Cloud ERP Systems: Exploring Features, Advantages, and Case Studies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems on the cloud. It begins by defining ERP and cloud computing, highlighting their individual features, advantages, and disadvantages. The report then delves into the concept of cloud ERP systems, explaining their characteristics and benefits, such as ease of use, scalability, and lower customization costs. The advantages of cloud ERP are discussed in detail, including competitive advantages, high efficiency, improved collaboration, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. The research also touches upon the disadvantages such as indirect costs, data migration difficulties, and vendor dependence. The report includes real-world case studies to illustrate the practical implementation and impact of cloud ERP systems in various businesses. It concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the importance of cloud ERP in modern business operations.

Running head: ERP SYSTEMS ON CLOUD
ERP Systems on Cloud
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Research Objectives...................................................................................................................3
Research Questions....................................................................................................................3
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................4
Features, Advantages and Disadvantages of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems...........4
Features, Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Computing............................................6
ERP Systems on Cloud..........................................................................................................8
Case Studies.........................................................................................................................11
Conclusion................................................................................................................................12
References................................................................................................................................14

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Introduction
Enterprise resource planning or ERP can be defined as the significant integrated
management of all types of business processes that are mediated either by technology or
software (Monk and Wagner 2012). Enterprise resource planning is referred to as the specific
category of business management software or a collection of various integrated applications,
which any organization eventually utilizes for the purpose of storing, managing, collecting
and finally interpreting data or information from all the business activities. This particular
system of Enterprise resource planning or ERP is responsible for providing a continuously
updated as well as integrated overview of major processes or activities of business by
utilizing the common databases that are maintained by the database management system or
DBMS (Shaul and Tauber 2013). Several popular organizations are utilizing this ERP in their
businesses in today’s world. The information is easily flowed from one department to the
other easily and promptly. Cloud computing is the next important and significant technology
that is being utilized by various companies. It is the easiest method to transfer data via
Internet connection. Cloud computing can be referred to as the significant paradigm of
information technology. It majorly relies on the resource sharing for the successful
achievement of economies of scale that is similar to the public utility (Zissis and Lekkas
2012). All the third party clouds solely enable the companies in focusing on the major
businesses and not on spending any resource on the computer maintenance as well as
infrastructure.
The following research report outlines a brief discussion on the amalgamation of
enterprise resource planning and cloud computing. There are various options that are required
to be considered in ERP. The various options are on premise, which solely refers to the
approach that is traditional in nature. In this approach, the organization purchases all

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the .licenses for any ERP system and again reinstalling it in the company. These types of
systems subsequently track all the business resources, such as capacity of production, raw
materials and cash. Moreover, the payroll, purchase orders or any other orders are viewed
with the help of this enterprise resource planning. This research report will be properly
highlighting on the vital details regarding cloud ERP system.
Research Objectives
The various objectives of this research report of ERP Systems on Cloud are as
follows:
 To understand the concept of enterprise resource planning.
 To know about cloud computing and its advantages.
 To learn about the cloud ERP systems.
 To know about real case studies on cloud ERP systems.
Research Questions
The research questions of this research report are as follows:
i) What is enterprise resource planning?
ii) What is cloud computing?
iii) What is cloud ERP system?
iv) Which companies have utilized cloud ERP system within their businesses?

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Literature Review
Features, Advantages and Disadvantages of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems
Enterprise resource planning system or ERP is one of the most significant
technologies in today’s technological world. It is being utilized by all popular and significant
organizations or companies for the purpose of integrating their business processes or
operations (Seethamraju 2015). There are various important features of this technology. The
most significant features of this particular system are as follows:
i) Process Streamlining: The first and the foremost important feature of the enterprise
resource planning is process streamlining. Any business comprises of several significant
processes. These business processes or operations are extremely important for any
organization and thus they should be executed properly (Kwak et al. 2012). However, when
these processes are executed separately, it takes up huge time and thus the time consumption
is extremely high. The streamlining of processes is much easier with the software of
enterprise resource planning. Hence, this process streamlining becomes extremely easier and
thus all the organizations utilize this software.
ii) Customer Relationship Management: The second important feature of the
software of enterprise resource planning is the customer relationship management or CRM.
This particular feature majorly deals with the proper management of customers for the sale of
business (Hasibuan and Dantes 2012). The module of this customer relationship management
is utilized by all the organizations, who have implemented the solution of enterprise resource
planning within their businesses. The module of CRM should ensure the perfect management
of the customers, opportunities and support to the customers for proper development of
business.

