Full Sail Partners Blog | Gina Stamper

Gartner corroborates that 85% of organizations will go for a cloud-first approach by 2025. Is your professional services firm in this 85%? If not, what’s holding you back? And what does it mean to have a ‘cloud-first approach’? A ‘cloud-first approach’ means information is loaded, stored, and accessible from the internet. If your firm hasn’t evaluated taking your ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system to the cloud, here are 5 key things to consider:

1. Easy Access:

With a cloud-based ERP system, your team can access essential project data from any location, at any time. This real-time accessibility allows for seamless collaboration, ensuring everyone is working with the most up-to-date information, no matter where they are. By eliminating the need for physical proximity, the cloud enables faster decision-making and more responsive project management.

2. Affordability:

Moving your ERP system to the cloud eliminates the need for costly upfront investments in hardware. Instead of paying for servers and infrastructure, your professional services firm benefits from reduced IT maintenance costs, as the cloud provider handles system updates and monitoring. This pay-as-you-go model also offers flexibility, allowing your firm to scale its resources as needed without breaking the bank.

3. Fast and Easy Updates:

Cloud-based ERP systems ensure that updates are handled automatically by the provider, meaning your firm always has access to the latest features and improvements. This eliminates the need for time-consuming manual upgrades, keeping your system up to date without disrupting your business operations. Regular updates also ensure better performance and security, keeping your software running smoothly.

4. Security:

Cloud providers offer robust security measures, including encryption, continuous monitoring, and automatic updates to protect your data from cyber threats. Your professional services firm can rely on their expertise to ensure that the latest security patches are applied without delay. With data backed up in multiple locations, you can rest easy knowing that your information is safe and recoverable in case of a disaster.

5. Competing With Larger Firms:

Cloud-based ERP systems level the playing field by providing smaller firms access to the same powerful technology that larger organizations use. The cost savings from reduced hardware and maintenance allow smaller professional services firms to invest more in growth and innovation. Cloud technology also provides the flexibility to scale resources quickly, helping your firm stay competitive in an evolving marketplace.

Ready to Make the Move to the Cloud?

Many professional services firms, small and large alike, are benefiting from taking their ERP to the cloud as it is keeping them competitive, lowering overall operating costs, and allowing their employees to focus on their primary job rather than maintaining an on-premises system.

Deltek Cloud has over 19 thousand SaaS customers that are using 17 different products with more than 1.8 million cloud users in over 50 thousand databases with an uptime of 99.98% in 2023, and those numbers are continuing to grow in 2024. Can your professional services firm afford to ignore the advantages of the cloud? It’s time to put yourself on an even playing field with other organizations regardless of size and resources.

Still Require More Convincing?

Worried about the downtime involved in moving to the cloud? 99.9% of customers are able to make the move from their on-premises system to Deltek’s cloud environment over the weekend ensuring business hours aren’t interrupted.

Worried about data loss? Deltek keeps daily backups in 2 different time zones and a transaction log backup every 15 minutes!

But don’t just take my word for it, here is what one client, Kathy Krol-Ramirez, from Parikh Consultants, had to say:

“Change is hard. Most of us never want to disrupt things that are going smoothly. However, I realized that upgrades and backups could be easier in the cloud and my IT guy was very thankful to not have to handle the program in-house. Now my staff has the latest update with 24/7 access.”

With hackers coming at us from all angles at all hours, why take the risk? Why put your professional services firm's data, and your lifeline, at risk. Can your firm afford 24/7 security and server monitoring? In Deltek’s cloud, there is a dedicated team of security experts that monitor your data 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year with security safeguards that typically exceed any on-premise solutions.

One More Compelling Reason to Move to the Cloud

Need one more compelling reason to move to Deltek’s cloud? Vantagepoint! While being in the cloud is not required to move to Vantagepoint, it does offer many conveniences during your upgrade process. This includes a Vantagepoint preview environment using your professional services firm’s data that is not only created by the Deltek Cloud Operations team but is managed and maintained by them. Which means no need to invest in additional hardware or time to manage and maintain it.

Don’t wait and continue to fall behind the curve and jeopardize your firm's success. Reach out to your account manager today to find out if Deltek’s cloud makes sense for your professional services firm.