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development and testing platforms. This
means a company can remain focused
on delivering standardised processes and
employee value as well as fulfilling its
business strategy rather than being stuck
with managing servers and hardware.
Governance rules
Considering the regulatory issues around
processes and the sensitivity of the data, ERP
operates in a highly governed environment.
This means that any business must undergo
several internal processes, including
streamlining redundant and outdated
processes, before committing to an upgrade
or migration. With this decision comes the
migration of legacy data and ensuring
traceability of past transactions.
Backup and disaster recovery are inherent
benefits to operating in the cloud once
a migration to a cloud ERP platform is
complete. Cloud vendors offering high
end application solutions provide native
regulatory aspects around ERP as well as the
highest level of compliance to international
requirements for security, trust and GDPR.
This provides the business with a
secure and always available platform
to deliver shareholder value, in many
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INTELLIGENTCIO
cases significantly more so than what
an on-premise environment can offer.
Furthermore, the ERP application is
constantly upgraded to provide for the
latest localisations, International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRS) based
compliance and added functionality with
every release. This mitigates the challenge
of having an outdated ERP shortly after it
has been deployed.
Migrating from an on-prem to a cloud
version requires a deeper assessment.
“
BACKUP AND
DISASTER
RECOVERY
ARE INHERENT
BENEFITS TO
OPERATING IN
THE CLOUD ONCE
A MIGRATION
TO A CLOUD ERP
PLATFORM IS
COMPLETE.
Diagnostic tools are available from certain
vendors to assess the impact of upgrading,
while in some cases a refactoring of the
solution, adaption of the interfaces and
significant process changes may be required.
The tools and assessments are typically
run by a trusted partner who can align to a
client’s organisational requirements.
The resultant diagnostics also enables
the partner to understand how the ERP
application has been configured for an
on-premise environment and what can be
adapted for a cloud-based deployment. This
enables the partner to either natively port
the ERP processes or reconfigure them for a
cloud solution.
Overcoming challenges
However, migrating such a system as
integral as ERP does not come without its
challenges. One of these revolves around
the customisation of not only workflows
but the other elements specific to an on-
premise ERP installation.
Even so, the cloud might provide the same
features natively that companies had to
tweak in their on-premise solutions, thereby
foregoing the need to customise anything
online. This is where an assessment forms
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