ERP software is a suite of integrated applications that cover all areas of an organization. It has evolved to meet the requirements of today’s dynamic business world and ensures consistency among transactions, processes, and data across the supply chain.
Available as a service through a subscription or a pay-per-use model, cloud ERP services offer the ease of accessibility from anywhere at any time on any device, including smartphones, tablets, and laptops. The benefits provided by cloud ERP software include:
1) Low investment/total cost of ownership: One upfront payment for cloud services helps to reduce total cost since companies need not use additional hardware or software or train their employees on the installation and configuration process. This also cuts down project costs during implementation, thereby making it a cost-effective solution for growing SMEs.
2) Accessibility: Businesses enjoy 24×7 access to information with cloud ERP services since it is available as a service from anywhere on any device.
3) Easy data transfer: Cloud ERP ensures easy and secure data transfer between companies, suppliers, and customers along the supply chain. This helps companies compete better in today’s competitive environment by enabling them to be more flexible and scalable. All business processes can now be carried out seamlessly from anywhere at any time on any device of their choice, thereby improving speed to market and expanding new revenue opportunities.
4) Reduced capital expenditure: Traditional systems require up-front hardware and software licenses/installations, resulting in high initial expenditure. As the services provided by cloud ERP are pay-per-use, companies can reduce CapEx to a great extent.
5) Reliability: Cloud systems provide uninterrupted availability of applications and data through multiple redundancy levels, including data centres, power supplies, and network connectivity. This ensures high reliability for server infrastructure along with round-the-clock access to information.
6) Improved business process efficiency: With cloud technology helping businesses automate processes anytime, anywhere on any device, employees’ time is utilized more efficiently than ever before. All applications within the system enable improved internal communication and enhanced bargaining position in negotiations with customers or suppliers. Furthermore, collaboration across all departments of an organization becomes much easier when information is consolidated into one place, allowing employees to spend more time strategizing.
7) Enhanced customer experience: With cloud technology seamlessly enabling customers to access their accounts online, businesses are empowered with the ability to provide a consistent digital experience across all touchpoints, including social media platforms where they can quickly respond to customer queries for improved satisfaction rates and loyalty. This also enables real-time tracking of feedback which may further benefit them in various ways, such as identifying new products or services that customers great value.
8) Increased productivity: Cloud ERP software facilitates increased productivity by automating business processes, reducing paperwork, and improving overall efficiency leading to better output.
9) Data security/availability: The availability of data stored on multiple servers makes it safe from any single point failure since servers fail independently, and a failure of a single application would not be critical to the entire system. In case of any security breach, companies can access all historical data from multiple servers in real-time to take necessary action instantly.
10) Cost-effectiveness: The best part of cloud ERP is that it provides cost-effective solutions right up to complete business automation, making it an ideal choice for growing SMEs across all verticals.
11) Cleaner code: code that is concise, easy to read, and reflects the intention of the programmer.
12) Modular architecture: system in which major parts do not need to be changed for different applications.
13) Faster development time & deployment: because of clean code, less testing has to be done by the developer, therefore faster production time. Also, it is effortless for developers to find bugs messing up with the application or business layers, thus making fixing bugs easier and more efficient.
14) Easier maintenance: due to modularity & clean code, writing changes on one part doesn’t require changing anything else. This makes it much easier for the maintainability of software, making it a more long-term sustainable solution. Only small portion needs are looked upon while implementing a new feature
15) Increased flexibility/agility: Companies can access business-critical data from any location at any time using different devices. This enables them to make real-time, informed decisions while efficiently responding to customer demands across all channels, resulting in increased agility and reduced response times.
16) Reduced cost of ownership: The cloud ERP offers various services to businesses that are not possible with traditional software, including robust hardware, software & bandwidth management resulting in a lower total cost of ownership than on-premises system.
17) Complete business automation: With cloud technology empowering companies with the ability to automate complete business processes, they can focus more on revenue generation than managing compliance issues. In addition, cloud ERP solutions enable encryption & decryption of data between multiple systems with no downtime resulting in smooth operations.
18) Improved collaboration: The situational awareness enabled by cloud ERP software empowers employees to collaborate more effectively and efficiently, resulting in better responsiveness & improved decision making across all departments of an organization. It also allows organizations to build stronger bonds with customers by enabling them to provide a superior customer experience at every touchpoint, resulting in increased customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, reduced churn rates, and higher rates of conversion. This enables businesses to differentiate themselves from their competitors while gaining a competitive advantage by successfully implementing new business models that may previously not have been possible on traditional IT platforms.
19) Increased revenue: Cloud-based solutions support more customer requests leading to reduced response times and improved productivity, thus helping companies reduce overall operational costs while increasing revenue. It also allows companies to offer complete visibility on past and current business performance across all departments of an organization resulting in better decision-making and improved overall profitability.
20) Reduced time to market: As cloud-based solutions allow businesses to automate their routine processes, it drastically reduces lead times. They can increase productivity by reducing manual activities, and this frees up resources which can then be used for product development and innovation, thus leading to reduced time to market.
21) Improved profitability: Cloud ERP solutions enable organizations to streamline their routine processes, thus enabling them to increase revenue while reducing operational costs. It helps organizations cut on IT expenditures by offering cloud services which reduce the need for IT staff, thus leading to increased profitability.
22) User-friendly interface: Users often struggle with complex & traditional software due to outdated interfaces resulting in increased operational costs; however, cloud-based solutions offer improved user experience designed to keep modern users in mind, thus improving user satisfaction and productivity.
These were some benefits of cloud enterprise resource planning.
