As the organization grows, there comes a time when it becomes very difficult to manage all the data of the company by the leaders themselves. This may be the common goal of every organization, but the complications arising during this point needs to handle very prudently. It takes a series of good decisions to conquer the situation as well as the future problems related to this. Enterprise resource planning, ERP, prepares the integrated view of core database of company in real-time. Even though ERP manages all the data, choosing precise ERP is a challenge in itself. Size of the company is the factor behind choosing an appropriate vendor. Large Enterprise ERP (ERP tier I), Mid-Market ERP (ERP tier II) or Small Business ERP (ERP tier III) are the types of vendors to choose among.
Although the ERP field is slow to change, the basic operating system of ERP is changing since last few years. The need to reduce hardware cost and access to the data at any desired instance, has guided ERP to find new ways to transform. Mobile ERP, Cloud ERP and Social ERP are developing technologies to improve ERPs. The fact that cloud technology can store maximum data online with the help of internet, Cloud ERP is gaining its popularity across the globe.
Cloud computing, sometimes also called as ‘on-demand computing’, uses the Internet to provide shared computing resources and storage of records or documents. The term covers literally everything from emailing or photo sharing on a commercial service like Google for hosting the entire computing infrastructure of the global corporation from remote data centers.
Advantages of Cloud ERP over On-Premise ERP
On-Premise ERPs are the traditional ERPs which are installed locally, additional hardware is installed which stores all the related data and software is installed to use the data accordingly. The additional software makes it essential to recruit IT staff especially for handling the ERP service. As the service is manually operated the service may get delayed. Upgrading the system is much complicated and expensive than the online ERP’s like Cloud ERP.
Cloud ERP reduces cost in many ways because it avoids upfront costs for all computing infrastructure such as hardware, software and data servers, reduces IT support services as IT is in the cloud, eliminates paying upfront for application software licenses, reduces the cost of maintaining and supporting those applications since the cloud vendor handles the updates and upgrades. If a company is planning to switch to the cloud ERP, they will need to pay only for the computing resources, a fixed monthly rate so that they can use their cash on other business initiatives. The speed of operation gets advanced since installation of hardware and software on devices is not required. The accounts are safe because the data in not stored locally, but in the cloud. The most important advantage is that the authorized person can access the system from anywhere makes it easy for an organization to expand geographically since the Internet is everywhere and there is no need for implementation of hardware or software at remote locations. Some organizations have moved to Microsoft Azure virtual desktop so that their entire system can be accessible from cloud. Also you can use Microsoft Access online database for making cloud desktop faster and easy to access.
Downside of Cloud ERP
Upon switching over to Cloud you hand over your data to a Third Party which creates security issues. There remains a possibility of your data being accessed by unauthorized users. You must have faith that the provider you choose most likely has a decent data security system. If you’re not sure about security with all your data being online, you may struggle to feel comfortable with Cloud. Since Cloud technology is relatively new, and some of the features might not be as perfect as we would like them to be but there is a strong chance that you will experience some type of incomplete flexibility in the process.
Worth to take the risk
The Cloud definitely gives your company an excellent opportunity to take your business to the next extent and reinvent yourself. Encourage the change. You have the option to add value to your company, so why not take it? If you were to take the advantages of your traditional ERPs vs. the Cloud ERPs, you would most likely see that the benefits of the Cloud ERPs can outweigh those of the traditional methods.
Yes, there are some concerns about the disadvantages of Cloud, mainly because it is new. But because it is uprising system; it will be upgraded to remove all the holes from the system.
Coexistence
As we know that there are some properties of On-Premise ERP that cannot be gained by Cloud ERP, they both can be combined together to deliver a unique service to a complicated demand. The coexistence of both technologies enables us eliminate all the limitations and allow us to avail the advantages of both the operating systems.
