JD Edwards EnterpriseOne is a reliable ERP suite that comes with a development kit and resource planning tools. The software, as a whole, enables you with multiple technical and functional abilities. The emphasis of this solution remains on delivering business value, standardizing the use of technology, and reducing the cost of ownership for you.
If you are using JD Edwards or thinking to get it implemented, we would approve your decision. It utilizes IoT, and mobile technologies to let you digitize your business faster. Its flexibility makes it a good choice for global expansion as well as M&A (Merger and Acquisition).
JD Edwards not only allows the use of one global instance but also lets you deploy a multi-instance strategy through its efficient and reliable ERP. But this seems to confuse people a lot.
At Stridely, we receive multiple queries from our customers regarding whether to go ahead with separate instances for different geographies or one global instance is sufficient.
Also Read: ERP Instance Consolidation
Our answer remains the same – it’s more about what you will prefer for your business. There are a few points to debate about while making the final decision about Running JDE in One Global Instance Vs in Multiple Instances. If you have the same concern, have a look:
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Distribution of Responsibilities and user groups in your Organization
Some companies give one CIO the IT ownership while others have regional CIOs for each of their local systems. For the regional role division related to IT ownership, it will be better to have multiple instances. It is because – letting all CIOs handle the same instance will cause conflicts. However, if your business has made one person accountable for the whole system instead of multiple local IT responsibility handlers, one global instance will be a better choice.
Also Read: Brand Identity Guide for CIOs – 3 Aspects that you never miss out
Choice of the number of instances may also depend on the structuring of your global user community.
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The Associated Risks
The probability of a few businesses facing cyber threats is more than others. It might be due to the competitors you have, or due to the nature of your business, or the type/importance of user data, your business units deal with. In such a case, you might think of a single global instance as a riskier option than maintaining multiple instances.
For example, 1 out of 10 instances being compromised will cause lesser harm than the only instance being compromised.
Similar is the case with system failures. Meaning that a regional system failing temporarily will have a lesser impact than a global system failing.
However, in this condition, it is more about whether or not you have a reliable Risk Mitigation and Disaster Recovery (D/R) strategy in place. Having a duplicate physical/cloud-based production system and data center could be an alternative solution (rather than running multiple instances) here. Make sure that you take licensing and other requisites for the duplicate setup into consideration while planning.
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Distribution of Your Master Data
If your business has a well-consolidated master data module, having a single global instance will help you unite the data well while moving forward. However, the same won’t work when your business has established its units in a dozen or more countries.
As a few countries keep on updating and modifying their fiscal requirements, your master data strategy must adhere to avoid complexities in such a condition. In a global system, you will have to perform testing for the whole system every time a sub-ledger is updated. That is complex and not at all feasible.
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Customization needs and Process Flow
Sometimes, enterprises want to diversify their portfolio, separate their management teams and add different brands to achieve a different goal in the target market. Here, standardization and unification of the processes are not the focus. Instead, the customization and management of multiple identities or product groups are the main emphases.
For this kind of needs, is better to set up various instances in your ERP system. However, there could be a few consequences, such as increased cost of handling processes and economy-management. So, if you are doing this, make sure the benefits are worth it.
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The frequency of Global Implementations
Let’s say your business has to often deploy changes that are applicable to all your geographies. If you will have multiple instances, the changes will have to be deployed on each instance separately. On the other side, one global instance will need a slight modification only.
Also, the approval for the deployment and the validation of the modified systems will be needed just once for a global instance. For local systems, it will be a tedious part of change deployment. So, the cost and need for resources related to global change management will be higher for the multiple instances in this case.
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The Associated Cost
Configuring, maintaining, and monitoring multiple instances is an option that comes with an additional cost of ownership. It requires more resources per location for your business to handle the ERP functioning. So, if you have a limited budget and resources, make sure that either you extend budget/resources or delay your plan of implementing the multi-instance JD Edwards solution.
While ERP instance consolidation is a complex task, having one global instance implies that this operation will be comparatively cheaper and easier for you later on. The process will require fewer resources, servers, and time when you will consolidate the business processes into one server.
The Final Word
JD Edwards global instance as well as multiple instances work fine for businesses. While making a choice, your focus should be on the feasibility of the decision, the organization structure, risks, geographies, business domains and change cycle. Moreover, keeping the above-discussed points will have you make the right decision in this regard.
If you are still confused about Running JDE in One Global Instance Vs in Multiple Instances, you make consult the experts at Stridely solutions. Our team will help you make the decision, as well as, will be available for ERP implementation in both the cases.