There's a lot of debate out there on forums regarding hosted ERP solutions.
Obviously, much success has been had with Software as a Service (SaaS) in the CRM (Customer Relationship Management) space, but CRM really isn't "mission critical." If a company chooses to outsource mission critical applications, such as shipping software, WMS, or manufacturing software, then what will happen if the company loses their internet connection?
There are many pros to going with a fully hosted solution over an on-premise solution. They include, but are not limited to:
- The initial cost for the ERP solution is usually significantly less than an on-premise solution.
- Total cost of ownership (TCO) over time can still be less than on-premise, depending on the outsource provider and their capabilities
- The initial implementation time line can also be accelerated by hosting because much of the underlying configuration infrastructure can be shared, therefore consulting time is minimized
- Internal IT support staff is not required for a hosted solution
- The hosting provider takes care of system updates, patches, regression testing, etc.
The one advantage on-premise solutions have over hosted is that they are indeed, on the premises of the client. They don't go down unless your business does, and then, you've got bigger fish to fry.
That being said, if you could combine the benefits of on-premise with the benefits of hosted, in a hybrid solution, then you would have the best of both worlds.
Look for a solution that offers to have your mission critical applications on site, like:
- Warehouse Management System
- Shipping/Manifest System
- Manufacturing Data Collection (work order) System
The rest of the ERP system can be hosted. That way, if your network does go down, your mission critical applications are still up and running and your financial transactions will simply wait until connectivity to the main Accounting system is restored.
A hybrid hosted and on-premise solution may be the answer you're looking for!
We've combined the best of both worlds for our clients. Contact us now to learn more about our hybrid Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains (GP) solutions.