Organizations require the management of multiple systems in order to run effectively, that’s where ERP comes in. Some people confuse cloud ERP and software-as-a-service (SaaS) ERP solutions. While there are similarities between the two, there are still some differences. In a recent guide by Forrester, author Duncan Jones states the ways in which ERP vendors fail to meet the demands of modern organizations, “Forrester Analytics data shows that two-thirds of software decision-makers in enterprises plan to replace or complement their enterprise resource planning (ERP) software with software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications or have already done so.” Both cloud and SaaS ERP operate online and involve the use of a vendor or service provider. They also both tend to take significantly less time to integrate than on-premise ERP. In this article, we’ll detail what is cloud ERP, SaaS ERP, and the benefits and differences between them.
What is cloud ERP?
ERP is a modular system of business software designed to run enterprise data. With cloud ERP, the ERP software is managed and delivered through remote servers. Users can access cloud ERP through the internet which enables organizations to collaborate with outside vendors, partners, and customers. There are a few benefits to using a cloud service ERP:
- Easy information transfer: The internet gives us the ability to send information across distances. The cloud makes it easy for organizations to share documents and data with other parties outside of your department or business within seconds.
- Less focus on hardware and software maintenance: If you’re an agile business, you probably don’t want to have to focus your energy as heavily on IT problems. Local data storage means being responsible for all the challenges that may arise with your software. If you have everything backed up on a service provider’s cloud, like AWS, you’ll still need to have some IT management, but the cloud will allow you to outsource rather than dealing with problems internally.
