The People Behind IFS Cloud is a blog series meant to surface stories of the amazing individuals behind IFS Cloud.
From developers and engineers to marketers, every week we’ll get to the heart of the team behind the launch of IFS Cloud so you can get to know them a little better and find out what makes them tick!
This week, meet Daniel Asplund, Program Manager of Research and Development at IFS. Daniel has been with IFS for four years and is based out of our office in Linköping, Sweden. While Daniel isn’t working he enjoys golfing, traveling, spending time with friends and family and working on renovation projects. Lately, Daniel has been working on uplifting and improving Supply Chain Management functionality for IFS Cloud.
Let’s learn more about Daniel.
Tell us about your role and main responsibilities regarding IFS Cloud.
As a Program Manager, my role is to drive the functional investments for the Sales area of Supply Chain Management functionality. My main responsibility is to prioritize what we need to do and make sure that we meet the customer’s expectations. For IFS Cloud the main focus of my team has been to uplift the integration services that we provide from Supply Chain and also to focus on exceptional product quality.
Having worked on IFS Cloud, what gets you most excited about the solution?
I must say all the possibilities with the new platform make me really excited.
The solid foundation with broad embedded functionality and industry depth being moved to a new, fresh platform will have a lot of advantages for our customers. It not only has a new look and feel, but it will also create a lot of possibilities. The easy-to-configure clients, innovations such as embedded AI and machine learning and the ability to easily extend the solution, are just a few of the advantages.
I also like the new, shorter release cycles, where our customers can move onto new solutions quicker than they could before. This will give us faster feedback and the ability to improve our solution even more.
What are five words that describe working on IFS Cloud?
- Challenging – because of the constantly evolving framework.
- Exciting – because of new possibilities.
- Delightful – because of the fresh look and feel.
- Inspiring – because of the new, great features.
- Amazed – because of how quick it is to create new clients using the new framework.
What was your favorite part about working on IFS Cloud?
Honestly, to take part in this great journey. To see how the new platform has taken shape and to have a chance to engage and contribute to how it evolves.
Also, how people on all levels have stood together to make this happen. Embracing new features from our framework and working together to utilize these in the best way possible. How we have stayed focused during challenging times and constantly tried to keep moving towards a successful release. The adventure has been really exciting, with an occasional bit of frustration, but with everyone’s positive attitude we have managed to pull through.
In your opinion, what makes IFS Cloud a gamechanger for our customers?
Having everything on one platform will help our customers to avoid unnecessary integrations and to get a smoother upgrade process. I also think that the possibilities to extend on the outside and to build your own clients is a lot better with IFS Cloud. The accessibility has improved a lot with this new web-based client, and I think this is something that will also make a difference for our customers.
If you were a business, why would you deploy IFS Cloud compared to other solutions on the market?
There are of course a number of reasons why I would choose IFS Cloud, however, I think the main one would be IFS’s customer strategy.
A lot of companies talk about putting their customers first, but it’s something completely different to actually do it. I think IFS really tries to do this – from the top management, through sales, consulting, support, and R&D. The mindset is to always ask, “what value will this bring to our customers?” To be proactive, reactive and strive to help our customers in the best possible way. This along with the new release cycle will make it much easier for our customers to raise their concerns and help us improve the solution in a practical way. That’s why I would deploy IFS Cloud.
At IFS it’s important for us to deliver on the perfect moment of service for our customers. Thinking about our focus industries, and your specialized knowledge about our solution, can you give us a real-life example of how IFS Cloud can help delight our customer’s customers?
I must mention the user experience. I think IFS Cloud is a lot quicker to learn for new users. If you compare it to our previous version I think it is more intuitive, user friendly and gives a nice, modern feeling for the user. I also think users in our focus industries will gain a lot from all the new industry specific lobbies that will be introduced in IFS Cloud. This along with all the new, great embedded functionality will certainly delight our customers’ customers.
Thanks, Daniel. Any final thoughts to share with readers?
No problem! And yes, I want to remind everyone of the active IFS Community. The IFS Community is a place where our customers, partners and employees can share ideas, raise questions, and discuss improvements. I think this is something that brings a lot of value to the end-user community and something that will help improve our product even more. If you haven’t visited the IFS Community yet, check it out here: community.ifs.com.
Thank you to Daniel for taking the time to discuss his role in developing IFS Cloud.
Learn more about IFS Cloud here.
Do you have questions or comments?
We’d love to hear them so please leave us a message below.
