Developing a Successful ERP Strategy

Key criteria needs to be understood in order to develop an effective ERP strategy and that can be best defined by comparing the performance of the companies which have ERP and the ones which don’t have. (more…)

Erpisto Presence at UCP Job Fair Ensures Our Commitment

University of Central Punjab held job fair on December 1, 2014. Job fair was the best opportunity for fresh as well as experienced candidates to meet top employers of various industries. More than 8000 students from Bachelors, Masters, MS and PHD programs gave on spot interviews to top employers. (more…)

Why choosing Cloud ERP is better than going for on-premises based ERP solution

Whether to go for the cloud-based or on-premises ERP solution is the question which most people ask? Erpisto ERP is getting popular day by day as different vendors provide the best and sophisticated alternatives as compared to the on-premises ERP implementations. Cloud-based ERP offers plenty of advantages and only few disadvantages which makes it a perfect choice for most businesses. Small and medium sized businesses which don’t have many resources to support conventional on-premises solution can make best use of the cloud-based ERP solution.

Advantages of Cloud Based ERP Solution

Some of the advantages of cloud-based ERP solution are:

Fast Implementation

Cloud based ERP system takes less time to get implemented as compared to on-premises solution. The reason is that the cloud system is already set up and you just need to get plugged into it. However it is important to note that reengineering of the business processes takes same amount of time no matter you choose to implement cloud or on-premises ERP.

Low Cost

Cloud-based ERP solution cost less than an on-premises solution as you share the server hardware, overhead and all other costs with different customers on the vendor system.

Easy to Install

ERP system is set up at the vendor’s site so it is easy to install your ERP system. Staff can guide you throughout the installation as they are familiar with the system. However, downside to this is lack of flexibility as you are limited in how much a customization can be done to the basic ERP system.

No worry about the upgrades or patches

When you opt for the cloud-based ERP system then you don’t need to worry about the upgrades or any other maintenance as it is taken by the vendor. Disadvantage to this is that you have to upgrade on vendor’s schedule and this can be a problem if you have customized your cloud-based ERP system.

Controlled staffing costs

Staffing costs can be controlled as you share the cost of highly skilled IT staffers with vendor’s other customers. You can also avoid the problem of under-utilized staff who don’t have to spend time in maintaining ERP system which is beneficial for small businesses.

Costs prediction

Cloud-based ERP systems charge monthly for their services and this let you make the right predictions for the costs unlike an on-premises system. Cost of cloud-based ERP solution can vary according to the size of your system. Large scale enterprises prefer on-premises system while small and medium scale enterprises usually go for cloud-based ERP.

Choice of a cloud-based or on-premises system is not an easy one and you need to carefully weigh your needs against the benefits and costs of both system before going for the right one.

Is Your ERP Data Ready for the Cloud

People have started to overcome their fears regarding data security in the cloud and now they have started believing software as a service as a solid solution for their ERP. Getting migration done to cloud based ERP is not an easy step like signing a document or giving all the work to the vendor. Steps need to be followed for preparation when you talk about your organization data.

Things to consider before making choice of a Vendor

Preparation needs to begin before your company makes choice for the vendor. You need to address the questions like will you still own your own data and how much comfort you will have with the data generated by cloud based ERP solution with other applications that your organization uses. Data is your no doubt but vendor lock in is an emerging trend and this can make it difficult for customers to obtain backups of data to move data to another cloud vendor or on premises solution. You also need to consider will it mesh seamlessly with other systems or you require third part solution or some sort of plug in for data exchange.

Data Preparation

After selecting the most suitable vendor you need to prepare your data to move it to the cloud. Landscape analysis of the data needs to be done to understand the structure and how will it work along with the new system. You can also model the interactions and links and when you are done with this data assurance phase begins. Data needs to be profiled to see which data is of insufficient quality to get moved to the ERP system. Data cleansing needs to be done to remove and correct the data that is corrupt, incomplete, inaccurate and irrelevant. Data verification is done to ensure that it is accessible and in the right format for the cloud based ERP solution and you need to determine how this format will affect other systems.

Recent studies have revealed that data migration of the data which is not ready for the newly purchased ERP solution can cause plenty of problems for the implementation. Best practices needs to be followed in order to let the data migration provides an effective foundation and it is also important to review the regulations and standards for specific industry and geolocation as this will help to ensure that you can not only move your data to ERP solution but you can share it with the industry specific applications while remaining in complete compliance with rules and regulations which can make things difficult for you in the future.

Things to Consider While Hiring ERP Consultant

Selection of an ERP consultant is definitely and important and time consuming process for any company especially for small to mid-size organizations. These organizations cannot afford large consultancies and they also cannot handle ERP implementations on their own. Questions which small and mid-size businesses must consider while making choice of an ERP consultant are:

Should You Consider Completely Independent ERP Consultants?

Few ERP consultants favor specific ERP due to their own benefits and this trend has certainly increased now. You need to make sure that your ERP consultant is not receiving any kind of incentive on specific software which you implement or purchase. You need to make choice of consultants who are not resellers and who don’t take referral fees from vendors as this is a common tactic by many vendors.

Do your ERP Consultant Possess Broad Experience?

Some ERP consultants pass the initial test but they don’t have understanding of different ERP systems either because they are short of experience or because their focus is narrow with different options available in the market. Small to mid-size organizations must give special consideration to this aspect as they usually have to give more importance to the myriad of industry specific options. You need to ask your consultant about his/her hands-on experience and also about the projects which they have evaluated over the years.

How much innovative and robust is the methodology of your ERP Consultant?

You need to consider the methodology of your ERP consultant as it is a key differentiator and point of value for best ERP consultants. No person can fine tune methodology even if he/she has plenty of experience or talent. Robust methodology is important as no one has the level of understanding to change the methodology later. You need to make sure that your ERP consultant has a comprehensive and well defined methodology to minimize the risks associated with ERP.

These few questions need to be asked from the ERP consultants while hiring them for small or mid-scale organizations and it is important to leverage an efficient framework which best fits your organization needs.