Mar/Apr 19 - ChannelVision Magazine

times and adequate data backup processes are no longer the busi- ness’s problem. It’s up to the ERP vendor to handle those. Decreased Cost: When you buy an on-premises, in-house ERP solution, you also have to purchase the supporting hardware, hire staff to install and maintain it, and shell out for all the related software li- censes. Depending on how big your business is and your existing IT infrastructure, you may also need to invest in extra servers to provide the computing power needed for the ERP to run at its highest func- tion. That’s a lot of dough, espe- cially for smaller organizations. Cloud-based solutions are typically purchased for a flat-rate monthly fee, and access only re- quires an internet connection. All of the resources needed to actually host the system are taken care of by the provider, which eases pres- sure on your pocketbook and low- ers your stress levels. Mobile Access: Because cloud applications are accessed via the internet, they’re intrinsically more mobile-friendly than most on-prem- ises solutions. That provides a flex- ibility that’s critical in today’s busi- ness landscape, where so much work is done on smart devices from remote locations. One of on- premises ERP’s biggest value-adds is real-time visibility, which makes sure that work isn’t duplicated and changes to customer records are reflected across the organization as they happen. With a cloud-based solution, that visibility extends beyond the four walls of your business to any device anywhere that’s tapped into your network. Plus, a cloud ERP solution can far more easily integrate with other mobile APIs, such as those for reporting and analytics, which creates some very interesting customizable business intelligence use cases. Stay Secure: Unless it’s a cy- bersecurity company (and maybe even then), the chances of design- ing an on-premises ERP solution that’s as secure as those provided by the big cloud vendors are pretty low. Why would you even want to? The complexities that come along with setting up an ERP can hardly be imagined by someone who hasn’t actually done it. There’s data coming in, data going out, and data sitting in repositories waiting to be accessed, all with varying degrees of security needs. Different regula- tions apply to different levels of information and different methods of processing it between different applications and different users. The more variables are thrown into any equation, the trickier it becomes. Since ERP sits at the nexus of all of the business func- tions with its fingers in almost ev- ery pie, any security solution has to take dozens of variables into consideration. If you’re spending all of your time worrying about the security of the data housed in your ERP, you’re not able to fully real- ize all of the features and benefits such a system provides. Next Generation Analytics: Done right, an ERP solution can be tapped in to every source of data that feeds into a company’s operations. This includes analytics streams such as inventory, sales cycles, buying and price trends, cus- tomer support times, time to invoice, and so forth. Historically, this infor- mation sits in the system until some- one accesses it. Cloud ERP applica- tions contain built-in algorithms that create truly powerful analytical in- sights. Machine learning capabilities leverage all of that big data housed in the ERP to provide predictive an- alytics, which can tell a company not only what the data says about where it’s been, but also about where it’s going. We’ve just begun to see the crazy things that modern analytics technologies are going to be able to do, and that deep insight is all pow- ered by the cloud. ERP solutions can legitimately transform a business, but we’ve known that for decades. The cloud, however, makes everything old new again. The ease of use, real-time visibility, advanced analytics and easy scaling the cloud brings puts a shiny new layer on every tech- nology, and ERP is no exception. Enterprise resource planning is a cutting-edge conversation again. o This content was published courtesy of Salesforce. at your service: Xaas Top Benefits Companies See from ERP Solutions Improved information availability 80% Improved data reliability 55% Increased integration of business operations/processes 46% Improved productivity and efficiency 44% Improved lead time and inventory levels 44% Better decision-making 43% Controls of compliance 38% Reduced operating/labor costs 37% Reduced duplication of effort 23% Standardized operations 18% Source: go.panorama-consulting.com 36 Channel Vision | March - April, 2019