Safer Up High: Selling Customers On The Security Of Cloud-Based ERP Software

By Hannah Nava for ERP Consultants, TGOConsulting

When it comes to enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, cloud-based software ultimately provides more benefits: It saves on IT costs, as those are taken care of by the ERP provider hosts, and they are continually updated, meaning a company will never rely on outdated software. One concern of potential customers regarding cloud-based software is how secure it is — it is online and not in an isolated server, so does the likelihood of an issue occurring increase? Cloud-based services aren’t immune to data loss, either. As a VAR or solutions provider, these will be two of the tougher questions your customers ask.

Security
There will be security risks with any system, cloud-based or otherwise. Such is the nature of using computers/the Internet to conduct business. But cloud-based ERP providers have a dedicated team of IT experts, meaning that there will always be individuals enhancing and protecting the security of their systems and client information.

But not all companies are made equally. Cloud-based services are secure but this is heavily dependent on the provider. Your potential customers may have done their research and decided your company was worth looking into. Even so, you’ll want to be able to answer questions (just in case they are not sold): What encryption is used? How is data transmitted? What are the procedures and how secure are they? When speaking to potential clients about your company and available solutions, keep these keywords in mind:

• integrity
• availability
• confidentiality
• non-repudiation
• traceability

For smaller companies with limited resources and/or without an ever-present IT staff, explain how having anything but a cloud-based service can pose more of a risk than having one. Cloud-based software is always updated and maintained by your company’s IT staff. For other types, the business must provide the IT support.

Data Backup & Recovery

Businesses are concerned with how they will be able to backup their data and recover it should anything go awry. As with security, data is at a risk of being lost whether or not it is in the cloud or on a local server; but because of your dedicated IT team, you can inform potential customers that their data is actually safer in the cloud.

As the solutions provider, your company bears the burden of reliability when it comes to data backup processes so inform your customers about the backup process, update schedule, turnaround time for activating backups, testing schedule, and options to manually backup data.

Recovering data is similar to backing up data. Both company and provider need a recovery plan in place; companies need to discuss options in case disaster strikes. Alert your clients that they should conduct a test run to ensure that the recovery plan works and conduct repeatedly until satisfied with the plan; after that, it should be conducted periodically to ensure that it still works. There should also be a schedule of when to reevaluate the plan. If they make changes, the process should be repeated.

Though it may not seem so to potential customers, cloud-based software can be even more secure than on-premises ERP software, and if there are issues, there are options to backup and recover data. The most important aspect of implementing new ERP software is the research that goes with it. When speaking with your customers, help them work through all facets of the process to find the best option for them.

Hannah Nava loves writing about any topic, and business software is no exception. She currently writes on behalf of the ERP consultants at TGOConsulting. Tweet her @hannahmnava or connect with her on LinkedIn.