Gartner surveys and interactions with customers have shown an increasing movement of on-premises ERP functions to the cloud.
Key Challenges
- Upgrading an ERP solution for strictly technical reasons may cause more business disruption than benefits delivered. It may also result in a missed opportunity to leverage new capabilities.
- Legacy ERP customizations that addressed gaps in functionality may inhibit the effectiveness of moving to a cloud ERP solution, delaying the expected realization of benefits.
- Moving all or part of the application portfolio to the cloud stresses traditional file-based, point-to-point integrations, reducing system reliability and increasing maintenance costs.
- Lack of preparedness can delay and derail an ERP initiative.
Recommendations
For CIOs supporting legacy applications as part of their postmodern ERP strategies:
- Position your ERP upgrade as an opportunity to provide tools for business transformation.
- Minimize ERP costs by rationalizing all customizations. Document and evaluate the current business need, and attach a value metric to each customization and integration.
- Deliver end-to-end business process support by developing an integration strategy that incorporates multiple integration tools and master data management.
- Prepare your organization for the amount and rate of change by adopting a product management philosophy for ERP.