FEATURE: ERP
the young
generation. They are
typically not the decision
makers in today’s organisations.
People like myself have gone through
technology from the old days. When
we used to have a huge server that fits
the whole room and now it’s down to a
normal PC size.
people,
not just
customers, are
adopting the social aspect
of technology even when they’re in
the office. Introducing a social media
style interface into ERP made sense
as customers find this satisfying. The
more they are happy to use an ERP
and the easier they find it to use one,
the more likely they will utilise the full
functionalities and the full value of the
ERP. Then they see the real ROI and
become satisfied, so it’s a journey.
When CIOs are commissioning an
ERP, what factors do they need to
consider when deciding if it should
be based in the cloud or on premise?
First, are current investments. Typically,
customers look at their current
infrastructure investment. If they have
made an investment in hardware, in an
operating system, in Database licensing,
a year or two ago then they haven’t really
utilised this investment. Then the Cloud,
even with the big ROI, doesn’t become
a strategy for them. They really want to
utilise the investment they’ve made on
the hardware, before going to the Cloud.
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Secondly, security is
a big part of the discussion
around data. Where does the data
reside? Are they local data centres?
Typically, they rely on data centres in
Europe, Asia and the US.
We have done some work around this.
In Epicor, we have worked with our
offices in South Africa and installed our
computation in a local data centre to
make it available for the local market.
We have followed the same approach in
the Middle East region.
It’s more to cater for customer
satisfaction and the mindset around
security. It’s more on mindset concern
rather than any real security issues.
In terms of Cloud, customers need to
be ready to adopt change. Having the
ability to connect with an application
from any device - mobiles, iPads,
notebooks - requires a change in the
mindset of customers, specifically the
senior management.
We know today the highest percentage
of users who are on social media are
Companies are unique in their business
environments. As I mentioned, even
if you go to manufacturing the
company that produces water, has
different processes from a company
that produces food that’s all within the
manufacturing sector. If the ERP is very
generic, then it’s offered on the Cloud,
then customising it to fit the customer
requirement, becomes a challenge.
This is where we add value and Epicor
have focused on building the industry
functionality in the ERP, even on the
Cloud. For us, it’s actually the same ERP.
We don’t have different versions; we
don’t have an on-premise version and
a cloud version. It’s the same ERP- this
makes it easier for the customer to
adopt the ERP that fits his industry, his
business and business requirements
versus having a generic ERP that
needs customisation.
Today we know that there is a real
limitation on putting customisation on
it, because Cloud would be a multi-
tenant scenario, serving multiple
customers, towards a single ERP. One
version of the truth that needs to fit
everybody, that doesn’t work. That’s as
well, if we are decision making to select
an ERP on premise or in the cloud. n
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