FD & Hitachi survey reveals benefits of migrating ERP to the Cloud

MORE companies are recognising the potential benefits of moving ERP to the Cloud, as trust in cloud-based applications and IT grows, a survey commissioned by Hitachi Solutions Europe and conducted by Financial Director has found.

The survey of 315 senior finance professionals found that ERP in the Cloud is increasingly supported by senior finance professionals and large organisations with 31% of organisations having moved all or part of their ERP systems to the Cloud, or are in the process of doing so.

Of the respondents who have already moved all or part of their ERP to the Cloud, the main benefits they have experienced include easier access to information, with 30% ranking this as the number one benefit, followed by reduced operating costs and ERP performance.

The most common parts of a business’s ERP to have been moved the Cloud include accounting, business intelligence, HR, sales, e-commerce and customer service functions.

Tim Rowe, director, Hitachi Solutions Europe said: “While in some areas movement to the Cloud has been quite rapid, because ERP is seen as business critical and inherently complex, it has been slower to move to Cloud. Now, however, we are starting to see a shift as the benefits start to outweigh the perceived risks.”