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iii) Customization Capability: The next feature of the enterprise resource planning si
the capability of customization. The customization capability helps the business in
customizing all their processes and activities easily (Leon 2014). Moreover, it decreases the
time as well as the cost consumption. The rigid software of enterprise resource planning is
not viable, since the process or workflow of business are changed or altered.
iv) Reducing Time Consumption: The fourth important feature of the enterprise
resource planning software is to reduce the overall consumption of time. Due to the lower
time consumption, ERP software is extremely popular for any specific company (Ptak and
Schragenheim 2016).
This particular software has various advantages as well. The main advantages of the
enterprise resource planning software are as follows:
i) Competitive Advantages: The first benefit of the ERP software is that it provides
competitive advantages (Seo 2013). These competitive advantages are extremely important
for any organization for gaining popularity and importance in the market.
ii) High Efficiency: The second advantage of the ERP software is that it removes all
the repetitive processes and thus reducing the requirement of manual data entry (Matende and
Ogao 2013). Moreover, it is responsible for streamlining all the business processes and hence
this software makes the business more efficient for collecting data.
iii) Collaboration: The next important benefit of the ERP software is the proper
collaboration of all business processes. Proper collaboration between two departments is
extremely important and thus the data is entered in the system of ERP for making it
centralized as well as consistent.

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iv) Scalability: The next important advantage of the enterprise resource planning
software is the high scalability and flexibility (Zeng and Skibniewski 2013). Since, it is
extremely scalable and flexible; this software is extremely popular for the users.
v) Cost Effective: The fifth important benefit of ERP software is that it is extremely
cost effective and thus could be easily afforded by all organizations. The operational or
administrative expenses are highly reduced with the help of this software.
vi) High Productivity: Another significant advantage of the ERP software is its higher
productivity (Asl et al. 2012). The businesses are extremely productive with this particular
software.
However, in spite of having all these advantages, there are some of the major
disadvantages of this ERP software. They are as follows:
i) Indirect Costs: The first disadvantage of this software is that it incurs indirect costs.
Although, operational or administrative expenses are reduced, the indirect costs are extremely
high with this software and hence many organizations often opt not to choose this software
(Shaul and Tauber 2013).
ii) Data Migration Tougher: The migration of data is much difficult with this ERP
software and thus is not selected by all.
iii) Dependence on Vendors: The next important disadvantage of ERP software is
that it is completely dependent on the vendors. Thus, security often becomes a major issue for
the users.
Features, Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Computing
The features of cloud computing are as follows:

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i) Resource Pooling and Elasticity: Cloud computing is responsible for the purpose
of resource pooling as well as elasticity (Dinh et al. 2013). It utilizes the multi tenancy where
the various resources are eventually allocated or de allocated as per the demand of the users.
ii) On Demand Services: This particular technology is completely based on the self
services and all on demand service models. The user is allowed for interacting within the
cloud for performing all the tasks.
iii) Quality of Services: The next feature is that it improves the service quality (Arora,
Parashar and Transforming 2013).
The main advantages of cloud computing technology are as follows:
i) Easy Implementation: The first advantage is that it could be easily implemented
within any business.
ii) Accessibility: The second advantage is that the data is easily accessed from
anywhere (Xu 2012).
iii) Efficient Recovery: The data is easily recovered effectively and efficiently.
iv) High Flexibility: The technology of cloud computing is extremely scalable and
flexible.
The main disadvantages of cloud computing technology are as follows:
i) No Control: The main disadvantage of this technology is there is no control of data
Jadeja and Modi 2012).
ii) No Redundancy: The next disadvantage of cloud computing is that the cloud
server is not at all redundant and neither it is backed up properly.

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iii) Bandwidth Issues: The bandwidth of this technology is not much higher and thus
they should be properly maintained by the users or cloud providers.
ERP Systems on Cloud
Cloud based computing software is responsible for allowing the users for accessing
the software applications, which are running on the shared resources of computing through
the Internet (Fernando, Loke and Rahayu 2013). All these resources are properly maintained
in the remote data centres that are dedicated for hosting several applications on several
platforms. The cloud ERP software is the typical SaaS or software as a Service, allowing or
enabling users for the purpose of accessing the enterprise resource planning or ERP software
on the Internet connection. This cloud ERP software comprises of lesser expenses since the
computing resources are not maintained or controlled on premises (Chen and Zhao 2012). It
provides access to the business critical applications from anywhere.
There are several characteristics of the cloud based enterprise resource planning
software. They are as follows:
i) Easy to Use: The first and the foremost characteristic of the cloud based ERP
software is that it is extremely easy to use (Wang et al. 2012). This particular software does
not incur of any type of complexity within the software and thus could be easily utilized by
all users. The application selection is extremely easier with the cloud based enterprise
resource planning software.
ii) Scalability: The second important feature of the cloud based enterprise resource
planning software is the scalability. It eventually refers to the proper ability of any cloud
based application for growing or contracting as per the demands (Hashem et al. 2015). All the
cloud providers have the robust systems, which are handling as the part of the cloud
computing. For being perfectly useful as well as cost effective, the cloud based ERP

