There was a time when the very thought of moving business critical software applications such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) or CRM (Customer Relationship Management) into the cloud sent shivers down both the management and IT teams. However, times are changing and it is a great time to look at cloud offerings – and there are quite a few.

Tradition Needs Disrupting Sometimes

Traditionally, the ERP server (and there is probably only one on a hefty maintenance contract) has been locked away in a well secured server room; probably running on a platform that few understand and fewer ever see. A hardware problem may lead to hours or even days of downtime whilst a replacement part is located whereas a software problem could lead to the need to restore back-ups or re-key large amounts of data. Gulp.

The legacy ERP system, and the server it is running on, is probably creaking, has missed essential updates from the vendor for fear of changing the status quo, and is just about coping in the modern world. People may tread carefully as they walk past the server room just in case the vibration causes that wire to fall out. You may be fine with that. It may be comfortable shoes. It may be that feeling you get when you realise you really should be doing more exercise. You know, when a walk to the local newsagent needs a sit down half way, so you take the car instead then relax on the sofa watching home makeover shows. After all, at the end of the day if the ERP system works then that may be acceptable but ask questions of it and see how it really feels. It may be working but is it actually working for you? You may find you are constricted in what you want to achieve simply because of the way the system looks or works these days. Sure, there are a few people around the business who know, in their head, every combination of key strokes necessary to pull an aged debtors report or obsolete stock listing but is that good? Shouldn’t the system be, you know, intuitive?

You may be working from home, or a customer premises, and want to check on a few things: stock levels perhaps, or forecast information. If you had to download all that information before you left the office or worse still print out reams of reports before you leave then your ERP is no longer working for you. If you can get the information remotely, from your tablet or smartphone, and you feel the data is secure, and you know how to get an XML extract of the stock file, then you are doing the right things. If not, you may be losing opportunities.

You may be fighting a losing battle with staff who want to bring their own devices from home. This is problematic for on-premises based solutions as it often requires a number of restrictions to be in force on a mobile device, possibly VPN software, and client applications. However, most cloud based ERP solutions require nothing more than a browser – so now your staff can bring their devices and the risk to any internal systems is radically reduced.

If your on-premise ERP server has ever run out of memory or disk space then you’ll know that draining feeling. The feeling of just how much data has been written from the in-memory cache whilst your IT team desperately check temporary folders and printer spool queues for data clogging up the works. Most cloud based ERP applications are designed from the ground-up to be scalable – you need more memory or storage space? Done.

It’s Not Rocket Science, It’s Software

Some people may still be afraid of the cloud. What if the internet goes off or the router fails? What is someone steals our data or a competitor gets hold of one of the user accounts? You could spend days of meetings working through the what-ifs but these days there are plenty of services out there that will monitor 24/7 the performance of your entire network, infrastructure, and software service status, right down to the individual application and ports. Baseline performance reports will identify performance peaks and clever algorithms will alert you when the platform is running into trouble. Best of all, you don’t have to fly back from holiday, just to join the rest of the team standing in the server room staring at a large beige box hoping that the next time someone presses the on button the big light will actually come on and stay on.

These days the cloud opens up a world of possibilities and yet it’s still just software that runs on a bunch of computers in a big data centre. There is no reason to be afraid.

The thought of implementing a new ERP may be a huge concern and you may find resistance from within the business. For example, where do you start with the ERP selection process? And how do you design an implementation plan? Do you run side-by-side or do the big bang? I’ve been involved in a number of ERP roll-outs over the years and I can tell you that whilst it requires careful consideration and planning – it’s not rocket science.

Implementing a new ERP isn’t a terrible thing either. Implementing a new ERP is an exciting opportunity to make sure you really understand your business. The planning and implementation process gets people talking and it allows you sort out a host of quibbles and strange operational nuances that have built up over the years. It allows you to introduce new standards, and simplifies access to data. It connects platforms that have probably never talked directly before such as running a mail-merge directly to Word or running a pivot table on your live sales data.

Dashboard technology gives the executives a high-level view of the system and they can access valuable information remotely without having to wait for someone to type up a report. Forward thinking businesses can setup a few well-placed large screens around the business and everyone can see the latest KPI figures, calculated real-time, without the need to wait for a monthly report that is probably three months overdue already.

So, don’t be afraid of Cloud ERP anymore, it’s just software, but software that is probably considerably more flexible than your legacy system. There are a growing number of vendors providing cloud based access to ERP – go take a look today. Below are a few examples to get you started:

• OpenERP
• IFS Cloud
• NetSuite
• Workday
• Oracle ERP Cloud Service
• SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud
• Plex Systems ERP