The buzz words in the Tech community for the last one year or so has been ‘Cloud Computing’. Cloud computing comes into focus only when you think about what IT always needs: a way to increase capacity or add capabilities on the fly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. Cloud computing encompasses any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that, in real time over the Internet, extends IT’s existing capabilities. With all this ‘nice’ things that come with the ‘cloud’ the BIG question for any enterprise implementing an ERP solution is where does the firm’s ERP data rest and how safe is it?
A quick look at the majority of ERP vendors (A1 ERP, Oracle, SAP,) shows the use of Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) for storing ERP data internally. The leading RDBMS products are Oracle, IBM’s DB2 and Microsoft’s SQL Server and Postgres and MySQL from the open source community. Despite repeated challenges by competing technologies, as well as the claim by some experts that no current RDBMS has fully implemented relational principles, the majority of new corporate databases are still being created and managed with an RDBMS. Relational databases are currently the predominant choice in storing data like financial records, medical records, personal information and manufacturing & logistical data. This is most probably the reasons that companies implementing ERP’s mostly store their database in internal data centre and not on clouds.
A good CIO should ask the following questions before advising on moving the ERP data to the cloud:
- Will there be any performance issues (like latency, access speed) if the ERP databases are stored in the cloud?
- How secure will the ERP data be on the ‘cloud’ compared to an internal data centre?
- Can the firm rely on the ‘cloud’ as they will not be having complete ownership of the data?
- Could hosting ERP database on the ‘cloud’ help firms save enough money and will it be beneficial to the firm’s bottom line?
- Are non-relational databases a better solution for ERP data storage on the ‘cloud’ compared to traditionally used RDBMS?
The move to the cloud is arguably the most visible force in the world of cloud data storage. Not everyone is moving, but the cloud is going to be an increasingly common backbone for applications and data storage. In this landscape, the conventional relational database is something of an alien. Unpredictable resource contention means that sharing server resources between customers is risky beyond very small workloads. Because of this, cloud platform providers are offering relational databases as dedicated servers running on virtual machines, e.g., Amazon’s MySQL-based RDS. This somehow takes care of data security in the ‘cloud’.
Leading ERP vendors like A1 ERP, SAP and Oracle are well established in providing on-premise ERP solutions. It may be a big risk for some of these vendors (in terms of data security, database compatibility, less revenue) to move their ‘BIG’ client databases on clouds rather than using the traditional internal data centre storage. Although lately the above major ERP vendors are introducing Cloud based ERP solution which CIO’s need to take note of. SAP has introduced Business ByDesign, a business management software solution designed for midsize companies. Oracle On Demand is a solution that provides Cloud Services for Oracle Software and Hardware. A1 ERP has introduced A1 eXpress a fully featured complete business management software solution designed for small – midsize companies looking for the benefits of large-scale business applications without the need for a large investment in IT infrastructure will now also be available from the cloud.
They are many storage avenues for firms’ ERP data on the cloud. Google App Engine comes highly recommended. It is a platform for developing and hosting web applications (such as web based ERP’s) in Google-managed data centers. It virtualizes applications across multiple servers and data centers. Other ‘cloud’-based platforms include offerings such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft’s Azure Services Platform. Most companies are generating data faster than they can store. Cases of internal or competitor sabotage are real. Moving your ERP data storage to the ‘cloud’ will transform the management of large collections of data, making the process cheaper, easier, secure and more flexible. You can always start ‘small by backing up your ERP data on the clouds!!
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