Cloud vs. On-premise: What deployment option should you choose?

When considering to implement SAP Business One, an important question to ask yourself is which deployment method is best for your firm: cloud or on-premise? How you choose to deploy SAP Business One will impact your staff, resources and budget.

What are the key differences?

Deploying SAP Business One in the cloud means the software and data will be managed by your SAP Partner and accessed via a web browser. When you choose on-premise, SAP Business One is installed locally on your company’s hardware and servers and is managed by your IT staff.

Before you decide what method fits your business, you need to consider factors like infrastructure, IT support, required hardware, time frame for implementation, anticipated benefits, and costs.

For businesses in highly regulated industries, the decision might be obvious to house their ERP on-premise. Knowing your data is located within your in-house servers and IT infrastructure provides more peace of mind and reassurance.

On the other hand, for many SMEs with a tight budget, cloud helps them stay updated with the latest technology at low costs, putting them ahead of competitors. And when your SAP Partner manages your IT, you can focus on achieving your business goals.

Here’s a few factors to consider:

Staff Expertise: Do you have the IT resources that know how to administer the system and handle upgrades?

Reliability: What happens if the servers go down? What impact will that have on your operations and who will be responsible to ensure it’s up and running?

Capital Investment: Does your business have the financial resources to afford the investment and refresh hardware every 5 years?

Time: How long will the method of deployment add to implementation?

Flexibility: Can you easily upgrade your ERP? Do you require customization?

Compliance: Does your firm operate under some form of regulatory control which requires in-house deployment?

So which deployment option should I choose?

To help you choose the right deployment option, we have a helpful Cloud brief that summarizes the benefits of deploying in the cloud. Or, you can contact us at info@e2abs.com to discuss what deployment is best for you.