The reality, however, is that the legacy ERP solutions many organizations are utilizing don’t offer SaaS-enabled versions today. Or if they do, the cloud-enabled version doesn’t have feature parity with the dekstop version of the software. Even in the best-case scenario where the SaaS version is capable, many organizations have already invested too heavily in customizations to the legacy version to make a migration feasible. We’ve written in the past about the reasons why organizations can’t abandon their legacy software, and the same holds true for many potential ERP migrations. 

A lot of organizations still use highly customized legacy applications and have invested significant resources into these apps that are still providing core business-critical functionality for their business. While cloud environments often provide robust features and capabilities, some orgs may not be in a position to abandon their legacy applications as the cost and effort to migrate to new SaaS-based offerings is too great.

Luckily, every organization has an easy option for avoiding the typical pitfalls of migrating their ERP to the cloud while still being able to access every feature and customization they have today. And this option is available regardless of whether their ERP solution has been SaaS enabled.   

Virtual Application Delivery (VAD) enables organizations that are using customized legacy applications to be able to continue using these apps while at the same time providing a modern way to deliver the application to any device with a cloud SaaS feel.

Using Virtual App Delivery platforms like Cameyo, organizations can give end-users access any legacy application through any modern web browser connection. This means legacy applications not designed to run on mobile clients or non-Windows devices can efficiently run on any device, regardless of OS, from the browser. It effectively SaaS-enables any legacy Windows or internal web app without the need to refactor or redevelop the application.

Example – Delivering Windows-only ERP to Chromebooks

When Nordward decided to transition to Chrome OS, it hit a snag.

“We also needed a way to provide our people with access to the Windows applications they rely on to do their jobs – most importantly our ERP system – from their Chrome devices,” said Christian Ahlin, Group Head of IT at Nordward. 

Together with reseller Online Partner, Sweden’s leading Google solutions specialist, Nordward put together a migration strategy that would enable the company to take advantage of the speed, security, and manageability of Chrome OS without interrupting access to their business-critical Windows apps.

“The most critical need was the ability to deliver our Windows-based ERP system, VismaBusiness, to all of our employees even though they are now utilizing Chrome OS devices,” said Ahlin. “This is the system we use for our purchasing, warehousing, logistics, sales, and finance – so I can’t think of anything more ‘business critical’ than that.”

Nordward selected Cameyo’s Virtual App Delivery platform, enabling them to simply and securely deliver their ERP software to all of their employees’ Chrome OS devices. Cameyo enables Nordward employees to access the full desktop version of the Windows application on their Chrome OS devices through the browser. Not only does this remove the need for the software to be installed and managed on each device, but because it’s the same version of the software that everyone is used to (just running in the browser), there is nothing new for users to learn.

“Cameyo played a critical role in enabling our transition to Chrome Enterprise,” said Ahlin. “Without the ability to provide access to our Windows ERP software on Chrome OS devices, we simply would not have been able to make the switch.”

You can check out the complete Nordward case study here.

Example – Enabling ISVs to Deliver their Apps as SaaS, with no Redevelopment

A few years ago Tático ERP – a leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform in Brazil – was seeing a trend that more organizations wanted to utilize their software on a variety of platforms, especially Apple devices. At the time, it’s ERP suite ran only on Windows, and needed to be physically installed – there was no web-enabled option.

“This became a serious limiting factor for us when speaking with potential customers,” said Henrique Netzka, CEO of Tatico. “We needed to be able to sell our platform to any company, regardless of the types of devices their employees used – not just Windows-only organizations. So we set out to web-enable our platform to better serve a greater number of organizations.”

Like many ISVs, Tatico assumed that redevelopment of their software was the only option. But they soon faced a common roadblock. 

“It would have taken $2M to redevelop our suite for the web, and it would have taken at least 18 months,” said Netzka. “It simply didn’t make economic sense.”

In addition to the time and cost involved, Tatico was also concerned about ensuring feature parity for the web version.

“Often times with these redevelopment projects, companies are forced to make compromises in the functionality of the web version in order to get it to market faster,” said Netzka. “We are not wiling to compromise the user experience of our customers, so it was very important to us that they be able to access 100% of the features and functionality of the suite, from the web.”

Ultimately Tatico decided to take a different approach. It selected Cameyo and was able to quickly and easily give all of their current and future customers access to the desktop version of the Tatico suite, from any type of device, directly from the browser. Zero redevelopment required. 

