--- title: "Manage your Order-to-Cash with Digital Transformation: Part 3" id: "11119" type: "post" slug: "order-to-cash-process-through-an-integrated-digital-platform-building-an-o2c-platform" published_at: "2020-09-30T10:30:22+00:00" modified_at: "2020-10-20T21:12:57+00:00" url: "https://www.sidetrade.com/order-to-cash-process-through-an-integrated-digital-platform-building-an-o2c-platform/" markdown_url: "https://www.sidetrade.com/order-to-cash-process-through-an-integrated-digital-platform-building-an-o2c-platform.md" excerpt: "Author: Evelyne Legaux, Finance OTC Consulting Ltd Manage your Order-to-Cash with Digital Transformation Part 3" taxonomy_category: - "Covid-19" - "Finance Issues" taxonomy_language: - "English" --- - [O2C Intelligence](/) - [[Column]](#) - [O2C AGENTS](https://www.sidetrade.com/core-platform/aimie-agent/) - [Aimie Agents](https://www.sidetrade.com/core-platform/aimie-agent/#aimie-agents) - [Customer Agents](https://www.sidetrade.com/core-platform/aimie-agent/#customer-agents) - 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Instead, companies should completely re-think their organization structure and put the customer at the core of a flexible ecosystem supported by a data-driven modular technology infrastructure & digitally enabled scalable processes. It is essential for an order-to-cash (O2C) platform to be adaptable to accommodate changing business requirements & accessible through web services. In addition to the technology architecture itself, companies should consider changing their people organization by creating front-end multi-functional teams that manage the customer relationship & focus on creating the best customer solutions to optimize the latter’s experience, and agile decision-support teams who ensure scalable processes run smoothly & provide quick resolution. *Source: BCG, ‘Why O2C platforms are the future’ [https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/order-to-cash-platforms-are-the-future](https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/order-to-cash-platforms-are-the-future)* ##### When designing an O2C Platform, companies should consider the following guidelines: - **Integration** – This is critical to ensure that data is shared across the modular technology solutions and the platform can synchronize externally with the customer’s applications. - **Customer Centricity**– The platform should provide a customer self-service platform to optimize their satisfaction while minimizing the need for manual human intervention by the vendor. - **Shared Responsibility**– An O2C platform being multifunctional in nature, it is essential for companies to define clear Roles & Responsibilities as to who owns each part of it and is responsible for fixing it. ##### Implementing an O2C Platform also comes with a number of challenges: - All functions must be aligned and buy-in about the value expected from the platform. This can be overcome by appointing an end-to-end ‘O2C process owner’. - The platform must benefit everyone hence the recommendation for companies to design the entire services & technology solution. - Payback for the initial investment will happen over time, but in the long run incremental revenues & costs reduction should largely outweigh the financial effort. - Transforming the O2C process takes a lot of design efforts & human resources in terms of cross-functional teams training. Companies should consider change management to facilitate it. - Implementing an entire end-to-end O2C platform at the same time can be daunting. Such a big-bang approach however is not necessary. Instead, companies can choose a modular & flexible approach to address their biggest pain points first. ##### As previously mentioned & according to the Boston Consulting Group, transforming the O2C process can yield tangible & measurable benefits through transparency and automation: - Boost revenue by 1% to 3% - Reduce costs by 15% to 30% - Up to 30% lower DSO - Greatly enhanced customer experience - Increased employee satisfaction. The ultimate goal of implementing an O2C Platform for companies should be to turn an administrative process into a business driver through visibility over integrated real time data that helps create new insights into the 3rd party customer portfolio. [What were your thoughts on part 2?](https://www.sidetrade.com/what-next-after-covid-19/) [#_ftnref1](#_ftnref1) [See all Blogs](/blog/) [↑](#)