas. Over the coming years, generative AI can further accelerate the zero-touch among companies. By incorporating AI in customer support tasks, enterprises can increase brand loyalty and satisfaction, with 74% of consumers agreeing AI will improve customer service efficiency.
Humans remain a crucial element in customer journey.
However, in a zero-touch strategy, humans are still crucial in the customer journey. Research by PwC revealed that despite advanced technological capabilities, 71% of American consumers would rather interact with a human than a chatbot. Therefore, incorporating the human touch along with AI and automation is the key to fully maximizing customer experience.
Start with zero, move forward with endless possibilities
Embracing innovative strategies and incorporating advanced technologies can help companies move forward. As a result, enterprises can harness endless opportunities to establish more secure, sustainable, intelligent, and efficient operations.