“When we first saw Cameyo in action, we quickly realized that our users wouldn’t have to download, install, or manage anything in order to use our suite,” said Netzka. “It was like a dream come true. Our users would get the same exact experience as the installed version of the software, but on any device, without having to install anything.”

Want to learn more about how ISV’s can SaaS-enable their product overnight with no redevelopment? Check out Cameyo for ISVs here. Or read the complete Tatico ERP case study here.

And regardless of whether you’re an organization looking to migrate your ERP to the cloud or an ISV that needs to SaaS-enable your service, you can get a customized demo of Cameyo here. 

The post Migrating ERP to the Cloud: Avoiding the Typical Pitfalls appeared first on Cameyo.

What’s worse is that good results aren’t guaranteed. Even after all that effort, there’s an equally costly risk of under-delivering if the redeveloped app doesn’t have feature parity. That can be a real blow to an ISV’s reputation as well as its budget.

For savvy ISVs, the trick lies in reframing their entire approach to software redevelopment. Instead of thinking in terms of, say, how to get Windows software running on a Chromebook, it’s more about how to leverage the strengths of native Chrome OS software to access Windows apps.

Virtual app delivery is the way to make that happen.

Cameyo empowers ISVs with its next-gen application virtualization platform

With Cameyo, ISVs can give their customers access to the full desktop version of their Windows software on any device. And the best part is that it requires zero redevelopment time.

That’s not a theoretical or best-case scenario. Through Cameyo’s virtual app delivery platform, ISVs from all over the world have already been able to put their native Windows applications in the hands of any user on any platform practically overnight. Furthermore, achieving that speed and simplicity is possible without compromises in functionality, security or ease of use. 

• Tático ERP, a leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) provider in Brazil, used Cameyo to bring its tightly integrated software suite to customers that had been demanding a web-enabled version for macOS and Chromebooks. Without Cameyo, it “would have taken $2M to redevelop our suite for the web, and it would have taken at least 18 months.”
• Vantea SMART, a European ISV of ERP software, experimented with Windows Remote Desktop as well as Amazon AppStream 2.0. Neither solution worked as seamlessly or as cost-effectively as Cameyo. Full implementation took less than a week. “Now our customers have access to the full desktop versions of our solutions on any device, from the browser—with absolutely no software redevelopment required.”
• California-based ProSolutions Software saw a growing trend in the spa industry toward web-optimized management software. The company used Cameyo’s virtual app delivery to bring its full-featured, customizable suite to the browser. It saved them $3M and 18 months while delivering native-quality performance: “Our customers are able to experience ProSolutions with the same responsiveness as if it were a local app.”

In short, Cameyo completely removes redevelopment and fragmentation as obstacles on the path toward SaaS-style software universality. ISVs can turn legacy platform-specific software into a modern platform-agnostic solution without changing a single line of code.

Satisfy current customers while expanding your customer base

As you can imagine, ISVs find Cameyo to be incredibly useful for quickly modernizing their software to support today’s SaaS models. Existing customers like it, too, because they can skip the learning curve and use their familiar Windows software on any device. But Cameyo is just as useful for prospective customers who want to try software for the first time.

Using Cameyo’s Automated Trial Service, which leverages the same technology as our core platform, ISVs can grant their prospects immediate access to free trial software without having to download or install anything. This more or less reduces the step between call to action and demo to a single click, boosting conversion rates as a result.

• EasyPower, an industry-leading provider of software tools for intelligently designing, analyzing and monitoring electrical power systems, wanted to make the leap from interest to demo as smooth as possible. The ISV has since transitioned its entire trial platform to Cameyo: “Previously, less than 10% of prospects would try out the demo if they had to download and install it themselves. With Cameyo, that conversion rate has jumped to over 40%.”
• Top Australian HR software suite ClockOn is Windows-only, but the company was eager to showcase its power and simplicity to any user. Using Cameyo to remove the installation barrier led to a 166% increase in trial conversions. That was augmented by a 400% increase in engagement. “The Automated Trial Service with Cameyo has outperformed our expectations and is dramatically increasing the number of people who get access to our software,” they said.

These examples show that SaaS enablement no longer has to be a question of how to get Windows software on a Chromebook or a Mac. It’s a matter of using browser-based virtual app delivery to make native Windows software accessible on any platform.

The short path to web-enabled Windows software as well as faster and more meaningful trial conversion starts with a free trial of Cameyo. Test it out today and see how Cameyo can save you money on software redevelopment while adding more potential revenue streams to your existing solution.

The post Helping ISVs Web-Enable Their Apps and Increase Free Trial Conversion appeared first on Cameyo.