5 Reason Why Cloud ERP Wins the Federal Government in 2018.jpg

Cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions are poised to win inside the U.S. federal government in 2018 because of a mix of policy and technology changes. Legacy federal applications, especially ERP, aren’t aging gracefully and are in need of an upgrade and, in many cases, outright replacement. 

Here are five reasons why cloud ERP is poised to win in the federal government sector. 

1. The MGT Act and the Move to Shared Services

It’s well known that federal government IT is is movingly. Legacy systems, including ERP, have a much longer lifespan than they would in a commercial organization of the same size. authorizes each federal agency with a chief financial officer to establish an IT system modernization and working capital fund to improve, retire, or replace existing IT systems and so enhance security and efficiency. The fund also aims to help transition legacy IT systems to the cloud and other innovative platforms and technologies. 

2. Recent Natural Disasters

ERP certainly played a part in moving relief supplies around the country to the disaster areas, but a move to cloud-based ERP will give these agencies better scalability in times of crisis. Customs and Border Protection that’s called in to handle the transportation of relief supplies. Moving to cloud ERP helps the federal government open up to mobile users without having to route ERP access through already-overtaxed agency network end points. 

3. FedRAMP Certifications for ERP Industry Leaders

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program is a government-wide security standard for cloud applications and services. It requires a rigorous evaluation period to determine the security and net-worthiness of cloud-based applications and services. 

4. Feature Updates

In the old days, designing and implementing an on-premises ERP system inside a federal agency wasn’t terribly iterative. After a long slog through a design phase and a development timeline full of delays, an agency would find itself with an ERP system that didn’t meet its changing requirements.

5. Cloud Can Change a Checkered ERP Implementation History

ERP implementations have a checkered history within the federal government cost overruns, scope bloat, the whole shebang. Moving to cloud ERP is the best way to turn the page on that history because cloud ERP offers a lower barrier to entry: An agency can start small, and then scale up its ERP solution across projects and departments through a series of small-scale projects versus the large capital investments that have made old-school federal IT projects. 

ERP in the Government Cloud for the Win 

It’s the right time for cloud ERP to win in the federal government. The changing funding model that the MGT Act provides supports digital transformation of the business of government by moving legacy applications to the cloud.