As more companies look to work faster, gain more control, and understand their business, they often seek out a core solution built to handle their needs. However, when seeking out a platform, they are often presented with a dichotomy—cloud OR on-premises. But as with all things in life, the reality isn’t black and white.
In recent years, more and more companies are seeing the hybrid approach as a win-win. By putting core functions and data on premises and tapping into new specialty and collaboration capabilities in the cloud, companies are finding this might be the easiest path to meet business goals.
Following our last blogs exploring the many options that you have on your journey to the cloud and the importance of taking a pragmatic and well-educated approach to ERP that may or may not end with the cloud, we would today like to discuss the dangers of falling for the false dichotomy, the reasons that companies do take a hybrid approach, and the benefits they may receive.
The False Dichotomy of Cloud vs. On-Premises
On-premises or cloud. Cloud or on-premises. Vendors and partners on both sides of the aisle would tout their wares, saying that their hosting method was the only solution for the job.
- On-premises companies would present themselves as reliable and well-known, with a pedigree and a long history of successful implementations. These vendors promised customization, control, and a lot less dependency on the vendor.
- Cloud vendors would tout the benefits of taking the opposite approach, promising low capital costs, easy updates, scalability, and hands-off management and maintenance. In turn, they delivered faster updates, agility, and responsiveness to customer needs.
They also spent the better part of the past decade disparaging the other.
- On-premises vendors would present cloud companies as immature and uncontrollable, noting the sheer amount of trust you have to put in a company to host data in their facilities. They’d note how easy it is for costs to get out of hand based on the unpredictability of usage and number of users, while presenting cloud products as a security risk.
- Cloud vendors would present on-premises providers as remnants of the past, highlighting the high up-front costs, lack of flexibility, and immense workload required to manage customizations. They’d highlight that every single update on an on-premises system is going to break your integrations and note the mobility issues that come from on-premises use.
The Best of Both Worlds—Two-Tier ERP
But what if they were both right—and wrong? For the past decade, companies have been presented a dichotomy when considering enterprise resource planning software. More often than not, companies would spend all their effort highlighting the weaknesses of the other while ignoring the idea that there may be another way—one that didn’t require the tradeoffs.
It is possible to work with a reliable, well-known, and established vendor with a pedigree and history of success. It’s possible to keep certain things in house while taking advantage of the flexibility and access provided in the cloud. It’s possible to connect systems easily as you would in the cloud. And it’s easy to get this in a familiar solution.
A Strong Foundation + Real-Time Data
Hybrid ERP, also known as a two-tier system, combines core on-premises capabilities with capabilities delivered by the cloud.
Built on a strong foundation, hybrid ERP systems provide you a modular approach to selecting business applications. According to Solutions Review, a hybrid ERP system is characterized by the following:
- Acts as a building block used for the entire digital enterprise platform
- Serves as a foundation for real-time reporting, analytics, and high-velocity transactions
- Connects easily and supports content-rich transactions
- Maintains a consistent flow of data to enable sophisticated analytics based on a mix of internal and external data
Innovation without Tradeoffs
As mentioned above, on-premises vendors promise customization, cloud promises innovation. With cloud-connected hybrid ERP, you get both.
- Take advantage of rapid product innovation while upgrading on your own schedule
- Easily configure your application settings, or heavily customize your environment thanks to an open code base
- Increase collaboration through mobile access to relevant information without sacrificing the feature-rich experience of a native application.
- Pay in a way that makes sense for your business
Productivity, Agility, and Control: Take Your Hybrid Journey with Kissinger and Sage100cloud
There are many paths on your journey to the cloud, and for many, the hybrid approach delivers exactly what you need. No matter where you stand and where you hope to be, the right partner can help you to pick the destination and guide you on your journey.
Maybe you’re looking for a solution built to provide confidence and comfort as you grow. Maybe you need to facilitate collaboration or add specific functionality as a current Sage 100 user—without losing years of intense customization. Maybe you’re just sick of hearing that you have to choose between [x] or [y] and are happy someone finally was honest enough to debunk the myths.
At Kissinger Associates, we’ve spent decades delivering solutions for growing and midmarket businesses. If you’re looking to take a hybrid approach with Sage 100cloud we have the knowledge and expertise to help you connect your business and empower your people.
We help you understand your options and determine what will make the most sense for your business. To learn more, contact us for a product demo and free consultation.
