Cloud Hosting: Pros and Cons of Moving Your ERP to the Cloud

Cloud hosting – is it for your business? With 47% of companies surveyed by Gartner planning on moving their core systems to the cloud in the next 5 years, you may be wondering if this is something you should hop on before you miss the bus.

Truthfully, the hot buzz around cloud computing is not just a trend. There are real advantages to cloud hosting that can put your company in a better position regarding its IT strategy and flexibility. But that doesn’t mean the cloud is for everyone.

Taking your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution to the cloud can be a ground-breaking revolution or simply a way to optimize your IT capabilities, depending on the unique needs of your organization. Key factors to consider are the size and nature of your data, your required level of data security, the mobility of your employees and their need for data access, the size and skill level of your IT staff, the overall longevity of your solution, and of course, the resources you have available.

Does cloud hosting meet your needs?

Cloud Hosting Pros:

• Lower initial investment. No need for expensive hardware and infrastructure.
• Access your data anywhere, anytime, and from any device.
• Focus your IT resources on your business goals, rather than system maintenance.
• Updates and maintenance are provided as a service from your hosting provider.
• Faster deployment.
• Low-cost data backup & disaster recovery as data is stored in an off-site location.
• Greatly reduce the chance of loss due to natural disasters or theft.
• Environmentally friendly, as digital access to your data reduces your paper needs.

Cloud Hosting Cons:

• Power outages at your data center, while highly unlikely, can negatively impact your business (although this applies to on-premise outages, as well).
• Higher cost of ownership in the long run as the “rent vs. own” model takes effect.
• More bandwidth is required for larger data files and internet-based services.
• Privacy - Governments can potentially access unencrypted data (US Patriot Act).
• As you grow, you may face unexpected costs as your user subscriptions increase.

Is On-Premise the better choice?

On-Premise Pros:

• One time investment. No recurring payments and monthly subscription costs.
• Gain full system control with restrictions, monitoring, and data management.
• Greater security and privacy over sensitive data.

On-Premise Cons:

• Higher upfront investment. Hardware is required to host on-premise solutions.
• On-premise software licensing is more costly upfront than subscription licensing.
• A larger, highly skilled IT staff is required to maintain your systems and hardware.

For a first-hand look at how cloud-hosting can make a real impact on your business, we invite you to join us for our free breakfast event on June 5^th, called Moving Your Business to the Cloud with Microsoft Technology! This event features demonstrations on Microsoft Dynamics ERP, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and the Lync communication platform, all hosted with cloud technology. Learn from the experts how these solutions can reduce labor time and cost, improve employee productivity and efficiency, and provide more flexibility to adjust to your market’s needs.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the wide range of functionality offered in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013, please contact us today at 636-237-2280 or email us at sales@turnkeytec.com

For a high level estimate of your investment in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013, please use our FREE Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Quick Quote Tool. It will give you a great starting point for assessing your potential investment in a solution like this.

By Brad Vorbeck and Jennifer Espelien at Turnkey Technologies, Inc. - Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky Microsoft Gold Dynamics GP and Gold Dynamics CRM Partner.

by Turnkey Technologies