A good lead is half the battle when publishing an article as a blogger. Now some colleagues tend to see the lead more as an end in itself and not as a real indication of the content of the article.
To be honest, this was the first thing I thought when I read the headline on the cloud.de platform blog: "Start-ups, please keep your IT".
How now? A website that deals with the serious use of cloud software in Germany, of all places, cancels out one of the arguments always in favour of "software as a service" (SAAS)? Where it is always said: With the cloud, you can save on your own expensive IT. Probably just a headline that is then eloquently refuted in an article.
Surprisingly enough: none of the above.
It says: (QUOTE) "...Cloud services do not replace an IT department, only certain processes and infrastructures. However, in order for these to be optimally utilised, interlinked, secure and conducive to innovation, experts and developers are needed who know how a company can build on a successful cloud architecture."
It then lists 5 good reasons why, despite the use of Cloud software your own IT should not save money. And these reasons are also understandable and valid!
Now it would perhaps be useful or expected to explain in a blog post why you should still use software from the cloud. Perhaps, and probably rightly so, the author trusts that there are already enough arguments in favour of this in the other articles by cloud.com finds.
SAAS between euphoria and disillusionment
However, the arguments presented in the blog, which is well worth reading, indicate that the cloud is slowly coming of age. Like every trend, it follows an innovation curve, where initial difficulties are followed by euphoria, which can only be followed by a certain amount of disillusionment. If you want to take a closer look at this model, we recommend a presentation by the "innovation professor" Prof. Dr Gunter Dueck recommended. Here is one of many Youtube videos:
In relation to ERP systemslike SAP Business One, development has only just begun. We are still waiting for the early adopters, at least in Europe's midmarket. There can be no talk of euphoria. Yes, and disillusionment will also set in. But in the end, pure logic will win out.
And as with many Innovations This will mean that for advantages, especially of an economic nature, changes and sometimes disadvantages will always have to be accepted.
For example, when it became apparent that music would be distributed via data channels, it was unimaginable for many people that they would no longer hold a complete work of art in their hands with a cover, lyrics, photos and an object that they could put in their cupboard, as they did with records and CDs. Today, the whole art form of the album is dying out and consumers are only buying individual tracks.
If they want to use ERP from the cloud, companies will also have to let go of some ideas that were previously considered sacrosanct. "It can't be that we have to adapt to the software, the software has to adapt to us," is something you hear often enough when discussing processes and their handling in ERP software with companies. "Then stick with one On premise approach and don't even think about using SAAS software" is an honest answer. Whether this is always wise is another matter. SAP has been preaching best-price approaches for a long time. Only very few SMEs follow these suggestions.
ERP and SAAS need new approaches
But manufacturers also need to realise that, on the one hand, it is not enough to put ERP software in the cloud and offer it for rent. The other model also requires other approaches. At the same time, an ERP that is offered as a SAAS can and will never be able to be customised as flexibly as one that has to provide its function exclusively for just one customer. That is in the nature of things. However, this also means that ERP producers have to abandon the paradigm of total integration of all processes for such offerings.
Data security is a completely different topic. There is also a nice article on this topic by the author mentioned at the beginning. This time as Podcast.
Is SAP Business One Cloud Software?
The other SAP cloud
SAP Business ByDesign vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud
SAP Business One Cloud Migration Costs
Data secure in the cloud
