Mid-market businesses in Europe have reported savings of more than 25% when they deploy cloud over on-premise solutions, with one in five reporting reductions of 50%. However, ERP is lagging behind many other cloud services.
Nearly nine in 10 (87%) of mid-market organisations are now using cloud solutions, according to a study commissioned by Sage Mid-Market. The recent rate of cloud adoption has been rapid, with four out of five organisations introducing the new services model to their business in the past two years.
However, despite its growing popularity, cloud is not yet ubiquitous – with ERP lagging behind other services. Currently just 20% are using a cloud-based ERP solution but Sage’s study suggests this is set to change, with 60% of those who do not yet have Cloud ERP keen to adopt it, and 55% wanting to roll out cloud ERP with mobile functionality.
The driving factors for migrating ERP solutions to the cloud include cost reduction (50%), becoming more efficient (40%), gaining a strategic advantage (32%) and growth (31%) while the main barriers to adoption were cited as security and privacy concerns (57%), internal barriers such as lack of understanding (23%) and price (20%).
“We’re clearly at a point of inflection for ERP and businesses are telling us that it’s the right time to move to the cloud,” says Christophe Letellier, CEO at Sage Mid-Market Europe. “Two years ago, businesses were wary of cloud.
But as more have embraced cloud for a range of services, the benefits are clear – choice, scalability and flexibility.
“For many, the push to invest in the cloud is driven by three main priorities: reducing costs, increasing competitiveness and efficiency. At Sage, we are on a mission to help small to mid-sized businesses make the move to the cloud, giving them the confidence and opportunity to succeed,” he adds.