Dive Brief:

• The world of fashion moves faster than the seasons, and to match the high volume of invoices with supplies, high end fashion brand Marc Jacobs International turned to Microsoft and Medius for accounts payable (AP) invoice automation, according to an announcement from Microsoft.

• The Azure-based AP solution, called MediusFlow, integrates with Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft's on-premise ERP solution. The system allows invoices to pool in one centralized AP inbox, then rout to the designated approver.

• The solution allows the clothing company to have "better control over its AP processes" and therefore "improve supplier relations" with organized and guaranteed invoices. The hybrid cloud approach has helped make 92% of Marc Jacobs' invoices correctly route to the approver within five days instead of 90 days, according to the announcement.

Dive Insight:

In an industry reliant on maintaining respectful relationships with the designers it works with, having a system that can guarantee fast and accurate invoice approvals is crucial in maintaining vitality. That is where automation comes in.

The ease of automation eliminated the need for human intervention, thus freeing up minds and hands to focus on more intricate parts of business practices. But relinquishing all business practices to the cloud is not favored by all companies.

Hybrid cloud solutions help accommodate those migration reservations. Major cloud providers like Microsoft and Amazon Web Services are expected to include hybrid cloud management capabilities in their services as cloud management tools develop into "standalone modules."

But companies using a hybrid cloud model are not chained to just one provider. Instead, companies can pick up multiple providers that can cater to the big picture and the niche requirements of their respective industries.

Stacking solutions allow companies to supplement cloud-based resources with their existing on-premise servers, which some experts recommend as a more convenient solution. In time, a full transition to the cloud could be made easier.