While most technologies continue to evolve, one thing that CIOs can always rely on is the trusty Enterprise Resource Planning system. Made famous through companies like Oracle and SAP, these systems are the glue that bind enterprise planning, purchasing, sales, finance, and human resources operations. For enterprise IT, much of their workload is concentrated here.
Nonetheless in the world of technology, innovation is the name of the game. If you’re not innovating, then you are lagging and despite the reluctance to innovate on ERPs due to the blood, sweat, and tears taken to implement, the conversation needs to change – and with cloud and DevOps in the mix – it finally can. After all, let’s consider a few prevailing notions about ERPs:
- The ERP system is infrastructure, meaning that it weighs down on capital costs. As organizations seek more agility and cloud infrastructure becomes more widely available, making the move becomes more attractive.
- Consolidation is the other game. As cloud software and hardware reduces the amount of applications needed to perform an operation, efficiency increases. Plus, updates to software applications are immediate, turning innovation opportunities that used to be months into minutes. The sounds of lower TCO are music to the ears of not just the CIO, but also the CFO and CTO.
- ERPs are part of the technology refresh cycle – and we know much CIOs love evaluating technology. When time can be spent instead on implementation and evaluation versus analysis and thinking, why not move into the cloud?
- ERPs are big in a world going small. With microservices and APIs as the new welcomed kids on the block, the ERP is still the trusty friend but even that may be fading. As DevOps gains more traction, expect the focus to be on what can be implemented and deployed quickly – and automatically.
But with all this said, moving an ERP to a cloud platform won’t happen with the snap of a finger, especially with complex data, application, and systems being migrated. It’s still important to consider the impact of the cloud on not only your technology assets, but on employees and business processes too. Regardless, we believe that digital transformation is set to happen at some point.
What do you think? Is there potential with the cloud and ERPs? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Are you a technology executive looking to get more out of your ERP and transition into the cloud? Get the conversation started with us at sales@perficient.com to learn more about our cloud and DevOps practices.
Learn more about our IBM practice here.
