Insights Blog

How to Upgrade Your On-Prem ERP to the Cloud with Infor Leap

Important information as it’s always best to “look before you leap”.

 

Author: Dan Aldridge — PCG Director of Solutions Marketing

The Beginning: from the Moon to the Cloud —

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy challenged America to reach the moon within a decade. Just eight years later, Apollo 11 achieved that audacious goal—powered by a roomful of mainframe computers with less processing power than the smartphone in your hand today.

When Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, he declared, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Behind that leap stood engineers calculating by hand—years before the first spreadsheet even existed.

In a similar way, when Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems emerged in the early 1990s, they represented another technological revolution. For the first time, entire companies—especially manufacturers—could manage operations through a unified digital backbone. ERP became the “system of record”, the “one version of the truth.”

Taking off to the Cloud —

By the late 1990s, the next evolution began. In 1997, NetSuite launched the first cloud-based ERP platform. It took traditional vendors such as Oracle, SAP, and Baan (now Infor) several more years to follow suit.

Convincing organizations to abandon their costly, complex on-premises ERP systems proved difficult. Many companies had invested millions—sometimes billions—in heavily customized environments. Even today, Gartner estimates that fewer than 40 percent of SAP ECC customers will have migrated to S/4HANA by 2027, despite more than a decade of pressure. Those who don’t move will lose maintenance support—and access to SAP’s new AI platform, Joule.

The bottom line: On-prem ERP customers, regardless of vendor, are falling behind if they don’t move to the cloud.

The Big Leap —

Infor has taken a very different path with its new Leap program, an innovative upgrade initiative that combines Infor’s Velocity Suite and Agentic AI to accelerate migration from on-prem ERP systems to the cloud.

Infor’s Leap makes it possible to take existing Infor environments—such as LN, Baan, XA, or SyteLine—and modernize them into the secure, multi-tenant Infor CloudSuites running on Amazon Web Services (AWS).

In the spirit of Armstrong’s famous words, this is truly one small step for Infor, one giant LEAP for Infor customers.

Unlike other ERP vendors, Infor has paired cloud migration with industry-specific intelligence and fixed-price project delivery. No one—not even SAP or Oracle—is offering a similar combination of industry focus, AI automation, and predictable cost.

Why Infor? —

Infor CloudSuites are consistently ranked among the top ERP systems by Gartner, Nucleus Research, and independent advisors such as Third Stage Consulting’s Eric Kimberling. Built on AWS, Infor’s cloud ERP offers the scalability, security, and AI infrastructure modern manufacturers need.

Each Infor CloudSuite is designed for a specific industry—manufacturing, distribution, aerospace & defense, automotive, high tech, and more. Preconfigured best practices reduce costly customizations and speed time to value.

Here is our PCG Insights BLOG article that explains “What is Infor CloudSuite?” including several instructional videos from our new PCG Insights HUB.

Why PCG? —

To make the Leap successful, you need the right partner. PCG is the only Infor partner in North America offering both:

  • SyteLine upgrades to Infor CloudSuite Industrial (CSI)
  • LN, Baan, and XA upgrades to CloudSuite Industrial Enterprise (CSIE)

For over a decade, PCG has refined its Velocity implementation methodology, delivering fixed-price, on-time, on-budget cloud migrations. In essence, PCG “took the Leap” years ago.

Here is our PCG Insights BLOG article entitled “Why PCG Should Be Your Infor Consulting Partner”. We’ve been doing Infor ERP implementations for over 20 years, so we know our way around these systems really well!

What Infor Leap with PCG Delivers —

For Infor’s on-prem customers (LN, XA, SyteLine, Baan, etc.), PCG’s Leap offering delivers:

1. Industry-Specific Cloud ERP
CloudSuites are built with decades of industry experience, embedding best practices from day one. PCG tailors only where it matters, minimizing risk and cost.

2. Unparalleled Industry Knowledge
From aerospace to electronics, PCG brings deep vertical expertise. One example: implementing CloudSuite A&D for AEVEX Aerospace—the first drone manufacturer in North America to do so—in just six months.

