Adopting an ERP system into your company infrastructure can be an intelligent and incredibly valuable business investment. Not only do enterprise solutions automate many of the processes your company does on a day-to-day basis, but their level of operational efficiency paves the way for further company development and sales growth.
However, when implementing new ERP systems, you'll inevitably be left with the decision of either building your system on-premise or using a cloud-based solution. Hosted ERP systems have many benefits over traditional on-premise solutions and can be an excellent choice for businesses of varying sizes.
Here are a few reasons why you might want to consider hosting your ERP on the cloud before developing an on-premise solution.
Frees Up Valuable Internal Resources
In nearly all cases, adoption of an ERP system is a result of the company realizing its departments are working at full capacity and need better tools for automation and efficiency.
Since this is the case, IT departments can find it very difficult to manage the necessary bandwidth to launch an ERP system on-premise. By using a cloud-based ERP solution, system implementation, maintenance, and updates are all handled offsite, freeing up your teams to concentrate on getting the most benefit out of your new investment.
Provides Better System Security
Having all your company data in one enterprise solution provides many operational benefits; however, it also means you need to adopt a higher level of system security. While internal IT teams can help support the integrity of your systems, hosting an ERP solution on the cloud gives you access to a much broader and more advanced level of system security.
Decent cloud hosting services’ security protocols include keycard access for authorized workers to enter the physical hosting facility. Further, they have redundant systems to ensure data is backed up and safe and that the servers have power at all times. Hosting companies even choose facility locations based on safety from earthquakes and other natural disasters.
Not only do cloud-based systems deploy the most up-to-date security measures, but they monitor your system 24-hours a day and actively ensure its safety.
Improves Disaster Planning Efforts
When actively preparing for any system disaster, there are three fundamentals that businesses need to have in place - protected databases, managed access, and active system monitoring.
Cloud-based ERP systems are incredibly customizable and can be designed to support all levels of your company's infrastructure. This efficiency enables organizations to ensure all elements of their disaster planning efforts are cared for, minimizing downtime during natural disasters or system attacks and quickly recovering any lost or corrupted data.
Reduces Upfront Operational Costs
One of the most significant benefits of choosing cloud-based vs. on-premise ERP solutions has to do with a substantial decrease in upfront implementation costs. Developing an on-premise ERP solution can cost well over $100K as an upfront investment to support the software and hardware demands of the systems, and many companies spend even more to upgrade their systems as they scale their business.
Cloud-based ERP solutions can easily cut implementation costs in half during the first several years of ERP development. Cloud-based ERP systems eliminate the need for costly hardware investments and improvements in server infrastructure.
Since hosted solutions are entirely customizable, businesses have a much more affordable upfront investment and predictable operational costs over time.
All in all, cloud-based ERP systems are a great alternative to traditional on-premise solutions. Not only do these hosted solutions provide improvements in system security and resource management, but their customizable layouts make them a much more affordable option for ERP implementation. This flexibility allows business the ability to scale at their own pace, better controlling operational costs and sustainability.
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