subject: ERP consulting and services: Should they be moved into the cloud? [print this page] ERP consulting and services: Should they be moved into the cloud?
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) services and consulting have changed immensely during the last year. Before they were thought of as being unchanging entities, but it has become clear that nothing could be further from the truth. Underneath the familiar, hidden performances can be found when changing the well-know chassis.
What has caught even more attention than ERP consulting and services is the topic of cloud computing. Although cloud computing has been described to provide an interesting delivering method, the factors that have to be taken into consideration revolve around business processes. Does it make sense for a company to work with applications based on cloud computing.
How does ERP consulting and services, combined with cloud computing, support businesses? The one and foremost benefit a company can have using these means is saving costs. Management costs can be reduced and there is no need for multiple ERP offices around the world anymore. The same is the case, if creating ERP services and consulting in-house is too expensive for a company. Cloud based service can get rid of a great deal of the spending and can "test the water" for new strategies such as customer relationship management (CRM).
Another advantage is that user can apply ERP while being on the move. Due to cloud computing they are not restricted to acting from one spot anymore.
Of course ERP vendors are taking chances and create all kinds of tools, for ERP over the cloud, at an increasing rate.
What is the catch? Even though moving ERP consulting and services into the cloud contains many advantages there are also some arguments against it. Relying solely on cloud computing can be quite risky if there is an outage. Even though an in-house outage is also possible, in that situation it is in your hands to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. Working with the cloud makes you reliant on the service provider. So the main question businesses have to ask themselves is "Who is better equipped to deal with such a situation".
Another critical aspect contains individuality. Sometimes clouds can provide companies with standardized business processes; but sometimes companies have processes that are unique and provide them with a competitive advantage.
What business processes should be moved into the cloud? A company that is about to make use of cloud computing has to consider which of their processes would benefit the most of it. They also need to think about the risk the cloud can pose for other business processes and if their business model is suitable for this system. Answering these questions can help companies to figure out if the cloud is the right thing for them.
Even if businesses find out that cloud computing is not the right thing for them, they can still learn a lot about them and eventually even increase the effectiveness of their ERP consulting and services.
