Traditionally, the field of ERP software companies has been traditionally been controlled by a few big players: Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Epicor, and Infor. These companies have dominated the client-server based model for ERP software. This is all about to change with the onset of the latest cloud computing trends.
Companies such as Netsuite are gaining significant foothold in the market as one of the key ERP software companies. Netsuite’s model is an entirely online, cloud-based Service as a Software (SaaS). The ease of use, low costs of maintenance from IT and system resources for businesses make cloud SaaS solutions such as Netsuite particularly appealing to many businesses. As it has become widely accepted that the niche market of cloud based CRM and ERP is going to be significant as the way of doing business in the future, the older ERP software companies are beginning to recognize the need to provide similar types of service.
Microsoft recently announced its entry into the cloud ERP market with Dynamics Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), with their Azure cloud platform. Microsoft has long been discussing their plans for the future being cloud based, and the announcement of moving their traditional Dynamics ERP software to a cloud based hosted solution was a logical next step, although later to the game than some other ERP software companies.
Though cloud based ERP systems are still in early stages, it will begin rapidly developing, as the matured ERP software companies begin to focus resources and efforts in adapting to the new landscape as the trend moves in this direction. Businesses may seem hesitant to rely as heavily on a hosted solution for all of their data, but as companies like Netsuite continue to gain a user base with satisfaction and trust, it’s only a matter of time before cloud based solutions become the primary form of ERP for all businesses. Once the reliability is proven, companies will see the benefit in cost-savings and flexibility of conducting all of their business functions and operations entirely online.
With the onset of Microsoft dipping its feet in the new trend in the market, the signals should show the onset of the other major players will soon follow. Although many smaller ERP software companies may be hesitant and view from the sidelines, the advantage will be given to companies like Netsuite having a headstart. It will be very interesting to see as the competitive landscape continues to change with ERP software companies as they choose whether to adopt the technology of the cloud into their business models.
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