How To Counter Common Objections To Cloud Migration From The Board

Many reasons why companies are adamant in transitioning to the latest advancements is the mere fact that the risks outweigh the benefits. But, more often than not, they aren’t as fully informed of the benefits to truly see the advantage. Take cloud migration for example. While there are still a number of businesses operating their business applications like enterprise resource planning (ERP) on premise, many more businesses have found the advantage in migrating to the cloud. Anise Madh is GM of Global Infor Practice at Wipro, a global leader in e-commerce and mobile solutions for Infor CloudSuite ERP M3 and LN, shares an article on Forbes about how many reasons businesses have yet to migrate is the board’s concerns outweighing the benefits but failing to see it’s true potential. The shift to cloud ERP has been a significant technology trend and the most effective way to prepare for market changes. “For any business executive,” Madh states, “ensuring board satisfaction and cooperation is a daily imperative. To secure board member buy-in on innovative technology implementations, especially large overhauls like moving from on-premise tools to the cloud, business leaders would be wise to anticipate and address common objections.” Below are Madh’s tips for educating and reasoning with them to make the on-premise to cloud ERP transition a reality.

Objection 1: The transition will cause unnecessary downtime. “Cloud migration requires monetary and time investments, both of which are often significant. A common disagreement from the board is that stirring up a tech transformation isn’t necessary; the current technology is working, and there’s no need to cause any unneeded downtime to transition to new systems.

Counterargument: “Rather than causing unnecessary downtime, it’s important to help others understand that a cloud ERP transition can be a step to mitigate downtime in the long run. Avoiding cloud migration can lead to a slew of challenges, including keeping up to date with compliance issues in global operations, greater risk for cyberattacks and data leakage or, worse, complete shutdown. In short, you can let your board know that proactively planning and initiating your cloud migration now ensures you have control over the process and can avoid being forced into a rushed and potentially disruptive transition later. This can actually avoid downtime and streamline data cleaning, sharing and analysis.”

 

Objection 2: The business is already operating with slim teams. Why exacerbate this? “Because of ongoing labor challenges, as well as an aging workforce, boards are hyperaware of where teams are being deployed. They’re focused on having each employee work on business-furthering tasks to keep productivity up. The idea of losing a handful of teammates to focus on a tech migration can cause heartburn.”

Counterargument: “Without transitioning to the cloud, your business may not effectively be using its current headcount and may be wasting time that could be better used on other business-advancing activities. It’s true that training will be required when new technology is implemented. But overall, adequate training—coupled with cloud-enabled software updates and service—can lead to reduced downtime and greater efficiency and productivity levels. Like with the counter to unnecessary downtime, this is about looking at the long-term independence and efficiency of your employees.”

 

Objection 3: If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. “Like with the first objection, the board may feel replacing technology that seemingly runs perfectly fine is a misuse of time and cost investments.”

Counterargument: “Without priming an organization’s tech stack to stay in lockstep with the latest innovations, you’re risking your business falling significantly behind. You can point out how your on-premise ERP systems are filled with numerous legacy applications, adding to unnecessary complexity due to the steady stream of updates and customizations needed for these apps. Point out how moving to the cloud can support the adoption of the latest innovations in AI and ML solutions. Cloud ERP solutions can help enrich visibility across departments, enabling users to access it from any mobile device, whether iPad, mobile phone or other device. Lastly, with older on-premise ERP solutions, leveraging mobile is more complex and more expensive. Plus, it leaves the door wide open for cybersecurity attacks and other risks.”

 

You need to set your organization up for success by getting ahead of your board’s main concerns around migrating away from-prem systems. Madh concludes that achieving the full support and buy-in from your board is a major step in facilitating the transition to a successful cloud ERP solution.

 

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