ERP Systems in the Cloud: Benefits, Risks, and Challenges

Running head: ERP SYSTEMS IN THE CLOUD
ERP SYSTEMS IN THE CLOUD
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1ERP SYSTEMS IN THE CLOUD
Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................2
Discussion......................................................................................................................4
On premises software.................................................................................................4
Benefits of on-premises software...............................................................................5
Limitations of on-premises software..........................................................................5
Basics of cloud computing.........................................................................................6
Types of cloud............................................................................................................6
Services of cloud........................................................................................................8
Risks of SaaS..............................................................................................................9
Risks of IaaS............................................................................................................10
Cloud architecture....................................................................................................10
Benefits of cloud computing services, SaaS and IaaS.............................................11
Cloud computing challenges....................................................................................12
Conclusion....................................................................................................................13
Reference......................................................................................................................15

2ERP SYSTEMS IN THE CLOUD
Introduction
This report aims to discuss the several features of cloud computing. A discussion
about the basics of cloud computing is provided. The various kinds of clouds are discussed
briefly in this report. The various services that the cloud service providers offer are stated in
this report. The issues related to the on premises systems is discussed in this report. The
benefits and risks related to the hosted ERP system or the IaaS infrastructure is stated in this
report. The risks benefits that are related to the cloud ERP system or SaaS infrastructure is
stated in this report. Some benefits of cloud computing are provided in this report. The
challenges concerning the implementation of cloud computing are provided. Lastly, this
report concludes with an appropriate conclusion of this report.
Cloud computing is a growing trend of disseminated computing. The foundation of
cloud computing is viewed as the development of network computing technologies. CEO of
Google, Eric Schmidt, was the first person to give importance to the cloud computing term
(Arora, Parashar and Transforming 2013). Cloud is generally build on some existing
architecture that is grid based. It uses the services of the grid and some added technologies
such as virtualisation and various business models. Cloud is a collection of service computers
that are interconnected together in similar or different geographical locations, that operates
together for serving numerous customers with workload and various needs depending on the
basis of virtualisation (Dinh et al. 2013). The services of cloud are provided to the users as
utility amenities depending on the business model. The clients utilise these services provided
to them by providers of cloud service for building the necessary applications on the internet
and finally deliver these services to the end users (Hashem et al. 2015). It provides no
concerns to the cloud users about the installing or maintenance of hardware and software.
The clients use the services provided by the cloud users and payment is done depending on

3ERP SYSTEMS IN THE CLOUD
the usage of these services. Large disseminated data centres are the providers of cloud
storage. The data centres are organised as grids and cloud is assembled on the top of these
grid services (Fernando, Loke and Rahayu 2013). Virtual images of all physical components
in these data centres are provided to the cloud users. This allowance of virtual images to the
clients is referred as virtualisation, which helps in building the abstraction over all the
physical systems. Several cloud applications are obtaining recognition for the benefits of
accessibility, scalability, dependability, and the utility model. The aspect of distributed
computing has become easier as the respective cloud providers are handling all the critical
aspects of cloud computing.