Big ERP vendors’ hope that users will hurry to go all-in on their cloud-enabled system, which they sell as if it was totally renewed. A growing number of customers — even long-standing ones — begins to feel they are exposed to fraud, and they are absolutely right.
Just migrating an old monolithic ERP system to the cloud does not change anything but increasing the expenses. It can cost millions to re-implement a legacy ERP system in the cloud, but there is no gain. Old style ERP cannot be fundamentally improved by bolting-on some web and cloud technology. An old dog with lipstick is still an old dog.
Companies should never pay for anything not delivered and always buy the best app for the job and not because it is offered by a vendor they already use. To do so is plain lazy and bad business.
Poor usability and the high level of complexity and cost of app integration and making changes is a business disadvantage of magnitudes. Old style ERP delivers declining value. This happens because this kind of apps are getting inadequate at the same speed as new business requirements and technology opportunities emerge.
Old style ERP does not deliver architectural flexibility and usability advantages similar to apps that are natively built in the cloud for the cloud. This brings us to the point my friend and ERP authority Mikael Petersén made about today’s stature: “Companies want something transformative, but their vendors come to them with the same old system they have offered for the last 20 years.”
It is a new day for ERP. Smart business people understands that ERP technology has been through a generational change. Well-informed board members want to see companies move to digital business models and realize you are not going to get there with your grandpa’s Oldsmobile version of ERP. For a system to support its users need to change it must be changed itself or die.
- The use of user ID predates email. But that is no reason to stay with cryptic user IDs. All native cloud apps allows using your email address as user ID. It is therefore a simple way to separate old from new, where the following 3 advantages shall be observed:
- Research shows that where users had an email address and a ten-position user ID it was easier for most users to log in if only asked for their email address.
- It is more cost-effective. For example, Microsoft Azure AD offers a lower price when using an email address as login.
- When properly used you know immediately whom you are dealing with and how to make contact.
It is officially December! The end of the year comes with a lot of pressure to finish strong and plan for a successful 2019. The takeaway here is that status quo does not work and that you have more progressive ERP options than ever before. Whether you need a highly specialized app, a better app for a whole business domain or a new system designed for small to midsize companies, make the choice with an eye on the future.
The choice is crucial as you obviously do not intend to blaze a trail and ask your company to follow… and then find out you took the wrong way!
