cloud based erp solutions for small business in USA

KEY CONCERNS RAISED WITH CLOUD- BASED ERP SOFTWARE Key Concerns with Cloud-Based ERP Software: This guide addresses some key concerns with Cloud ERP software and attempts to dispel myths that are holding businesses back from migrating to the Cloud. adssolutions.com

Cloud-Based Software Demystified KEY CONCERNS WITH CLOUD-BASED ERP SECURITY, ACCESS, BACKUP, REDUNDANCY & COST KEY CONCERNS RAISED WITH CLOUD-BASED SOFTWARE Popularity with Cloud ERP software has skyrocketed in the last few years, and industry experts predict that 5 years from now, legacy on-premise software will be virtually extinct. Yet, many businesses still have concerns over security, access, redundancy, and cost. This guide addresses these key concerns with Cloud ERP software and attempts to dispel myths that are holding businesses back from migrating to the Cloud. There are many different types of concerns that people express, but these concerns can be broadly grouped as variants of the following questions: 1. Isn’t my on-premise system more secure than the Cloud? 2. If my system is on the Cloud, how can I be sure nobody else can access it? 4. How do Cloud systems get backed up and is my data safe? Does my data get co-mingled with others’ data? Isn’t a Cloud-based system more expensive? 5. 6. adssolutions.com

Cloud-Based Software Demystified SECURITY This is typically the biggest concern. However, the perception that an on-premise server is more secure (because you can see it and control it) than a Cloud platform couldn’t be more wrong. If your server has an Internet connection, you will be far more secure in the Cloud than on an on-premise server. CONCERNS ABOUT CLOUD VS. ON- PREMISE SECURITY Any time your server has an Internet connection it becomes vulnerable. It is not an option to wall your server off, you need connectivity in order to do business. Employees need remote access and email, vendors and customers need to connect to receive POs and place orders. In addition, professionally managed Cloud servers are constantly kept up to date with the latest security patches and virus signatures. You don’t have to rely on your IT staff’s knowledge and timeliness in installing and updating patches and other preventative measures. However, Ransomware, virus attacks and attempts to exploit vulnerabilities of remote access are constantly increasing. These cyber-attacks prey on vulnerabilities in networks with Windows based operating systems, and many of these enter networks through email. LOCKING DOWN ACCESS In addition to the Cloud platform itself, there are additional protections on access. AWS provides several security capabilities and services to increase privacy and control network access. These include:  Network firewalls built into Amazon VPC, and WAF web application firewall capabilities  Encryption in transit with TLS across all services  Connectivity options that enable private, or dedicated, connections from your office or on-premises environment  In addition, we have disabled any external access to the database except through the front-end websites. Moving your business software to the Cloud, with servers that don’t run on Windows and are not directly exposed to company email, will mitigate these two biggest cyber risks. Add to this the fact that Cloud platforms have massively hardened systems and have huge dedicated teams focused on intrusion detection, threat management, isolation and remediation. adssolutions.com

Cloud-Based Software Demystified earlier point in time. Typically about 30 days of database snapshots are retained. In addition, longer term backup can easily be arranged on AWS S3 or EBS platforms. CONCERNS ABOUT INTERNET CONNECTIVITY We hear concerns all the time along the lines of "How will I run my business if the Internet goes down?" This concern was more realistic several years ago when Internet connections tended to be less stable; however, today, Internet outages are happening less and less. That’s not to say they don’t occur, nor will anyone guarantee they won’t occur in the future, but there is a simple and inexpensive remedy: get a backup ISP. REDUNDANCY QUESTIONS Redundancy means always having your data in more than one place. Cloud providers offer redundancy options that most SMBs could never match. Data is always stored on multiple servers in multiple geographic regions. Each such region on AWS is comprised of Availability Zones, where each zone is a cluster of data centers spread across different geographies, providing highly efficient and risk-reduced redundancy. For the same reason that many of us keep a spare set of keys for our car, businesses establish emergency backup accounts with a second ISP in case their primary connection goes down. ISPs like Verizon have very affordable plans intended to serve as wireless backups. These plans function as rarely used enterprise-grade wireless hotspots or Wi-Fi’s, and provide considerable peace of mind. With the advent of 5G, many of these wireless backups deliver greater bandwidth than most wired connections, particularly if these are older co-ax rather than fiber connections. Each AWS Availability Zone is a group of data centers that is:  Located on a distinct flood plain from the other Availability Zones in the region  Served by a public power utility distinct from power utilities serving other Availability Zones  Connected to multiple Tier 1 transit providers for network redundancy With this kind of redundancy a physical disaster is unlikely to cause any data loss and makes disaster recovery a non-issue. That’s why even the most sensitive national security data and mission-critical enterprise data is backed up to the Cloud. BACKUP CONCERNS Cloud platforms such as AWS automatically maintain database snapshots that can be used to restore all or part of a database to some adssolutions.com

