Cloud ERP is not for everyone
The term "the cloud" has become ubiquitous in our lives today. However, it is still shrouded in a bit of mystery for some. In reality the cloud is nothing more than actual servers that someone rents to you so that you can store some of your most precious assets: your data and the systems that make your business run.
On my blog True Confession: Moving ERP to the Cloud is Not Right For Every Company I tackle the subject of the cloud for ERP systems, and I wanted to bring a summary to our readers here.
One thing is for sure: The cloud is here to stay, and that is a good thing. The cloud offers a number of benefits that should clearly make it the preferred deployment option for some, but it also comes with risks and costs that most cloud salesmen will not want to discuss.
The most common question I get when discussing the cloud is whether it will save the customer money or not. The simple answer to this questions is that the total cost of operation (TOC) of putting your systems in the cloud will be higher than operating on premises in the long run. This is specially true in developing countries where labor costs are lower and hardware life is extended beyond commonly accepted averages. However, cost should not be the only determining factor when evaluating moving your software to the cloud.
In most cases, cloud providers offer more security than you could possibly implement on premises, and unparalleled accessibility to your data via remote access by any device imaginable. However, large cloud providers are often the targets for the most sophisticated cyberattacks, and their access could be cut off by either outages on their end, or problems in any of the links to your data, including your local ISP or even the modem in your building.
When discussing the cloud, there are applications that are better suited to the cloud (think email, CRM, remote sales) while there are others (accounting and back office operations) may be candidates for staying on premises for a while longer (or forever).
If you have a cloud vs on premises question, we are available to answer it.
Contact us!
On my blog True Confession: Moving ERP to the Cloud is Not Right For Every Company I tackle the subject of the cloud for ERP systems, and I wanted to bring a summary to our readers here.
One thing is for sure: The cloud is here to stay, and that is a good thing. The cloud offers a number of benefits that should clearly make it the preferred deployment option for some, but it also comes with risks and costs that most cloud salesmen will not want to discuss.
The most common question I get when discussing the cloud is whether it will save the customer money or not. The simple answer to this questions is that the total cost of operation (TOC) of putting your systems in the cloud will be higher than operating on premises in the long run. This is specially true in developing countries where labor costs are lower and hardware life is extended beyond commonly accepted averages. However, cost should not be the only determining factor when evaluating moving your software to the cloud.
In most cases, cloud providers offer more security than you could possibly implement on premises, and unparalleled accessibility to your data via remote access by any device imaginable. However, large cloud providers are often the targets for the most sophisticated cyberattacks, and their access could be cut off by either outages on their end, or problems in any of the links to your data, including your local ISP or even the modem in your building.
When discussing the cloud, there are applications that are better suited to the cloud (think email, CRM, remote sales) while there are others (accounting and back office operations) may be candidates for staying on premises for a while longer (or forever).
If you have a cloud vs on premises question, we are available to answer it.
Contact us!