Taking a flexible approach to hosting ERP solutions
Many claims are made about cloud computing, in particular – cloud-based solutions are faster, easier, and cheaper to implement than traditional ‘on-premises’ alternatives. While the cloud certainly requires less upfront capital investment and alleviates some technical complexity, the claims made don’t always match reality.
As an ERP vendor, it’s likely that your customers and prospects (heavily influenced by software giants such as Microsoft), are expecting you to offer a cloud-based alternative to your traditional ‘on-premises’ ERP solution. With so much hype, it’s not surprising that your customers are being persuaded that the future belongs to the cloud.
Overcoming the complexity of ERP hosting.
Unfortunately, ERP in the cloud is not quite as simple as the hype would have you believe. ERP is often complex, customer specific and must be capable of changing to meet differing business demands. The one size fits all philosophy doesn’t apply, and that has implications for the cloud deployment of solutions where:
- customisation is the norm
- integrating with third-party ‘on-premises’ solutions is essential
- exporting data is a daily occurrence
- 24/7 access to the entire operating environment is non-negotiable
- adding to existing IT resources needs to be fast, efficient and cost effective
- multiple environments are necessary for testing and upgrades.
Where companies are able to standardise their business processes, it may be true that cloud-based ERP software, on platforms such as Microsoft Azure, are faster to implement than traditional ‘on-premises’ solutions. However, in reality, it’s often the case that standard packaged solutions fail to meet the needs of many businesses, which is particularly true within the manufacturing and distribution sector. These businesses need:
- package software that can be modified to meet their specific requirements
- IT environments that can adapt quickly to a change in market conditions
- freedom to change software to gain competitive advantage
- immediate access to systems during unexpected emergencies
- a flexible charging structure to reflect the uncertainties of complex ERP implementations
- pricing models that are transparent and allow reliable budgets to be set throughout the lifetime of the project.
The implications for independent software vendors (ISVs) are clear: project delays, resourcing issues, capacity planning, shifting goal posts and bespoke software can be costly and inefficient under a restrictive cloud model. A flexible approach to hosting is therefore required for ERP vendors.
Why ASL’s private Cloud ERP hosting is the right way to go.
Our Private Cloud Hosting Solution for ERP vendors overcomes the challenges of ERP hosting. Our pragmatic approach enables ISVs to work with professionals who understand the challenges of implementing ERP solutions.
- We come from an ERP background and have more than 20 years of experience providing robust hardware and infrastructure solutions that truly accommodate the needs of fast-paced, high transactional manufacturing and distribution businesses.
- We’ve taken everything we know about robust on-premises deployments of ERP solutions and made certain that our cloud solutions follow the same principles.
- Our ISV partners can confidently promote the cloud without worrying about the restrictions and pricing uncertainty that typifies the big cloud providers.
The following table identifies key points of difference between ASL and Microsoft Azure:
Requirement(s) | Azure | ASL Hosting |
|---|---|---|
Availability requirements with SLAs | ✓ | ✓ |
Ability to respond quickly to incidents | *Refer to MS guides | ✓ |
Incident escalation | *Refer to MS guides | ✓ |
Disaster recovery and business continuity | *Refer to MS guides | ✓ |
Ease of integration with third party in cloud and on premise solutions | *Refer to MS guides | ✓ |
Speed of deployment | ✓ | ✓ |
System performance | ✓ | ✓ |
Proactive system monitoring | ✓ | ✓ |
Moving out of the cloud to on-premise | *Refer to MS guides | ✓ |
Easy management of the system | *Refer to MS guides | ✓ |
WAN Integration (e.g. MPLS) | ✗ | ✓ |
No in-house IT Knowledge required | ✗ | ✓ |
Pricing clarity | ✗ | ✓ |
Working with ASL, you can be confident that your customers’ cloud deployment will be straightforward, expertly managed and delivered on time with no hidden or unforeseen costs.
To learn how your business can deliver ERP cloud solutions that work in the real world, call 0345 862 0350 to discuss partnering with ASL or email sales@aware-soft.co.uk
