Want to drive real change at your organization? Then embrace digital transformation (DX). Doing so boosts competitiveness and transforms ordinary companies into market leaders. But to succeed with DX, you need a clear vision of what you want to achieve with this effort. Without that, you won’t realize the game-changing benefits that digital transformation brings, such as better customer service, increased profitability, lower operations costs, and so on.

Once the organization defines, adopts, and implements the digital strategy, it’s important to look for evidence that the organization is now operating in alignment with your strategy.  This effort also allows you time to evaluate which possible solutions best align to a corporate strategy and let you to accomplish defined business transformation outcomes.

More and more companies are migrating to Cloud ERP as the foundation of an enterprise-wide DX effort. In a recent survey of IT decision-makers,  53% said ERP was an investment priority in addition to CRM. A key driver of this activity is your industry’s competitive landscape and positioning where organizations feel they must transform to meet the changing requirements of their client base.

Cloud ERP system benefits are significant

What other factors are driving the growing popularity of Cloud ERP? It’s the benefits it provides. They’re compelling. In fact, they’re just too beneficial to ignore. A recent business survey, for example, shows that ERP implementations led to business process improvement for 95% of organizations, with another survey showing an average for an ROI return of about 2.5 years.

Given these findings, you can expect the Cloud ERP market to snowball as more and more companies see the advantages of Cloud ERP. Below is some critical information you need to know before deploying a Cloud-based ERP platform at your organization:

What is Cloud-based ERP software?

Cloud ERP is an enterprise resource planning solution and business tool. Hosted and managed by Cloud vendors like CherryRoad, Cloud ERP resides on a remote Cloud server accessible from any Internet-connected device.

This solution allows you to enter data from any location and collaborate with colleagues on any document. Highly efficient and effective when accessed from the Cloud, Cloud ERP frees the organization from the laborious onsite upkeep required by on-premise and manual ERP solutions.

How does Cloud ERP differ from on-premise ERP?

Cloud ERP differs from traditional, on-premise ERP significantly. With an on-premise ERP system, you need to make a significant capital investment to license the software for perpetual use, endure a lengthy rollout, sometimes as much several years, and have to meet extensive technical requirements.

With on-premise ERP, you also need to update the applications and tools for system compatibility, have highly skilled staff to operate the solution, and incur an investment of additional funds in hardware maintenance, parts replacement, and software upgrade. Cloud ERP eliminates these drawbacks.

What are the benefits of a Cloud ERP system?

The enterprise resource planning advantages of this approach are significant. Cloud ERP system benefits include:

  • A clear financial picture to make better decisions.
  • Planning tracking of projects, assign the right talent, and balance capacity against demand.
  • Empowering your people and streamline procurement.
  • Stop cash leaks, streamline audit, and detect emerging risks.
  • Gain speed and agility with the most complete EPM cloud.
  • Prepare for rapid change with systems that improve resilience and increase agility.
  • Use cases, predictive analysis, and KPIs based on variance analysis and historical trends.
  • Streamlined processes for easy accessibility and mobility from any device
  • Reduced need for in-house staff to update and maintain the software.

If you’re just beginning to modernize your system, Cloud ERP eliminates the need for a large investment in an extensive computer network.

How does Cloud ERP software improve business processes?

Businesses employing this solution often see a 30% to 40% boost in productivity. Cloud-based ERP streamlines and simplifies business processes, eliminating bottlenecks and improving efficiency.

It also boosts an organization’s efficiency and connectivity by managing and improving how you use corporate resources—all without the maintenance and resource demands of an on-premise solution.

Plus, Cloud ERP enables businesses to manage large amounts of data that would otherwise be disconnected and boost the speed and mobility of processes, increasing your chances for rapid growth.

What are some considerations when choosing an ERP system?

Migrating to a Cloud-based ERP solution impacts your entire business. So, you need to choose the right ERP solution to enjoy this enterprise planning resources system’s benefits. Five considerations when migrating from a manual or an on-premise ERP system to a Cloud ERP solution include:

  • Total cost of ownership (licensing fee, implementation costs, operations costs)
  • Type of Cloud-based ERP solution (public, private, hybrid)
  • Security (disaster recovery, data center protection, running of security fixes, cyberattack defenses)
  • Migration plan (impact on business processes, which apps to move, difficulty of moving)
  • Change management plan (adoption rate, user satisfaction rate, push-back of lack of by-in, and lost productivity during implementation.

Ideally, you want to choose a Cloud ERP platform that not only provides a long-term solution but also fits your industry-specific needs.

Why companies move to the Cloud?

Today’s customers are highly demanding. They want what they want when they want it and how they want it. Otherwise, they’ll leave it for another solution/vendor. Traditional, on-premise ERP is a barrier to the agility that today’s company’s need to meet customer demands.

Cloud ERP, however, connects departments and breaks down barriers.

It also syncs with your entire business, rescues critical data from silos, and presents financial information in larger contexts, which shows the impact of decisions. Plus, a Cloud ERP platform automates internal business processes, reduces mistakes, and boosts accuracy and competitiveness.

How to distinguish a “true Cloud” ERP software?

The critical difference between on-premise and Cloud ERP is where the software runs and who manages it. A true Cloud ERP software solution is typically a multitenant, SaaS solution. A single-tenant, SaaS version of the ERP software, with its associated applications and infrastructure, serves just one organization.

More importantly, a true Cloud ERP solution hosts an organization’s data on private servers running on a unique software instance, enabling you to enjoy the benefits of an ERP system.  Put less technically, Cloud ERP software provides core financial and accounting functionality.

An organization can then implement modules that fit its specific industry needs, including CRM, human resource management, supply chain management. With a Cloud solution, the service provider is responsible for the application, data storage, underlying operating system, servers, the physical data center infrastructure, and installing security updates and feature upgrades.

Deciding to Migrate Only Half the Battle

The answers to the questions above can help you decide whether migrating to a Cloud ERP software solution is for you. The right Cloud ERP platform can serve as the foundation of a modernization program designed to launch your DX transformation effort and serve as a foundation for a vision designed to transform your IT department and business.

With strong leadership and a clear DX vision, the right Cloud ERP software solution can help you boost profitability, reduce costs, and increase competitiveness. More importantly, it can help you survive and thrive in these challenging times.

But deciding to migrate to Cloud ERP is only half the battle. The other half is implementing the solution itself. That can be a challenge. Many companies choose technology partners like CherryRoad, with its 38 years of experience in ERP implementation, to spearhead their Cloud migrations.

CherryRoad is a highly credentialed partner to help youupgrade, integrate, and migrate a full suite or extensions of a Cloud ERP application based on your business needs. We’ll also help you leverage the power and adaptability that generate lower costs, improve forecast visibility, and increased levels of innovation. Plus, we have a Cisco-based IP backbone with global connectivity at your disposal.

Working with a certified technical partner like CherryRoad can help you migrate to a Cloud ERP Platform quickly, efficiently, and with minimal disruption. To request a proposal for our services, email us at info@cherryroad.com