Six Signs Your ERP May Be Ready for the Cloud
Software as a service has become the near norm in 2016 with everything from office products and CRM to ERP, PSA and supply chain solutions being moved to the cloud. We have multi-tenant public clouds, private clouds and even hybrid clouds. So with its emergence, is it time to embrace the cloud?
Signs you may be ready for the Cloud:
1. Employees are asking for it – repeatedly.
Your staff is most likely already there. They live on smartphones and inside the world of social media. The usability and access of today’s mobile technology sets a standard for companies to follow when assessing their employees’ work activities. The younger the employee, the more they’ll gravitate towards 24-hour, global access. If your systems are outdated, your ability to improve and grow operations may be hindered.
2. The server room needs a facelift.
As servers come up for replacement and maintenance, the more enticing cloud solutions appear. Say goodbye to your old servers (throw a party for their hard work) and let someone else deal with storage, CPU power and the rest of the plumbing.
3. A simple ERP upgrade is no longer an option
Customizations, costs and old habits have kept you from upgrading to the latest versions as each year passed and now it’s too late. An expensive, time-consuming upgrade/overhaul is staring you down – trying to take more than your lunch money. This is the time to do some research. Do the newer versions even live up to expectations? Well, often times these legacy ERP upgrades are just a bandage on a bigger problem – like a new coat of paint on a rotting shed. A new foundation (a cloud solution) might be a better idea.
4. You’re running laps around your ERP Vendor.
Regulatory requirements, reporting and user access change frequently. Older, on-premise solutions usually require more waiting (still waiting…) than you would like. Native cloud solutions publish updates frequently and typically with less fuss and headaches. Your business is strong enough to consume these small updates with far less cost or disruption.
5. You’re growing, going public, acquiring or expanding into new markets.
When your business is changing this much, you need a flexible, yet powerful, solution. A server room just won’t cut it anymore. A cloud solution will provide a more flexible, agile platform that can be deployed in new markets without large capital expense. Even better, cloud solutions’ subscription pricing will allow you to add and drop users as the business naturally expands and contracts throughout these transitions. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for expansion!
6. You need IT to get back to optimizing business operations.
Ah, the most common reason why business executives select the cloud. For some companies, a cloud strategy will result in a lower total cost of IT ownership. For others, it will stay the same or even cost more. However, having a large, security-driven cloud host in charge of managing infrastructure will free up time for your IT team to focus on elsewhere – let’s say… supporting your team!
Not to disrespect the six reasons listed above, but it is probably just a matter of time before most companies make the transition. In reality, the advantages of the cloud outweigh the cost of transition for most companies. The key moving forward will be selecting the right ERP vendor.
Your current ERP vendor may not be cloud-ready, thus holding down the growth of your business. These vendors will hang on as long as their customers will allow it and at that point will have to exit the market. Today, private cloud offers a viable solution for many legacy ERP packages. As native cloud solutions continue to mature, they will soon be in a position where their value proposition just doesn’t compare.
Don’t be the last to leap. Move forward on your own terms and evaluate your cloud options.
Learn more about the Value of Cloud by downloading the Samooha’s ERP Brochure
Posted on Monday, September 5, 2016
