Digital Transformation 2026: Why Automation is Crucial for Your Business

Companies that adopt a digital model improve operational efficiency by 40%, see a 36% faster time to market, and meet customer expectations at a 35% higher rate. Yet, for businesses that have to maintain complex documentation, workflows, invoicing, and supplier interactions in IFS ERP, the driving process for each of these components may have never seen an update from its original manual, on-premise foundation.

While the prospect of updating processes that have long been done a specific way can feel daunting, the ability to iterate and evolve based on your business’s current stage is crucial. If you know it’s time to upgrade key workflows but are unsure of where to start, looking at the full scope of your procure-to-pay (P2P) cycle is the best first step.

Get the Full Picture: Auditing Your P2P Cycle

There’s no need to change every mechanism that could be digitized at once, especially if you’re wary about getting your team to fully adopt and buy in.

Taking stock of your critical processes as they flow through each step of the procure-to-pay cycle can bring the big areas of opportunity to light. Ask key stakeholders to think about:

• Resource Drain: What parts of the cycle take up the most room (in the office, in the budget, in our day-to-day)?

• Error Rates: Where in the cycle are we encountering the most errors due to manual data entry?

• Visibility Gaps: Where could we benefit from having more transparency into approval status?

• Bottlenecks: Are we experiencing process inconsistencies or delays? Where do invoices get stuck?

Maximize Efficiency with Intelligent Automation

As your team inspects the process for inefficiencies, you can begin aligning the areas where you can gain the most value short- and long-term. Astra Canyon’s comprehensive suite of digital transformation products was developed to manage components of your procure-to-pay cycle as needed to match your business goals.

Reaching a conclusion on where you can maximize value should come down to your top business priorities: be it reducing costs, increasing visibility, or improving reporting and auditability.

The 2026 Shift: From Automation to Hyper-automation

In 2026, "automation" has evolved into Hyper-automation. This involves using AI and Machine Learning to not just digitize a PDF, but to "read" it, understand the context, and automatically route it for approval without human intervention.

According to Gartner's strategic technology trends, organizations that combine hyper-automation with their ERP strategy will lower operational costs by an additional 30% by 2026. This level of efficiency allows your staff to focus on strategic supplier relationships rather than data entry.

Partnering for Success

With over 20 years of experience leading the IFS space as a Gold Channel and Services Partner, Astra Canyon has the expertise to be a consultative partner in your journey toward digitization.

When you’re adding extra layers to your business, there’s more room for error. Change is necessary to scale a business to the next level, but it’s often at these stages of transition that businesses lose their footing. Having an experienced partner in the driver’s seat reduces the potential for a misstep while keeping the business in your hands.