Back in February, we tried to shed some light on the various ERP deployment options (https://www.180systems.com/understanding-erp-deployment-options/). One of the most confusing options was whether the vendor offered multi-tenant architecture, which allows one instance of the software to serve multiple companies at the same time, and brings down the costs of the hosting fees. Some vendors have not built multi-tenant from the ground-up or changed their code to accommodate it. Instead they have used middleware and Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) to get something equivalent. Sorry – I realize that these terms also lead to more confusion and so another approach is needed. We […]
Cloud security: fact or fiction?
June 1, 2016 from CPA Magazine – “As our cloud survey article showed, data is moving to the clouds at high speeds across all kinds of organizations. But is the data safer than it was when these organizations kept it locked away on their own premises…” Read More […]
What the cloud really is
December 1, 2015 from CPA Magazine – “…Below you’ll find a short primer on the cloud and how to decide if the technology is right for your business needs. We’ve also designed a short survey to see how many of you are using the cloud in business – and if so, how” Read more 180 View – I (Michael Burns) wrote this article with a lot of help from Margaret Craig-Bourdin who is the editor of the online edition of CPA Magazine. The first version of the article was considered by Margaret to be way too technical for the […]
Cloud ERP
January 28, 2015 from InformationWeek – “Enterprise resource planning software is the ultimate legacy application. On the downside, ERP has earned a reputation for costly, time-consuming deployments and maintenance, outdated user interfaces, and general inflexibility.” Read more 180 View – The cloud is supposed to make ERP implementations a lot easier according to pundits and vendors alike. However the cloud is really just a different way of deploying the software and most of the tasks and risks in an implementation don’t vanish into the clouds. […]
Top 10 Trends in Cloud ERP
May 19, 2014 from enterpriseAPPStoday – “Cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) software hasn’t really caught on yet. But according to a recent Gartner survey, it will soon. Here are some of the top trends shaping cloud-based ERP…” Read more 180 View – Most of our clients are more interested in finding a solution that is a good fit, not overly difficult to implement, in their budget and supported and implemented by a company that knows their industry really well. They don’t care that much how it’s deployed. Cloud deployment does not seem less expensive than on premise deployment even when […]
Cloud Users Spend Less, Spend Smarter on IT
February 2014 from computer economics – “…The study finds that organizations fully utilizing cloud computing save on average more than 15% in IT spending, whether measured as a percentage of revenue or on a per-user basis, as shown in Figure 2 from the full study. Detailed analysis of respondents’ IT spending mix shows that the savings come not only from a reduction in data center spending but also in IT personnel costs. As a result of these economic efficiencies, cloud users are able to devote a higher percentage of their IT spending to new initiatives and less to ongoing support. […]
SaaS and Cloud ERP Observations: Is Cloud ERP right for you?
December 12, 2013 from Aberdeen Group – “Over the past six years, Aberdeen has ben measuring the willingness of organizations to consider Software as a Service (SaaS) as the deployment model for their ERP implementations…” Read more 180 View – Although the article is a year old, it is still relevant. The article distinguishes between 2 cloud models – one is SaaS or a public cloud and the other is a hosted model or private cloud. The definition by Aberdeen is confusing as both models are hosted. However public cloud and private cloud does make sense. In the public cloud, organizations […]
The Simplicity and Agility of Zero-Upgrades in Cloud ERP
May 16, 2012 from The Enterprise System Spectator – “I am coming to the conclusion that a primary benefit of cloud ERP is the reduction or complete elimination of version upgrades. This observation was reinforced again this week in my one day attendance at the Plex Systems user conference in Indianapolis. Plex is a great example of what a cloud ERP vendor can accomplish by taking what I call a “zero upgrades” product strategy…” Read more 180 View – Another great article by Frank Scavo. […]
Get on my cloud
August 2012 from 180 Systems – The hottest technology trend is in the clouds. Cloud computing enables organizations without IT resources to deploy applications such as ERP or CRM over the internet. All the vendors are jumping into the clouds whether they are a small company such as Blue Link (developer of an ERP system targeted to small and mid-sized distributors) or a large company such as Microsoft. In speaking with Mark Canes from Blue Link recently, he told me that most of his new clients will have their system running in the clouds. Blue Link offers a private cloud […]
10 Things You Just Gotta Have in Your Cloud Contract
April 30, 2012 from CFO – “A CFO’s guide to the wild and wooly world of cloud services in which contracts are mutable, companies come and go, and politics a continent away could materially impact your business…” Read more 180 View –Although we don’t think that cloud computing contracts are as risky as the article indicates, there are still some good suggestions. […]