The disadvantages of implementing ERP software is well documented. The nature of ERP system is changing as enterprises shift from on premises to cloud computing and as data from nearly every aspect of life. Starting from admission process in schools , colleges, universities till they become an alumni, the whole data is collected , stored, analysed and acted upon. Consequently the human and economic investments required to support these shifts and they are changing too.
So, its worth examining the cons of ERP in educational institutions.
Data security
When it comes to data security,ERP can be a blessing or curse because all the data is in one place where you can keep an eye on it. On the other part, all the data is in one place where the cyber criminals will have an easy access. If your ERP software is hosted in the cloud by third party which most of them are, having control over your private and sensitive data will be banned. A the very least a company hosting the software has access to your existing data.
Another challenge is that many ERP systems are secured onlu by user id and pass word. Such credentials are often the target of phishing attacks. So, to make ERP systems secure added security such as multi factor authentication or data masking have to be implemented.
Customization
This mode of application is a bit costly. Most educational institutions only consider ERP software in the first place because the application is modular and also allows user to pick and choose what they want. However, one size seldom fits every thing and some customization will be required. If you host ERP system on premises you have more opportunity to customize it. But dedicating the manpower to continuously having a look at it will be challenging and also hosting on premises ERP software sometimes choose to pay for platform-as- a-service {Paas) to ease customization
Data Migration
It is one of the biggest problem for many institutes, Whether your data is paper based or in Digital form, It will take time and money to move the data or to clean it up, duplicate items and confirm it to the new format.
Another challenge to data migration for larger enterprise is in deciding what portions of data should be moved over and when. Increasingly the big and monolithic ERP migration is falling out of favour.
Implementing cloud based ERP software is the right course for most large organisations. Special consideration have to be given however to inherent challenges of data migration, data security, total cost of ownership which includes maintenance.
