ERP Cloud Computing

Remember when having your head in the clouds wasn't viewed as a good thing?  It's a good thing business never took that point of view, because being in the Cloud is a happy hybrid of a well-grounded business and a little blue-sky thinking!  Almost any related industry discussion or Web article these days notes current and future acceleration in the adoption of Cloud computing--particularly ERP Cloud computing. 

Putting aside the double entendres and clichés, take a moment to note the number of articles returned on a Web search on the phrase "ERP Cloud computing."  They indicate industry buzz over the increase of ERP in the Cloud with references to Cloud-deployed SaaS (Software as a Service) and statements that ERP is gaining on CRM (Customer Relationship Management) relative to Cloud adoption. Many businesses are realizing the profitability and reduced operating costs of Cloud CRM--the products of having data on current/future customers and prospective sales at the fingertips of their client-facing groups without many of the headaches and costs associated with internal implementations.  Understandably, business management wants the same synergy for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERM). 

ERP Cloud Computing Early Adopters

While ERP Cloud computing is increasing, the relationship between clients who took an early step toward Cloud vendors is still developing. Like swimmers who dip their toes into unknown waters, some of those clients have been a little tentative in entering ERP Cloud computing and haven't taken the full plunge. They are stirring the Cloud vendor pool to reveal existing integration issues between provider Cloud services and resources they have been retained on their premises.
 
Accurate predictions within the industry have foretold a continuing and significant increase in business adoption of ERP Cloud computing.  That growth could almost exponentially expand the number of players involved to include new vendors, more businesses, and entrepreneurial entities.  Smaller Cloud vendors with proven track records are already being acquired by larger more global companies with the intent to leverage their experience and facilitate integrations of Cloud applications with systems retained on premise by their customers. That mix should ratchet up innovation to overcome integration issues and residual reservations about taking the plunge.  

Their reticence is hardly surprising considering that past integration of disparate resources--data, infrastructure, platform, and application--was so often fraught with time-consuming problems, demand for additional resources, and unexpected costs.  When the operational tasks involved in ERP Cloud computing are more fully outsourced, they will be measurably simpler. That won't obviate the requirement for business expertise in ERP departments or the critical need to simplify or represent large quantities of data graphically for immediate absorption by upper level management. However, it should go a long way toward easing the integration angst of business managers and executives.