8 Reasons To Move Your Business To A Cloud ERP

Did you know 92% of businesses say their IT environment depends on cloud computing?

Companies also prefer to have their enterprise applications off-premise and in the cloud. Cost is a significant factor for choosing a cloud ERP over an on-premise option and its ease of use and adaptability.

Some of the other benefits of using Cloud ERP include:

• Accessible from anywhere
• Real-time
• Customizable
• Scalable
• Quick install or migration
• Secure

Read on for more information on why a move to a Cloud ERP can assist your business to reduce operating costs, improve productivity, and data access, storage and security.

Reduced Operating Costs

Using ERP in-house means you must buy the software, multiple licenses, and the servers and computers to support it. You also need staff on-site to install and maintain it, which increases the IT budget.

But cloud-based ERP usually allows you to pay a flat fee every month, so your implementation and usage costs should be lower. In addition, many ERP providers can even manage the tool for you, which can lower your operating costs.

Affordable Migration

One of the reasons many companies maintain old computers and databases is the expense of migrating to something better. But migrating to cloud-based ERP is another story.

Going to the cloud with your ERP doesn’t require weeks of installation, and there is seldom any downtime.
Most cloud ERP systems also have a monthly access fee that makes it easy to understand what it will cost.

Use Cloud ERP Anywhere, Anytime

Using ERP in the cloud doesn’t depend on your company’s infrastructure, so your team can access vital systems anytime and anywhere they are. This means they can work from their homes, which is essential during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even if your company’s entire IT system goes down during a natural disaster, your workflows and data will be up and running in the cloud.

No Software Licensing Audits

Software companies are more aggressive these days about checking businesses that buy their software. But, even if the company plays by the rules, it’s costly and time-consuming for a software company to audit you.

When you use cloud ERP, you never have to hassle with software and audits. This means more time for your employees and co-workers to focus on their jobs.

Improved Business Intelligence

Cloud ERP lets your company access its data remotely without having a large IT staff of complicated hardware configurations. Over the last 24 months, the number of companies using business intelligence via the cloud has increased 100%.

BI adoption is growing in marketing and sales staff as they use real-time data to improve the customer experience.

Focus On What You Do Best

Many companies don’t have the money to have a large IT staff and could never match what the cloud ERP company offers for a reasonable price. If your company has skilled IT staff, it may not be in your best interests to use it to implement and manage an ERP system.

Cloud ERP allows businesses to outsource much of their IT needs and focus on what they do best. For example, if your company sells clothing, you can focus on improving products and the customer experience instead of maintaining servers.

Save Costs Up Front

One of the biggest challenges for implementing a local ERP is the upfront cost. It’s less expensive to use a cloud ERP at first and over the first year or so. Of course, the costs add up over time, but many executives are more concerned about reducing capital expenditures more than anything.

If that’s true, your company could benefit from using cloud ERP. But note that long-term costs of using cloud ERP can be less for smaller companies; the hardware and maintenance costs of local ERP can be too high to justify the costs.

Enhanced Security

Your ERP system handles vital business data, and this information mustn’t get into the wrong hands, whether that’s unauthorized users or other unwanted parties. To keep this information safe, cloud-based
ERP offers substantial security measures that safeguard your data at all times – both when it’s at rest and when it transfers from your system to the servers.

Also, users must have an encrypted account to get into your ERP system. This allows you to limit who can access the system and who cannot. You also can restrict system access through the administrative panels.

Cloud ERP Hurdles

While there is plenty of up-side for businesses choosing a Cloud ERP there also are some challenges that need careful consideration including:

• Security is not the same with every cloud ERP system. Therefore it pays to do thorough research and consider engaging a third-party security expert to ask vendors questions about their security and privacy features.
• Ownership – you don’t own the software when you use a cloud ERP system. So, the provider will do updates for its entire product, whether you like it or not. You could have updates happen with little warning, too.
• Internet access – if you have ERP in the cloud, you are dependent on your Internet access. So, it’s essential to have an excellent Internet provider.
• Additional costs – you could incur more costs as the years’ pass; the more modules you use, the higher the monthly fee.

Summing Up

While going with a cloud ERP has some challenges and therefore requires some thinking, it’s a move many companies have made with great results. Keen to read more? Try this article on where in the business software improves productivity.