CFOs are embracing cloud deployments for their ERP software and applications in greater numbers, and the advantages of cloud ERP are becoming clearer every year. In a recent discussion with Ray Wang, founder and principal analyst of Constellation Research, Oracle CEO Mark Hurd said that cloud ERP allows finance leaders to "get rid of spreadsheets, get out of customizations, lower costs, and get better reporting."

The burden of regulatory compliance is one key issue that has driven cloud ERP adoption among CFOs, according to Constellation's 2018 survey of CFOs; 42% of survey respondents highlighted regulatory compliance as a top priority in their work. However, the dominant consideration for financial executives contemplating a shift to cloud ERP solutions is the cost of system implementation, upkeep, and improvement.

Oracle's recent survey of finance professionals for its 2018 ERP Trends report shows that 63% of those surveyed consider economic benefits to be a key reason to use or switch over to cloud ERP solutions. These findings parallel a recent Nucleus Research study demonstrating that cloud applications produced 3.2x the return on investment of on-premises deployments, while offering a 52% lower total cost of ownership. It's no surprise, then, that migrating to cloud ERP applications is an increasingly compelling proposition for CFOs worldwide.

Steering a company with thousands of employees can be difficult in the best of times. It's simply not possible to respond to changing economic and regulatory conditions with speed and agility while simultaneously updating software and systems on site across thousands of employees' workstations. Adding to the complexity is the security risk of allowing financial employees to store sensitive data on their laptops or flash drives, which are easy to steal and easy to hack.