As the internet world has progressed, more and more organizations have been slowly moving their computer services over to the cloud for a variety of reasons. In fact, we recently wrote an article about how cloud ERP has reached the tipping point of adoption, along with one about what IBM’s acquisition of Red Hat means to the future of cloud ERP.
The investment in the cloud has led to many businesses to discover new ways of decreasing unnecessary expenses, provides easier disaster recovery processes, and a plethora of other advanced tools to help them in their business needs. The benefits and the accessibility of the cloud offers organizations is enough to convince many to switch to cloud based ERP solutions, but what are some real concrete reasons for why you might move your organization over to the cloud?
Here are some of the different reasons for moving to a cloud ERP system, as well as the reasons behind why this move could benefit you and your organization.
Optimized Cost and Effort
Even though traditional ERP software has been around for a while now, the implementation method for these types of software has been limited to large enterprises due to high implementation costs. Cloud-based ERP systems, on the other hand, offer a way for smaller businesses who can’t necessarily afford or handle large implementation costs to use and experience a traditional ERP software experience without the hefty cost.
The primary software cost incurred with a cloud-based ERP is a monthly rate fee, but even when you add up the subscription rates, it can still be cheaper than trying to put together a whole new traditional ERP system from the ground up. With a cloud-based ERP, organizations don’t have to figure out how to set up hardware, upgrading software or maintaining services and a lot of time is saved in that regard.
Easy Accessibility
As the name suggests, cloud-based ERP systems allow employees to access the service from remote locations with ease. With more and more modern workers having to travel around for business trips, having a cloud-based software can link employees to their company even when they’re far away.
The platform has mobile functionality and is easier to use than ever before. There’s no more need for an organization to buy special equipment for individuals just so that they can access an ERP system from abroad; by going cloud you can keep your organization together no matter where you are in the world.
Data Security
No matter what organization you run, data will always be at the forefront of decision making. Data is the essence of many businesses and a cloud ERP can offer more security for companies to protect their information.
Cloud ERP providers maintain synched up data centers across the world to provide security against unwanted cybersecurity threats. It can deal with large pieces of data without much effort. Cloud ERP also allows your IT team more freedom to work on other things besides constantly updating software to deal with new malware threats. Cloud solutions support packet scanning, multi-layer firewall testing, application vulnerability, facility security, and multi-layer firewall testing, all of which buff up the overall system even more.
Heightened Analytics Features
Cloud ERP software allows for real-time business processes to be synced from anywhere, with real-time budgeting, modeling, and summary analytics within a few seconds to help an organization optimize its business processes. The transparency and speed that is offered by cloud-based ERP system to quickly generate real-time stats for a company helps decrease overall time that can be used to do other tasks. The easy access and analysis of cloud-based data also allow for companies to see in real time how their organization is doing, and what needs to be changed depending on the data.
You May Not Have Any Other Choice but To Move to Cloud ERP Software
The best reason to move to the cloud may be because customers may soon not have a choice. As we have pointed out in articles about SAP’s 2025 deadline and other industry pressures, software vendors and systems integrators are pushing – and in some cases forcing – customers into the cloud whether they are ready or not.
Conclusion: Cloud ERP Software Is Good, But Doesn’t Solve All Problems
There is a plethora of benefits that come with choosing a cloud-based ERP system, from being able to get real-time data on a company’s stats, or being able to better protect your data, we can see that a lot of companies are making a shift to the cloud.
It is also important to recognize that cloud does not solve a majority of ERP implementation risks. For example, we recently shared a case study about lessons from a Microsoft Dynamics 365 failure we were hired to help fix, and the cloud wasn’t able to save this company from disaster in this case. Same goes for Hertz’s recent cloud digital transformation failure and lawsuit against Accenture.
It is important to find the solution that best fits your needs – regardless of whether or not it is a cloud ERP system. As always, we at Third Stage Consulting are always here to help you and your organization navigate cloud-based ERP systems as well as any other questions you may have about how to objectively select your new ERP software.
