| | July 20158CIOReviewopinionin myMeeting ERP Challenges with Cloud DeploymentBy Kirk Compton, VP, ERP Cloud Services, Dimension Data-Cloud Business UnitEnterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are ubiquitous across industries as a mission critical solution for managing integrated applications and business processes, including e-commerce, human resources, supply demand, accounting, CRM, and more. These systems, however, do present a common technology challenge­the legacy technology on which they run make it difficult to respond to changing business demands and dynamic market conditions.Furthermore, ERP systems are costly to maintain and complex to manage. They demand high availability, high performance, and always-on availability. Enabling more flexible, agile ERP systems without sacrificing security or performance is a key business demand.While there is no simple answer, using a cloud model for ERP provides a vehicle for helping organizations get more out of their ERP investments, without having stressing IT budgets.Why Cloud? Why Now?Cloud is no longer a fringe IT concept; it's a strategic part of the business IT landscape. As the cloud absorbs more production applications, ERP systems are being tapped for migration to the cloud. According to industry analysts, 47 percent of organizations plan to move their core ERP systems to the cloud by 2020. Many companies are already moving dev and test ERP workloads to the cloud.Experts also estimate that most organizations only utilize 60 percent of the power of their ERP solution. Why? Organizations often delay changes to the application due to aging infrastructures that can't support new features and functions. Often the basis layer of the application hasn't been properly maintained; making changes to the application layer a lengthy and riskier process. The cloud supports tangible benefits in terms of ERP use and functionality. Reducing the cost of infrastructure is one clear benefit. Cloud also enables ERP applications to keep pace with the dynamics of the business. By selecting a cloud provider that offers infrastructure and application operations services, the enterprise can refocus resources on innovation, implementing new applications, and improving business processes while enabling cost-effective ERP support.Today's flexible, responsive cloud delivery models, to bring advancements such as in-memory computing and access to modern hardware­without the need for capital budget approvals. Cloud providers also provide support management, patching and other standard ERP maintenance tasks. By taking advantage of the cloud providers' expertise and purpose-built infrastructure, implementations and upgrades are faster and simpler and new features and functions can quickly be pushed out to users. Combine all this capability with a cloud provider with a global footprint and users are put closer to your ERP environment and their data; another way to improve customer satisfaction.Which Cloud is the Right Cloud for ERP?The greatest advancement in cloud has been in the area of self-service provisioning. It's highly automated and remains the hallmark of cloud. That being said, self-service management Kirk Compton
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