“Moving to the cloud” is a phrase you hear a lot with technology these days. Touted as faster and more secure, cloud presents as an ideal choice. But many companies still feel more comfortable with their feet on the ground and are hesitant to make a change. It’s understandable. Moving from on premises to cloud hosting is a big decision. Before you decide to stick to your on-premises solution, let’s break down some common myths about the cloud.
Myth 1 - Cloud is too expensive.
It can help save you money in the long run.
All this new technology comes at a huge cost, right? While there is certainly an upfront investment with any new system, cloud can actually help save your business money in the long run. Hosting software on premises racks up a huge amount of cost and risk. Servers are incredibly expensive—not only with their purchase price but also in terms of power, support, and maintenance.
Moving to the cloud means freeing up the extensive IT resources dedicated to the never-ending challenge of keeping the lights on in the server room. The burden of deploying, running, and upgrading systems shifts to the cloud vendor. This allows your IT personnel to become strategic shareholders driving innovation. Plus, Epicor’s cloud deployments allow payments over time. That makes the initial cost just as accessible to smaller businesses as larger corporations.
Myth 2 - The performance isn’t as good as on premises.
Cloud offers the most powerful tools to help ensure top performance for your business.
It can be hard to trust someone else with decisions that impact the speed and performance of your essential systems. But cloud offers its users the most powerful tools available. Cloud providers regularly update their software to the latest and greatest. Customers get the most up-to-date software delivered automatically. And all of this comes without having to put your IT staff through time-consuming updates and upgrades. Epicor monitors cloud performance 24x7 and can rapidly scale to address demand. This keeps everything running smoothly for your organization.
Myth 3 – You’ll be forced to update software before you’re ready.
Updates are easier than ever and can happen on your timeline.
Software updates can feel like a huge change. It’s understandable to be apprehensive about having to train staff on system upgrades during a busy period. But one of the greatest benefits of choosing cloud is that your business always runs the latest version of the software. With cloud, you get the earliest access to new features, industry best practices, and competitive innovations. Not only does this keep you on the forefront of your industry, but it also sends security patches that effortlessly keep your system locked down. Many of the automatic upgrades are small changes, which will effortlessly flow into your work processes.
But we also understand what it’s like to get through a busy season and business time constraints. For major releases, which typically occur every 6 months, Epicor offers options to defer upgrades to better fit in with your timeline.
Myth 4 - Cloud isn’t as secure.
Your data is protected and constantly backed up on the cloud.
Cloud continuously updates to combat the newest cyber-threats.
Moving to the cloud might feel like putting your most precious data and systems into unknown territory, but cloud is actually the more secure choice. When you host a system yourself, the servers on premises are vulnerable to break-ins or even natural disasters. One random flood could kill thousands of rows of essential data. Plus, the data itself is vulnerable on premise with most enterprises hosting email on the same network as their ERP system. Email is the number one way hackers can infiltrate a system. Isolating ERP and finance data onto the cloud virtually eliminates that risk with the constant stream of security patches.
While it’s true that no data is ever 100% safe, cloud providers continuously update their servers to combat the newest cyber-threats. Your data is also consistently backed up in separate servers, often thousands of miles apart to account for anything happening to a specific geo-location. Cloud hosting providers can afford these luxuries due to their scale, giving them leverages for greater financial and expert resources than a single organization could feasibly commit to.
Myth 5 - It’s harder to use third-party tools.
Integration is much easier than you think.
Being a tech innovator in your industry means having access to the latest tools. Moving your core ERP system to the cloud offers the agility you need to link with other applications. Utilizing API integration, you’ll have relevant, accurate operational data all in one place—in real time. For example, Wipaire Inc, a multigenerational family-owned business that specializes in designing and manufacturing flotation devices for small and medium-sized aircraft, utilizes a cloud-based ERP system to connect all their business’ key systems. They deliver superior customer service by leveraging a third-party CRM solution. Since it’s hosted in the cloud, it’s always updating and providing real-time customer information.
Getting Comfortable in the Cloud
We understand it can be hard to trust something you can’t feel or touch, but cloud is the way of the future. It’s your access to the latest innovations in your industry and top-notch security, no matter the size of your organization. Switching offers your business an agility that sets the pace with your toughest competitors and clears the way for future growth.