3. Free Cloud Readiness Assessment
PCG begins with a complimentary workshop to design your personalized cloud roadmap. Using Infor’s Industry Process Catalog, the team builds a demo tenant—later used in production—to accelerate deployment.

4. Deployment and Adoption
PCG’s proven project methodology ensures smooth migration and end-user adoption. Tools such as Infor Adoption Accelerator provide in-app guidance to increase proficiency and engagement.

5. Value Realization and Ongoing Support
Post-go-live, PCG continues to deliver value through its Customer Success and Assure Support programs, combining managed services with customization assistance.

How PCG Enables Your Leap —

PCG helps you qualify for the Leap program and ensures a fast, cost-effective journey to the cloud. Customer fit is evaluated across key criteria—company size, users, plant locations, business model alignment, and industry-specific functionality.

For many manufacturers, the Leap program eliminates long-standing fears about re-implementation complexity or uncertain project costs. PCG’s structured “health check” determines eligibility and defines a realistic, fixed-price scope.

How PCG Uses Industry AI Agents and Velocity Suite —

PCG leverages Infor’s Velocity Suite—a set of advanced tools for business process mining, robotic process automation (RPA), and AI-driven insights.

At the core are Industry AI Agents: pre-trained, role-based assistants built on micro-vertical models. These agents are ready to work out of the box, requiring minimal setup.

With Industry AI Agents, organizations can:

  • Optimize every process with AI grounded in industry context
  • Make faster, data-driven decisions
  • Orchestrate and scale automation securely across the enterprise

PCG has deployed both Infor’s pre-built agents and custom AI agents tailored to client workflows—helping customers unlock measurable productivity gains.

Extending the Leap: Business Transformation —

While the Leap program focuses on technical migration, PCG ensures that transformation extends across people, processes, and technology:

1. People – Cloud Readiness Assessments evaluate organizational culture, staffing, and change-management needs, supported by robust training and testing plans.

2. Processes – Infor’s standardized Industry Process Catalogs and process-mining tools help streamline operations and identify inefficiencies.

3. Technology – PCG handles configuration, data cleansing, migration, and documentation with AI assistance—ensuring your system is optimized for the cloud

Taking You Beyond the Leap —

Migration is only the beginning of your journey. PCG extends value through complementary solutions that enhance your CloudSuite environment:

  • Data Lake Sync – Integrate ERP, CRM, and other data sources—including SAP—into the Infor Data Lake via APIs.
  • Business Intelligence – Leverage Actualize/OrangeQuery dashboards, KPIs, and predictive analytics with Infor BIRST, Power BI, or Tableau.
  • Infor MES – Connect your shop floor to ERP for real-time production feedback, machine monitoring, and OEE tracking.
  • PCG Smart Factory – Extend CloudSuite ERP with MES+, enabling IoT-driven insights, material tracking, and predictive maintenance.

Some customers have achieved enough ROI from Smart Factory and analytics solutions to offset much of their ERP upgrade cost—shrinking payback periods dramatically.

The Next Giant Leap for Manufacturing —

ERP modernization no longer needs to be a risky reimplementation. With Infor Leap and PCG, it’s a structured, intelligent transformation—powered by AI, grounded in industry expertise, and executed with precision.

PCG invites all Infor on-prem ERP customers to schedule a Cloud Readiness Assessment and explore whether they qualify for the Leap program.

Because in today’s competitive landscape, standing still is not an option.

So, let’s take the Leap to the cloud—together—and go beyond the moon dust.

 

For more information, visit PCG or connect with Dan Aldridge (The ERP Doctor) on LinkedIn. Come join us by “ringing the bell” on the PCG LinkedIn page to get frequent updates on cool technologies.

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Dan Aldridge

Dan has 25+ years of corporate management experience including CEO, CFO and Controller of the consulting firm he founded and grew for 13 years. He has ERP software and digital transformation experience working with CEO’s, CFO’s, Controllers, and other C-levels at Fortune 500 companies. He specializes in Finance (e.g., Financial Statements, General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Cost Accounting) and Manufacturing (e.g., MRP, Production, Industry 4.0, Smart Factories, MES systems) consulting and project management.

Contact Dan Aldridge.

 

Work together with PCG for great Infor platform success. Contact us, and let’s get started!

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