Cloud-Based ERP for Small Business
The traditional on-premise IT department can be inefficient in terms of allocating time and resources. Most ground-based IT departments are so occupied with basic monitoring, maintenance, and repair processes they have little time to devote to more creative practices that drive your business forward and increase the bottom line. When you outsource your IT infrastructure to the cloud, your customized subscription package takes care of all the day-to-day tasks, including systems maintenance, updates, database management, and security. That leaves your IT people the time and capacity to innovate, giving your enterprise the competitive edge.
Cloud-Based ERP Enables Responsive Scaling of Your Business
One of the most taxing problems that small- to medium-sized businesses and startups can face is scalability. While you're trialing new processes, you may need to scale down. When you grow, you must scale up. If you house all your IT systems on-premise in your own data facility with licensed software delivered via your own servers, sudden success can be your downfall. At best, it may slash the profit margin.
With a cloud-based solution, you can scale up and down at a moment's notice, streamlining your processes or boosting growth capacity as needed. Also, you can do so without financial risk, as most cloud-based solutions deliver on a "use only what you need and pay only for what you use" subscription model. That means through good times and bad, you can absorb your IT costs into ongoing operational expenses with little or no capital outlay or financial shocks.
Cloud-based ERP Solutions and Security
With on-premise IT and enterprise resource planning solutions, not only do you have the capital outlay, the running costs, and restricted scaling capacity, but you have full responsibility for data security. Your critical data is the lifeblood of your business. Few small- to medium-sized businesses can afford the levels of security and remediation to compete with most cloud-based vendors. When you outsource to the cloud, you have a belt-and-braces security model as the standard, with 24/7 monitoring, protection, and remediation all taken care of within the terms of your service level agreement (SLA) and monthly subscription.
Transitioning to a Cloud-Based ERP
If your enterprise is new, it's worth considering going with cloud-based ERP and software delivery from the get-go. It's cheaper, easier to implement, and allows for rapid growth if you're successful. If you're considering cloud-based ERP solutions because your traditional on-premise infrastructure and resources are running at capacity, the sooner you transition to the cloud, the better. With any change, there's always a learning curve and some new costs. But most reputable cloud-based ERP vendors bring huge expertise to the table and can help you develop a cloud-based architecture to suit your business's current and future needs without breaking the bank.