5 Things to Look for When Moving to Cloud ERP Software
You’ve read all about the benefits of moving to a cloud-based ERP system. Access to real-time business intelligence, reduced IT costs, and increased employee productivity and organizational efficiency, are all critical requirements in promoting the growth of your business. When you reach the point of evaluating a cloud-based ERP solution, there are five critical items to consider before selecting a provider as your long-term business partner. These are:
1. Partner’s Viability
The rapid adoption of the cloud has resulted in a multitude of solutions for you to consider, requiring buyers to closely examine their provider’s viability as a long-term business partner. Cloud ERP providers primed to be acquired by larger companies may leave their customers in a tough spot with no clear direction. Being well funded does not mean a provider will have the ability to update and support their solution for years to come. Remember, ERP is a long-term investment.
2. Multi-tenancy
To maximize efficiency and ensure access to real-time business data, the ERP solution needs to have a multi-tenant architecture. This guarantees that everybody is utilizing the same version of the software system while promoting parallel initiatives related to optimizing training, system updates, and technical support. Under the multi-tenancy model, the cloud provider can spend more time advancing their solution by adding new features/functionality instead of remaining solely focused on maintaining uptime.
3. Adaptability and automatic upgrades
Upgrades to the system should be automatic and involve zero business interruption. In addition, any customizations made to the system should be automatically migrated to the new release, saving you, the customer, the costly expense of having to pay for customization rewrites and re-integration to external systems.
4. Demonstrated record of accomplishment.
A cloud ERP provider should have the bandwidth to support numerous clients in every industry it serves, both large and small, with clients who will confirm the solution’s capabilities. Moreover, your solution provider should have a proven service level agreement with at least 99% uptime as well as transparency into its operations.
5. Normal backup and disaster recovery capabilities
A key advantage of the cloud is that another company bears the trouble of backups and recovery should the need arise. So search for redundancy in the configuration of its architecture and the areas of its data centers to make sure that there is enough overlap to protect against extended periods of downtime and potentially devastating data loss.
