PROS AND CONS OF CLOUD COMPUTING FOR ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING (ERP) (Essay Sample)

Name Professor Course Date PROS AND CONS OF CLOUD COMPUTING FOR ENTERPRISE RESOURCEPLANNING (ERP) Businesses are increasingly shifting from on-premise ERP solutions to cloud computing solutions, redefining drastically how companies can best tackle their core operations. However, does the promise of cloud ERP cost effectiveness and scalability outweigh the potential risks to the security of data and stability of operation? Cloud-based ERP does not result in the requirement for expensive IT infrastructure and hardware. Enterprises cut back on heavy upfront costs since they operate on a utility or subscription model where they literally pay for the resources expended. For instance, Toyota Material Handling Europe (THME) got all its different IT systems under one umbrella without huge investments in hardware or infrastructure, by migrating to Microsoft Dynamics 365 cloud services (Zieliński et al. 70-79). This is a particular boon for SMEs, who very often may have limited capital investment available for making in an old-style ERP system. Moreover, cloud ERP systems are easy to scale up or down based on one's organization’s needs. The elasticity engendered through the cloud allows businesses to add or remove users, modules, features, or access to the system easily from anywhere with an internet connection, hence readily supporting remote work. Zieliński et al. argues that Netflix's implementation of Workday as a cloud-based ERP solution enables it to seamless scaling of operations either up or down in regard to changing business demands (70-79). This includes expanding into new markets and managing seasonal fluctuations in the activity of users. However, cloud computing is not without challenges; storing the business's sensitive data in the cloud leads to potential data breach and unauthorized access. The risk is borne, especially in companies handling sensitive information. In July 2019, there was a significant data breach at Capital One bank, after the AWS cloud config...