The Coronavirus Crisis and the Cloud

For most organizations, the shift to remote work happened overnight. Developments with COVID-19 meant that remote access to things that are normally accessed in office buildings was required. Paper processes had to turn to electronic ones or stop altogether, and in-person meetings moved to virtual settings. For many organizations, this serves as a transformational wakeup call to embrace the cloud.

The coronavirus illuminated the need to empower employees with anytime, anywhere access and for one version of the truth to ensure alignment across the business. Organizations that haven’t made the move to the cloud for their core processes are accelerating discussions as they plan for a more remote friendly future with greater need for agility. With the assumption that more employees will continue working from home, cloud is essential.

Consider the costs. Reducing operational costs will be a big focus in the wake of COVID-19 as many organizations have experienced a reduction in revenues. A cloud ERP system can provide more stable costs over time, with lower maintenance and higher reliability. Team members who may have been dedicated solely toward maintaining systems can be redeployed and focus on growing the business, rather than maintaining out of date software.

Increase flexibility. Remote work is likely here to stay. With cloud ERP, employees can be connected virtually anywhere, at any time. A cloud system also allows for increased mobile capabilities, which provides users flexibility in how work gets done. Users that can access their systems with ease are more likely to use them.

Influence quicker business decisions. The swiftness of the pandemic caused organizations to quickly re-evaluate their go forward strategy multiple times as the impact of the pandemic became clearer and clearer.  Embedded analytics connect systems and data, allowing for greater transparency and more accurate insights. With integrated analytics, making real-time decisions based on a single source of truth allows for a more nimble response and ability to adjust to changing market and consumer demands.

Adoption risks. Any major organizational change requires top-level support and buy-in from all business stakeholders. Planning, executive sponsorship, and willingness to change will influence the success of a new system. Ensure that the organization is ready, willing and able to make change happen by incorporating strategic focus on organizational change management.

Selecting cloud ERP means greater operational efficiency, increased productivity and lower costs, and can improve the employee experience by connecting employees with the resources and information they need as remote work becomes the normal approach to how work gets done. The coronavirus crisis has highlighted inefficiencies in legacy processes and the need for modern technology. Remote work is here to stay along with the need to have the right tools and resources to drive growth and innovation. For businesses relying on on-premise solutions, the time is now to embrace cloud ERP and lay the foundation for success following COVID-19.