Sticking with on-premises enterprise resource planning solutions instead of moving into the cloud may cost recalcitrant managers far more in lost productivity than it saves them in capital expenses.
That is the conclusion of a new report that highlights some of the overlooked benefits that can be realized in moving critical systems into the cloud. According to Michael Mandel, a senior fellow at the Mack Institute for Innovation Management at the Wharton School in Philadelphia, advanced tools that are part of cloud ERP can ramp up productivity in unexpected ways.
Unlike a growing number of tech critics, who argue that smarter devices and software have done little to change productivity, The ongoing shift into the cloud is spearheading a new productivity boom that could add up to $2 trillion in gross domestic product growth over the next decade.
But for that to happen, advanced technologies need to be easily accessible and must be simple to adopt and use, The cloud helps to address this diffusion problem, affording everyone equal access.
Ease of use is a somewhat tougher challenge to overcome, But the advanced technologies themselves can help resolve the issue with such things as automated data analyses and suggestions about what users may want to consider doing next.
Companies that avoid widespread adoption of new technology because managers worry that a transition would be too disruptive run the risk of holding back until it is too late. Because a company’s finance functions often are the first transformed through cloud ERP systems.
The productivity revolution needs a champion, In most organizations, the logical person to take the lead is the CFO or the equivalent head of finance. Any CFO who doesn’t understand what cloud services mean for her or his company is going to end up getting left behind.