Cloud-Based Software Demystified QUESTIONS ABOUT COST There are always concerns raised about cost …but on an all-in basis, the cost of Cloud computing is much cheaper than on-premise. There are several reasons for this, but fundamentally it is much more efficient to deliver resources in a centralized fashion. Think about how much more inefficient it would be for each home to have its own electricity generator than to pull what you need off the electric grid. CLOUD SOFTWARE COST BENEFITS Just as with the hardware, there are comparable cost benefits to using Cloud-based software. CLOUD HARDWARE COST BENEFITS Cloud platforms benefit from huge economies of scale and the benefits of standardization. Although these are perhaps not as intuitive, the same types of factors apply to the software:  It is much more efficient to support, maintain and upgrade software centrally rather than separately on multiple different on-premise environments  Upgrades can be done by the software vendor centrally rather than by multiple IT personnel who will not be as familiar with the software as the software vendor  Because upgrades are more efficient, they happen much more frequently – which means you get access to new features immediately not once every year or so when on-premise upgrades are done  You’ll always have access to the latest release features and always be current Cloud platform cost efficiencies derive from all of the following factors:  All servers are standardized and purchased in bulk at costs far lower than retail  Using server virtualization, Cloud servers can get to levels of utilization several times higher than stand-alone on-premise servers  Cloud platform network configurations are highly standardized and network elements all work together (firewalls, routers, switches, servers, storage, caching, etc.)  Operating systems are all standardized and often open- source and free (e.g., Linux) which few SMBs have the sophistication to manage  Network maintenance is automated, standardized and overseen by highly trained IT specialists adssolutions.com

Cloud-Based Software Demystified OTHER FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS In addition to the structural efficiencies of Cloud platforms delivering lower costs than on- premises systems, there are other important financial considerations for the user COST EFFICIENCIES OF CLOUD There are big cost savings built into Cloud solutions both on the hardware and on the software side. Cost savings, including total cost of ownership, startup costs, and cost of IT resources can be substantial. Cloud providers have reduced their cloud server prices continually over the past few years PAY ONLY FOR WHAT YOU NEED One of the main befits of the Cloud paradigm is that you no longer have to incur big costs upfront to purchase hardware, software and get your network configured. As importantly, you don’t have to anticipate what your needs will be 5 years for now and size your resources to that. The SaaS (Software as a Service) model allows you to pay an annual subscription fee for the use of the Software and the Cloud platform. This means that you pay only for what you need now – and then you can painlessly scale up or down as needed, OTHER BENEFITS FOR USERS By moving to the Cloud, there are huge savings in eliminating continued IT maintenance and hardware support costs. If you have no IT staff today, there is no need to hire any. If you have good IT staff on board, refocus them to take on more strategic, value-add activities than routine maintenance. Take advantage of big savings in outsourcing the costs of upgrades and maintenance of the ERP software to the software vendor. Consider the intangible but real benefit of taking advantage of new software functionality in your business much sooner with a SaaS model PUT YOUR CAPITAL TO ITS BEST USE The financial benefits of not having to pay upfront for the hardware, the IT networking costs and the software are meaningful. For large and small companies, capital is often far better deployed in growing your business than by investing in hardware, software and an IT department. Many distributors have learned the hard way that once established IT departments quickly become self- perpetuating. adssolutions.com

CONTACT US TODAY TO LEARN MORE ADS Solutions is a leading provider of Cloud ERP software to small and medium-sized businesses. Accolent ERP is optimized to serve the needs of wholesale distributors and light manufacturers. Contact us for a quote or to schedule a demo. Email info@adssolutions.com, or visit our website, adssolutions.com. adssolutions.com

cloud based erp solutions for small business in USA