Bco 6603 - Enterprise Resource Planning System

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Almost all of the cash machine in retail stores are on-premise systems. H&M is a Swedish giant chain retailer which has over 4000 stores all over the world (About.hm.com, 2016). The retailer purchases the machines and licences, licences are then installed in each machine inside the store, and it has either simple or complicated functions. Those devices will be connected to the in-house server which is located in cash office. Money is sensitive which leads to the needs of high level in money-related security. Retailers, in order to reduce the risk, would not choose cloud system because they need to have full control of their cash flow systems.

H&M Pitt Street store experienced a day when 3 out of 6 cash tills were having problems: one of them had freeze screen and cannot login back to the main menu, the other two had issues with EFTPOS device connection. For the first issue, one of the IT staff had to come and reset the machine manually, while in EFTPOS cases Manager needed to call the bank who is the other provider to fix it.

This is a simple example of how On-premise systems work when having a communication issue. Communication is still one of the weaknesses of On-promise ERP Systems beside the initial costs. In this case, since H&M is a big company having IT department, they will choose On-premise System to implement rather than Cloud-based one for security priority.

3.2. Cloud ERP Systems

Cloud ERP System, which is referred to as Software as a Service (SaaS), is one of the delivery models for Cloud Computing. In contradiction to On-premise model, SaaS has a lower upfront cost, and it is based on pay-as-you-go framework. It is also ready to use and implement promptly. One of the advantages is that the company does not have to need IT specialists to manage the system since it is more visualize and be taken care by hardware itself.

Cloud ERP is sometimes misunderstood as IaaS because they are all cloud-based models sharing via The Internet. However, SaaS is a pure cloud environment owned and operated by the providers, in which a company shares space with other companies. In comparison to the traditional model, SaaS has its updates regularly and rapidly without having to pay more because it is included in the subscription fee. More importantly, all of the customization will be kept along with the updated version.

It is great in the mobile environment nowadays when Cloud ERP helps the data accessible via any mobile devices connected to the Internet. Nevertheless, Cloud ERP System is facing numerous concern about security and confidentially since it is Internet-based sharing and easily become a target for hackers.

Is is easy to find a case study for Cloud ERP Systems due to the fact that technology nowadays is focusing on mobility and accessibility and people are using multiple mobile devices. Let’s take Google as a clear example of cloud-based sharing and storage. Google choose almost of its services in a form of SaaS, including Google Drive or Google Calendar. It can be seen as a web-based external storage for mobile users who requires more spaces for their data, and it is synchronizable from devices to devices. All of the sharing files need to be uploaded to a web-based server and can be shared among users via URL. The ability to open and edit a large amount of file type without having to download the files makes Google Drive the popular data-sharing tool.[pic 13]

In conjunction with Gmail, Google Drive is a way of sharing big data since with Gmail users can only attach small files for 25Mb maximum total size. Google Drive is a one-way sharing tool, in which users can only share data via web-based browser. Users can drag or choose files from their computers and upload it on Google cloud server then after that share the files’ URLs to recipients. Recipients can also see it in ‘Share with me’ menu.

There seems to have no evidence that Google Drive has ever been hacked even it is clearly a hacking target. Google Drive uses Gmail to log in without registration, which is a honeypot for hackers everywhere.

3.3. Hosted ERP Systems

Hosted ERP System, also known as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a model which is off-premise, can be seen as a basic Cloud ERP System. According to NetSuite, it is technically a tool in which users have the responsibility in managing data and operation systems, yet not the infrastructure (NetSuite.com, 2016). Instead of purchasing and maintaining the hardware and software in-house like the traditional system, the firm will pay for the software and have it managed by a third-party equipment while the company can access information via installed applications for web browser.

Since Hosted ERP Systems is like a combination of traditional and cloud one, it contains all of the advantages inherited from those two. IaaS is customizable to satisfy company’s needs because it is owned by the company. In addition, it has lesser security-related risks compared to the purely cloud system. The firm also does not have to backup the data manually like with On-premise ERP Systems because that is provider’s responsibility.

Nevertheless, the organization purchases and owns the licences which mean the maintenance job is on them not the providers. Besides, if the company does not have experienced IT staffs, then system security might not be as good as the bundle that Cloud ERP System provided.

There are two main and also competitors in online storage and sharing method which are above mentioned Google Drive and Dropbox. This part will illustrate the main differences between the two tools in the same category to bring clearer perspective on Cloud ERP versus Hosted ERP System. Similar to Google Drive, Dropbox is also a file-sharing tool but in Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud computing service model (Techopedia.com, 2016). Instead of uploading and sharing purely via website like Google Drive, when users install Dropbox on their devices, it will create a workspace for users to storage or share files. The files will be uploaded not through a website but on a storage server. [pic 14]

Unlike Google Drive, Dropbox users can upload any file in the system but Dropbox only supports a few file type. For some instance, you can view ‘Helios_b.png’ file because Dropbox supports the image file extension. However, you cannot preview ‘logo.psd’ since you need to download the file first and open in Photoshop application.

There are two ways for sharing data in Dropbox: via a link or desktop folder as screenshots below. Dropbox has presented itself as a two-way sharing tool when users can add, remove or edit files