Why flexibility in cloud services is key to ERP success in today’s age!
In
the fast-moving digital world, being able to quickly adapt to disruptive
business processes and changing business needs is key to success and survival.
While organizations might be able to adapt their strategy and culture, they
also need their business systems to adapt to these new processes and
requirements. The need for flexibility and near real-time response to changing
business processes is especially essential for an organization’s core ERP
system.
Here are five reasons why
ERP needs to be flexible.
1)
Hybrid Cloud Configurations:-
Today
companies should be prepared to extend their core ERP systems with a variety of
cloud-based services to take advantage of best-of-breed and supplemental
capabilities. They also may want to support a two-tier ERP model in which
companies run more than one ERP system, often a primary one at headquarters and
additional cloud ERP services at subsidiaries. Companies should have the
flexibility to create efficient, seamless workflows across multiple ERP
systems, add-on services, and different applications, including CRM, WMS, and
PLM – regardless of whether they reside on-premises or in the cloud.
2) Changing Business Models:-
Companies
shouldn’t have to limit the way products and services are offered because their
under pinning system is inflexible. For example, with the growing demand for
subscription services, insurance companies are providing insurance coverage for
young drivers by the day and jet engine manufactures are sell air time instead
of the engines themselves. An inflexible ERP system that can’t support dynamic
business practices such as new revenue models and depreciation methods can be a
serious inhibitor to positive changes. No company wants to be limited to
outdated business models because of its ERP system.
3) Mobile ERP:-
The
ability to perform day-to-day business functions on the go, including approving
purchase requests, signing contracts, and viewing inventory levels boosts
efficiency considerably. Mobile ERP applications benefit everyone from sales
people to warehouse workers to CEOs who want immediate access to financial
reports. Enterprises must be prepared to mobilize relevant ERP data and
processes, update data based on real-time transactions and support offline use
cases.
4) Secure ERP Data:-
Weak
ERP security can lead to a loss of assets and compromise data privacy. Securing
ERP data also needs to take into account the possibility of integrating with
public clouds and tools. In order for sensitive data to be protected, ERP systems
need consistent secure integrations to back end and reporting systems.
5) IoT data tsunami:-
Companies wanting to leverage data from
IoT systems for predictive maintenance, predictive analytics, and optimized
manufacturing, could be flooded with huge volumes of data coming from sensors.
ERP systems can connect the device data with business data and must be able to
process, analyze and show all this data in real-time. Elasticity with the
ability to scale up quickly will become essential as more and more ERP business
processes are data driven.
Given ERP size and complexities, and the
introduction of new technologies as part of digital transformation, there is
always the need to modify and expand ERP systems. Planning ahead to include the
necessary flexibility, and using solutions that are fully interoperable is the
best way to be prepared for new data, security and reporting requirements that
come with digital transformation.
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