Thinking about breaking up with your legacy ERP system?

Like many others, you may be looking at your current ERP system and wondering – is it enough?

The sales and marketing teams of every vendor and consultancy have been working overtime for the past few years trying to convince you to move to ERP system to the Cloud. They want you to ditch the old and reliable, and take a chance with their latest technologies (and pay them a large amount obviously).

And why wouldn’t you? You’re an innovator, right? A futurist? An early adopter?

But then you hear horror stories of organisations making the jump to their latest ERP version or the Cloud. Many that make the jump underestimate the complexity and cost of the transition, running out of budget early on or having significant issues with incompatible systems. We even see organisations having to roll back to their legacy ERP systems while they fix their new Cloud systems!

Cloud does have real benefits like scalability and easier updates, but many are just focusing on this and ignoring Cloud’s weaknesses. There’s a frankly dull reality that your legacy ERP system already works pretty well. So why are you in such a rush to dump it?

Is it really hype? Won’t I be left behind?

  • According to Forrester, “approximately half of ERP customers are on releases that are two versions behind the current release, which may be four years old or more.” This is not laziness or complacency. These organisations have an efficient ERP setup and see no need to replace it.
  • Recent statistics from ‘Computer Weekly’ have shown that while the Cloud is a focus area for ERP right now, adoption numbers are being over-hyped by vendors across the board. This is a marketing effort to boost sales and recover development costs.
  • SAP has imposed a hard 2025 deadline to try and force its customers onto the Cloud. It has been forced to do this after pushing back its soft deadline multiple times and not seeing any movement in the market.

There is a big difference between the vendor hype of Cloud and the reality of real organisations. Cloud could be right for your organisation, but you need to consider the alternatives, and the benefits of each solution carefully. Ask hard questions of the Cloud sales reps, especially ones around compatibility and customisations.

Is Cloud ready for my organisation?

Oracle has recently been making noises about its successful transition to its own Cloud services. There has been a lot of high-fives and back-slapping over the fact that it has taken SIX YEARS to transition most of its business to its own Cloud. The worst part though is that it isn’t even fully migrated yet. Accounts receivable, order management, and analytics are still missing from Oracle’s Cloud line-up.

So why has it taken so long?

To be blunt, because Oracle is using itself as a guinea pig to develop its own Cloud services.

When it first started the move, Oracle was an unknown in the Cloud arena, and has seemed to time the development of its Cloud offering alongside its own transition to the Cloud. This approach is the reason why it seems Oracle has taken so long, as it has been on the same Cloud discovery process as its clients, all while selling them the dream of Cloud at the same time. A dream Oracle has yet to realise for itself.

This isn’t just an Oracle issue though. Many of the Cloud vendors have taken a similar approach. This means that many organisations jump to the Cloud only to find that it doesn’t fit their needs as well as they thought. Furthermore, because of the Cloud technology, they are unable to customise their systems as they could before.

In our opinion, this is one of the most significant issues with Cloud ERP. It’s also one that many of the vendors are trying to cover up. Your “legacy” ERP system has been developed and refined over the years to be a perfect fit with your business. A quick jump to the Cloud will undo all of that hard work if you aren’t careful in your planning.

But supporting legacy ERP systems is expensive or impractical!

Cloud is a great technology and one that we think is the inevitable next step in ERP, but it’s not there yet for a large number of organisations.

So what can you do? It can feel like you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, especially with SAP’s 2025 deadline and Oracle’s de-support dates.

We want you to know that you have options. You don’t need to force the transition to the Cloud while you (or the vendor) aren’t ready. Forget de-support dates and forced upgrades from the likes of Oracle and SAP. With a third-party support provider like Support Revolution, you can:

  • Save money – Save at least 50% on your support costs, which you can then later invest in new technologies
  • Be stable – Stay on your current version for as long as you wish and still be supported (includes customisations)
  • Be supported – Be sure of a great and attentive support service with our rigorous SLAs, ensuring you receive 24/7 support
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