Things to consider before implementing or migrating your ERP to the cloud

Intelligent Systems held a webinar, with the participation of experts from the IT sector, to discuss the benefits and aspects that need to be considered regarding the implementation and migration of an ERP system in the cloud. The event was able to answer questions from the audience about the cloud solution, providing insights from a technical, business, and customer perspective. In the article, you can find a lot of useful information to gain a better idea of the cloud, and the full webinar can be viewed here.

Why cloud?

The main factors that distinguish the cloud from the on-premise are the modern performance and the environment it offers to its users. The technical innovations that the cloud offers in terms of implementing or migrating an ERP to the cloud are:

• More and more companies are achieving digital business goals by implementing in the cloud, which provides simple and fast data handling, even working from home.
• Unlike on-premises, the cloud focuses on less cost for customers by eliminating the need of purchasing and installing additional hardware and software.
• Less maintenance work to be done is possible by the cloud provider, who usually takes care of all kinds of updates and maintenance of the ERP systems.
• Cloud security protection has been improved as vendors collect a lot of data related to security attacks.
• The decreased implementation timeframe can be configured in almost 24 hours.

How data handling changes when it is in a cloud environment?

The cloud host’s full-time job is to carefully monitor security and apply a multi-layered security strategy. Therefore, with its Azure product, Microsoft has a team of security professionals who apply the latest technologies and improvements so you can dispose of your data securely. Also, with the cloud you get these and other security-related features:

• Fast and adequate assistance to resolve problems from Microsoft engineers, which they get just enough time to access which will be revoked. Afterward, the access is traceable, which makes it safe from a data security perspective.
• Data loss prevention has the aim to take immediate measures due to unforeseen disasters (flood, fire, theft, etc.) to restore full access to the services in no time and with minimum impact. Moreover, no matter where you upload or work with data, it is going to have its specific place where it sits, and it cannot go outside of its borders.
• The strict control, traces, and audit logs give information where the data sits, as well as all the movements of the data.
• The improved access control allows users to interact with ERP through a web browser, with the idea of minimizing data theft as well as software and hardware infection.

What are the main steps a company must consider before implementing or migrating ERP to the cloud?

1. Get a good sense of how your business is done. It is going to be useful to map internally your business flows and to have a good overview of how things are done in your company. Find which systems best fit your company’s needs, what are functionalities that you need, and the system logic within an ERP.
2. Find the best implementer who suits your organization, as well as with experience in your industry vertical.
3. With the help of your implementor to understand the risks, implications and set a scope of the project, as well as determine the TCO (total cost of ownership) of the project.

How a company’s IT department changes its work after implementing a cloud?

With the creation of the cloud, the focus is to minimize small tasks related to maintenance and update, enabling the organization to use and develop its resources and skills. A larger portion of developers’ time is going to be dedicated to real business value as opposed to maintaining some machines that need a lot of time. In a cloud environment, those machines are maintained by the vendor.

In addition, check out our additional materials – the free e-book Beginner’s Guide To Cloud ERP and the offer for Business Central in the cloud.

If you want to learn more about the migration to the cloud, contact us!