In recent years, cloud computing has been heralded as the next big thing in technology. But what are the benefits of cloud ERP? With cloud ERP, it’s not only the small and midsize enterprise (SME) that can benefit from on-demand software solutions. Even large companies are jumping on the bandwagon to take advantage of the benefits of cloud ERP.
There are a number of factors that businesses need to consider when creating a strategy for transitioning from legacy ERP systems to next-gen solutions. While the solution’s capabilities and features/modules may be critical, it’s also important to take time to evaluate the deployment option itself.
Cloud ERP is a model of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software deployed as a hosted service over the Internet. This generally includes the use of cloud computing resources and is often delivered as a Software as a Service (SaaS) model.
Cloud ERP is a cloud computing solution for ERP, used or accessed by users through a web browser. It is similar to SaaS ERP, except that SaaS is a subset of cloud ERP.
Cloud ERP can be thought of as a middle ground between on premise software and SaaS ERP.
By itself, the cloud doesn’t solve all of your company’s problems. But cloud ERP can reduce your up-front and ongoing costs and allow you to focus your technology resources on improving your business.
If you’re looking for a way out of outdated or underperforming legacy ERP systems, here are five benefits of cloud ERP for you to consider.
Lower capital requirements to access innovation
With traditional on-premises systems, when you invest in new technology, you pay for it up front. Then, as your company grows and requires more computing power, you often have to pay again to upgrade to more hardware.
The initial cost of cloud technology is lower than on-premise technology. Cloud-based applications can reduce upfront costs for companies that would otherwise have to invest in physical hardware and software.
Built in Disaster Recovery
Nobody wants to think about disasters happening to their businesses. But they can happen, and it’s smart to be prepared.
The latest cloud ERP software enables you to recover your business operations quickly after an interruption if your physical site is destroyed or suffers serious damage. That’s because the entire system operates on multi-geo locations, which means if one data centre goes offline due to an unexpected phenomenon, you’ll still have full access to your ERP system.
Scalability
 Scalability is a huge feature of cloud software: it allows you to grow without taking the risk of over-investing at the beginning. A lot of the time, small businesses don’t know what their future holds. They can be constrained by loyalty to an on-premises solution, which locks them into a certain number of users and upgrades that they might not need.
Automatic upgrades
Upgrading your software can be a complicated process. With traditional on-premises systems, you typically need to hire a team of IT professionals to perform the upgrades — a process that can take weeks or months.
One of the benefits of cloud ERP is that your software upgrades automatically when new features are added. As a result, you can spend less time managing upgrades and more time growing your business.
 Fewer infrastructure costs (technical requirements)
One of the main benefits of cloud ERP that keeps popping up is the non-reliance on infrastructure. As a cloud ERP solution is a web-based service, you don’t need to worry about installing and maintaining servers or software. You also don’t need to worry about setting up database connections and other technical requirements. That means you can focus more on improving your business performance.
- The cloud provides significant savings in hardware, software and other infrastructure compared to on-premise software
- Additionally, with hosted ERP, an organization can implement the vendor’s entire suite of applications. This minimizes the need to implement and integrate another application at the back end.
- Cloud-based ERP enables greater collaboration, better communication and faster response times. Organizations can collect data in real time, which allows them to react quickly.
- Hosted ERP moves the responsibility for maintenance and upgrades to the cloud vendor. This simplifies and streamlines IT operations.
- With a cloud-based ERP strategy, an organization’s ERP environment has built-in disaster recovery, which means the organization can proceed through regular business operations, even during a disruptive event.
Looking to understand more of the benefits of Cloud ERP? Visit our dedicated SAP Business One Cloud page.
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