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applications must expand or contract with the demands and without the organizations paying
huge penalties.
iii) Lower or Easier Customization: Another significant feature of the cloud based
enterprise resource planning software is the easy and lower customization (Garg, Versteeg
and Buyya 2013). The most important tasks of the users are performed as per demand. One of
the major features of this cloud based enterprise resource planning software is that it lowers
or makes the process of customization extremely easier or simpler in respect to the other
software. If the customization will not be done properly, the software will not work properly
and thus the organization would suffer major issues (Lee and Zomaya 2012). Moreover, due
to the better customization, huge investment is not required or needed for the technology
resources or personnel.
iii) Constant Support: The third important characteristic of the cloud based enterprise
resource planning is that it provides constant support to the users. For the 24*7 customer
support, this particular software is extremely popular for all the users and thus it often
becomes major software for the clients (Rittinghouse and Ransome 2016).
The cloud based enterprise resource planning software also comprises of several
important advantages. The main advantages of this particular software are as follows:
i) Avoids Upfront Expenses: The first and the most important advantage of the cloud
based enterprise resource planning software is that it helps to avoid the upfront costs or
expenses (Hashizume et al. 2013). The computing hardware or data server expenses are
avoided in this software.
ii) Reducing IT Supports: The second benefit of the cloud ERP software is that it
helps in reducing the IT supports. The support services are provided by the data centre.

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iii) Eliminates Costs: The next important advantage of the cloud ERP software is that
it helps in eliminating all the extra costs and thus monthly fees are not required (Kwak et al.
2012).
iv) DR Plan: Another important advantage of this particular software is that it
comprises of a significant disaster recovery plan and thus data could be easily backed up with
this plan.
v) Avoids Attacks: The next important advantage of the cloud ERP software is that it
helps to avoid any type of attack within the organizational server (Seo 2013).
vi) Lack of Hardware Installation: The sixth important benefit of the cloud ERP
software is that it does not require any type of hardware installation.
vii) Easy Accessibility: The final advantage of the cloud based enterprise resource
planning software is that the data could be easily accessed without any type of problem
within it. This easy accessibility helps the user in accessing the confidential data or
information.
Although, the ERP systems on cloud comprise of various advantages, there are some
of the major disadvantages that make this software extremely dangerous and vulnerable for
the users (Matende and Ogao 2013). The most significant disadvantages of the cloud ERP
software are as follows:
i) Integration Issues: The first challenge of the cloud ERP software is that it consists
of several integration issues or problems. These types of integration issues often become
major problems for the users since they are not being able to integrate the business processes
or activities properly with this software.

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ii) Implementing New Management Processes: The second problem of the cloud
ERP software is that there are various problems in implementing the new management
processes (Zeng and Skibniewski 2013). This particular issue is extremely dangerous for the
organization and thus the cloud enterprise resource planning software makes the process
vulnerable.
iii) Difficult Decision Making: Another important issue of the cloud enterprise
resource planning software is that the decision making becomes much difficult for the users.
iv) Data Migration: Another important challenge of the cloud enterprise resource
planning software is that the data migration is much difficult and thus should be properly
executed with the help of supporting software (Asl et al. 2012).
Case Studies
Various important and popular organizations have implemented the cloud enterprise
resource planning software within their business for properly executing their business
processes or operations. The most popular cloud ERP vendors are Oracle, Microsoft
Dynamics, Deltek and many more (Ptak and Schragenheim 2016). The three examples or
case studies of successful implementation of cloud ERP software are as follows:
i) Baldinger Bakery: This particular bakery is serving its customers for the past 128
years. Apart from the baking, they also provide various other food items to the customers.
Due to the rapid growth and expansion, Baldinger Bakery is planning to open more locations
to fulfil customer expectations. They have implemented cloud ERP software for this purpose
and thus have gained extreme success within their business (Matende and Ogao 2013). In just
three months since it upgraded to cloud, Baldinger saw a 30 percent improvement in sales
order processing, 15 percent faster warehouse picking and shipping, and 99 percent delivery
accuracy.