Mar/Apr 19 - ChannelVision Magazine

ERP takes those manual touchpoints away, syncs data across all lines of business and automates the flow of information. Its benefits are significant and al- most immediate. They’re also, by and large, old hat and not all that thrilling to talk about. The Changing Conversation During the last several years, however, the cloud has gone a long way toward bringing some energy back in the ERP conversa- tion. Cloud gives businesses the ability to consume computing as a service, rather than having to build internal infrastructure to provide and support computing functions, which is a big deal for something as resource-intensive and central to business as ERP. Think of it like that heart-healthy diet we all know we’re supposed to follow: An “on-premises” approach means that you grow the crops, process the ingredients, and fix the meals yourself. With a “cloud-based” phi- losophy, you place your order and have someone else do the heavy lifting. Sure, you have to take their word for it that all the ingredients are locally sourced, organic and non-GMO, but it sure makes it a lot easier to make changes if you find there’s a recipe you don’t like or an ingredient you’re allergic to. Am I saying that talking about ERP is just as boring as talking about whole grains and non-satu- rated fats? Yes, I am. The power, flexibility, and innovation of the cloud go a long way toward making that conversation more interesting. Here are five areas where the cloud is breathing new life into the ERP scene. Faster Implementations: It isn’t unusual for a fully customized on-premises ERP solution to take a year or two to develop and imple- ment, which is clearly not ideal in 2019. If a business is still on the ex- act same trajectory with the same goals and same strategies in two years as it is today, it’s got bigger problems than any ERP can help with. Fast, agile and nimble are the characteristics for success in busi- ness today, and any organization that takes literal years to overhaul business operations has already lost to its competitors. With a cloud-based ERP solu- tion, implementations take a frac- tion of the time — often as little as three to six months. And since the ERP is hosted in the cloud instead of in-house servers, it’s a lot easi- er to maintain a “business as usu- al” attitude while the solution gets on its feet. Subsequent updates and upgrades are far less painful as well. With cloud ERP, updates can run in the background without locking users out of the system or requiring vast amounts of re- tooling and retraining after the upgrade is completed. Worries about things such as processing at your service: Xaas Reason Companies Implement ERP Software To improve business performance 64% To position the company for growth 57% To reduce working capital 57% To better serve customers 54% To make employee jobs easier 49% To better integrate systems across multiple locations 41% To replace old ERP legacy system 38% To appease the parent company or other stakeholders 32% To ensure reporting/regulatory compliance 29% Because other companies have ERP 24% To standardize global operations 7% Other 7% Source: go.panorama-consulting.com 34 Channel Vision | March - April, 2019