Are Cloud Solutions is really replacing On Premise Systems

[Former Member]

In today's changing world, its really challenging for a new business to buy on-premise software and investing in the IT infrastructure that goes with it. With the current churn rate of the S&A 500 approaching 80% it’s clear that mature enterprises risk being eclipsed by upstarts unless they follow a path of relentless innovation and improvement. The cloud must play a strategic role, but mature enterprises need to approach it differently.

There are some key's points which need to address before replacing existing On Premise solutions or moving into Cloud

1) Familiarity with Cloud and On Premise Solutions:

All in IT world cloud right now and that’s part of the problem. Even on-premise vendors are trying to disguise their solutions as cloud solutions to try to meet modern business demands. However, all systems aren’t created equal. Some solutions are “fake cloud” - old on-premise apps just running in a data center – without the same web-based and ease-of-use benefits of their cloud-native counterparts.Be sure to drill into the solutions from all the vendors on your short list.  Ask if they’re 100% web-based, if they’re designed from the ground up for the cloud, and how many customers like you are running their cloud solution.

2) Cloud  vs Performance

So, it’s not really cloud versus on premise; it’s cloud versus Performance or Inefficiency. There are new cloud solutions that can take market share from inefficiency in almost every area of your organization, and for a lot less money than you think. It’s time to re-evaluate everything through that lens. Just because there wasn't a viable solution in the on-premise world doesn't mean that there isn’t one in the cloud today.

3) Due Diligence for existing Business Processes Deployed

On-premise Application have historically been deployed in individual silos - one solution for financial consolidation, another for planning, others for reporting and analysis – with different experiences and painful integration between the tools. Why? Because companies acquired these apps over the years, and the apps were never designed to integrate with one another.

Cloud-based suites are designed with the benefit of hindsight – often with functionality that’s broader than any individual on-premise apps you’re using. For example, you can meet your business intelligence and your financial planning needs with one integrated suite, bringing together planning, reporting, and analysis in a single environment. Lot of Companies try to replace on-premise processes 1:1 with their cloud-based counterparts, which undermines the full value of cloud tools.  Before deploying the cloud, rethink your processes and determine how you can integrate solutions and processes to maximum productivity and create a more efficient organization.

4) Check your Pain Points in Existing Landscape

Always check your pain points in Existing Landscape and see where the cloud can add value on top of legacy solutions and/or improve efficiency around the existing infrastructure that is in place. Look to see where the cloud can replace paper, phone calls, or Excel, or otherwise streamline inefficient workflows.

If you’re late to the cloud, there’s still plenty of time, but at some point you will have more and more lean and mean competitors that got their start in the cloud era, so the time to start making that transition is now. The best place to begin is by chipping away at inefficiency where ever it lurks. It’s less risky than rip and replace, and a lot less risky than doing nothing at all

5) Hand Shake with your Service Providers and Business Partners

On-premise vendors are not really open to feedback. The are always looking for new contract and budget where they can benefit out of it. In the new world, cloud vendors, who operate based on subscription and retention, are incredibly motivated to listen to feedback and continually improve their applications. They’ll often provide peer-to-peer discussion communities and voting platforms to help prioritize new features and updates in each release. These collaborative channels close the gap between provider and customer. It’s also much easier for peers to share best practices because, with cloud solutions, every customer is running the same, most updated version of the software.

Overall, the cloud Solutions is much better geared to the pace of today’s businesses versus their on-premise counterparts. They provide out-of-the-box benefits like a lower total cost of ownership, superior flexibility, and user-intuitive features. But making the most out of cloud solutions requires a cultural change; a dedication to using those added features to better analyze business performance and industry trends to make the best decisions for organizational growth.

Thanks,.

Regards

Manish Mundra

Cloud Solution Architect