2 Ways Cloud Warehouse Management Systems Helps Growing Companies Save Money

Written by Greg Miles | Thu, Jan 11, 2018

Benefits of Cloud Warehouse Management Systems

The recent shift in popularity of mid-market and enterprise-level cloud ERP software has intensified and created a perfect storm for the ERP software industry. The IT and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) industries are going through a rapid evolution with the adoption of cloud technology. In the past, companies were limited by the costs of locally installed or on-premise ERP software. Today, growing companies have the option of a more affordable and easier to implement cloud ERP software solution including distribution companies that need a Cloud Warehouse Management System. In the cloud ERP model, the vendor (cloud ERP software publisher) provides cloud or Web-based access to applications as a service, through a subscription pricing model. The ERP vendor takes responsibility for everything, including servers, storage, backups, system updates, applications, databases, and maintenance. This eliminates the need for customers to buy, deploy, and manage IT infrastructure, saving the customer large upfront deployment costs and ongoing maintenance headaches.

The main benefits for growing companies who switch to the cloud is that they have access to more technology for lower cost and lower total cost of ownership. Growing companies win big with access to cloud technology that delivers dramatically lowered cost of storage, increased processor speed, elimination of the need for a software and hardware to be physically connected.

Cloud Warehouse Management System (cloud WMS) Technology is now available in this cloud delivery model provided by some Cloud ERP software publishers, offering a lower cost and reduced risk option. When evaluating cloud WMS providers, it is imperative for every business to understand the total cost of ownership (TCO)—including both direct and indirect costs—of the technology and labor associated with adopting WMS technology. The scrutiny of new technology projects has never been higher and building a business case to justify an investment in supply chain management technology has never been more crucial. While some see the cloud as being simply the next level of technology, the shift towards cloud computing also has very tangible financial benefits.

Top Benefits of Cloud Warehouse Management System (Cloud WMS) Technology

1. More Technology for Less Cost:

For most distribution and manufacturing growing companies, infrastructure, development, and IT management are not core competencies or business differentiation. The anemic economy compels businesses to look even harder at their core competencies and costs. Ask yourself: can someone else do it for you more effectively and at less cost? Take, for example, the explosive growth of 3PL/logistics services providers, hired to take on tasks manufacturers and distributors used to do themselves, because the 3PL can perform the service more efficiently and at less cost than the company can itself.

Cloud allows you to switch from a fixed cost capital-intensive business model to a variable cost pay-as-you-go operating expense model. Eliminating the need to gain approval for a large, up-front capital investment to cover the cost of software makes stepping into a WMS easier for many companies, especially smaller operations with less cash on hand.

In typical enterprise data centers, large initial capital outlays also make ongoing upgrades in servers, operating systems, and database software prohibitively expensive. Over time these costs remain fixed, but so does the performance. The economies of scale available with the cloud allow cloud providers to purchase and maintain large volumes of hardware storage at very low costs. In this way, the cloud enables costs to decrease and performance and functionality to increase steadily over time.

While a move away from capital expenses is undoubtedly attractive to most organizations, it is in the total cost of ownership analysis that the economic benefits of WMS in the cloud become clear.

2. Lower Total Cost of Ownership:

Performing system upgrades is one of the most dreaded IT tasks related to traditional WMS Software. Did you know there are a large number of businesses out there that have had to cough up a million dollars just to upgrade their WMS? With WMS in the cloud, your vendor performs routine software maintenance for you, including scheduled upgrades and patches.

Additionally, in traditional enterprise data centers; it is fairly common to experience capacity constraints or waste caused by spikes and troughs in demand throughout the year. You either need to wait while additional server hardware is ordered, shipped, and brought into operation—which can take months and cause lost business and unfulfilled orders—or you have excess capacity, meaning wasted space and expense. The cloud is elastic and scalable, so you can access more power when you need, and scale back during slower periods.

Learn more about Warehouse Management Systems and Technology

Posted by iCepts Technology Group, Inc. - A Pennsylvania Partner for Accellos and Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017

About iCepts Technology Group, Inc. Middletown, PA

We are an Accellos and Microsoft Dynamics NAV Partner offering implementation, service, and support for Accellos One Warehouse Management Systems and Microsoft Dynamics NAV in: PA, DC, DE, MD, NC, NJ, NY, OH, VA, WV, and the entire Mid-Atlantic Region. We also offer cloud warehouse management systems consulting, implementation, service, and support for Accellos One Warehouse Management Systems in: PA, DC, DE, MD, NC, NJ, NY, OH, VA, WV, and the entire Mid-Atlantic Region.

As experienced SCM, WMS and ERP consultants and value-added resellers (VARs), we provide start to finish services for the solutions we represent Microsoft Dynamics NAV for Distribution and Manufacturing, Accellos Warehouse Management System (WMS), Server virtualization, open source VOIP phone systems and infrastructure and security. We provide services that cover process analysis, implementation, training, security and networking. Naturally, we also provide full ongoing support for years after implementation to help our clients succeed. We are your one-stop shop for your business technology needs.

Phone: 717.704.1000

Another version of this blog was posted on iCepts blog by Greg Miles on December 19, 2017 - Cloud Warehouse Management Systems

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