What ERP software is the best ?

Many business owners and managers wonder what type of ERP software is right for their business. Typically, the size and organisation of your business dictates whether on-premise or cloud ERP is the right choice.

For example, a relatively new small business that doesn't have a lot of well-defined business processes or sophisticated IT will be able to implement and use an ERP cloud system quickly and easily. On the other hand, a larger business with complex requirements may get greater ROI from ERP software that they can customise.

ERP in-the-cloud solutions are typically cheaper to adopt and implement than on-premise solutions, due to the nature of SaaS. However, on-premise solutions offer more advanced features and customisations options, which may suit more complex businesses.

"It's not one-size-fits-all or one answer for everyone. You have to understand what your goals and objectives are and what your overall strategy is and what that strategy drives, what the scope of your ERP initiative is, whether it's one single ERP system or whether it's best of breed or whether it’s some other type of option," says Eric Kimberling of Panorama Consulting.

Why ERP in the cloud is becoming more popular

Today, businesses of all sizes, across a spectrum of industry sectors, are using cloud software to manage almost every area of their business.

The UK analyst agency CIO, in conjunction with Sage, carried out a survey of 100 CIOs and senior IT decision-makers to find out about their cloud usage and views on cloud-based business software. 

We also garnered the best advice from the ones who have been using enterprise cloud applications for several years. We discovered that a huge majority of our respondents (71 %) are using business-critical cloud applications, with most of them praising cloud for its efficiencies and ROI (90 % of the respondents say they have had a return on investment from a cloud implementation). 

Of the respondents who use business-critical cloud applications, 54 % say they invested in them less than two years ago. A significant chunk, 46 %, have been operating business cloud apps for more than two years, and a tenth of them for more than five years, indicating a reasonably high level of maturity among organisations.