What is cloud ERP?

A service firm has run for years on a server in the comms cupboard. The bookkeeper now works from home part of the week, the director wants to check a quote on the road, and the IT supplier has to set up a connection every time. With cloud ERP it is different: the ERP system runs at the supplier and you open it in an ordinary browser, from anywhere with an internet connection.

The practical benefit lies mostly in upkeep. Back-ups, server security and new versions are the supplier's job. You do not have to replace hardware when it ages, and nobody on your team has to install an update on a Sunday evening.

What goes wrong without it? A server that fails, or that was never patched, can stop a business for days. File versions drift apart because colleagues work from copies at home. And when the one person who understands the installation leaves, your accounts sit on a system that nobody dares to touch.

Cloud does not mean everything is automatically fine. Check where the data is held and who manages it, how you can export it yourself if you ever want to move, and what happens when your internet connection drops. Ask how often the system is updated and whether you will notice.

A cloud system does not remove the need for a sound set-up. It still matters that your data is transferred cleanly and that your team is trained. That is the moment of go-live: from then on you really work in the new system.