What is cloud ERP?

With cloud ERP, you don’t buy servers or handle installation and updates. A service provider hosts the software and your data on servers it operates, and your users connect over the internet. You usually pay a subscription and use the software as a service, which is why the model is also called SaaS (software as a service).

The alternative is on-premise deployment, where the software is installed on your own servers.

Is cloud ERP the same as web-based ERP?

No. Web-based describes how you use the software; cloud describes where it runs. A web-based ERP works in the browser with nothing to install on users’ computers, and updates are applied once, on the server.

That server can sit in a provider’s cloud or in your own server room. A desktop ERP, by contrast, usually needs a separate program on every user’s computer, even when it runs on a remote server.

What to check when choosing a cloud ERP

• Where is the data stored, how often is it backed up, and where are the backups kept?
• When are updates applied, and where are planned outages announced?
• Are service continuity and support response times written into the contract?
• In what format can you get your data back when the contract ends?
• How is each customer’s data kept separate, what can the provider’s staff do, and are those actions logged?

Cloud ERP and KVKK

A business that keeps details of its employees and of contact persons at its customers and vendors in an ERP is the data controller under KVKK (Law No. 6698), Turkey’s personal data protection law. In most cases, the cloud provider processes that data on the business’s behalf. Under Article 12, when another party processes data on the controller’s behalf, the controller is jointly responsible with that party for security measures.

If the servers, or services the provider relies on, are outside Turkey, Article 9 applies. The amendment that took effect on June 1, 2024, sets out the grounds for a transfer in this order: an adequacy decision, appropriate safeguards such as standard contracts and binding corporate rules, and a limited number of incidental cases. According to the Personal Data Protection Authority’s page on transfers abroad, its Board has not yet named any country as offering adequate protection (as of October 2026).

Cloud ERP in IWB

IWB is a web-based ERP, and the same IWB runs in the cloud and on your own server. In the cloud, the IWB team sets up your workspace at a company-specific address (yourcompany.iwb.com.tr) and applies the updates. Your workspace is created after a demo meeting; self-service sign-up isn’t available.

Each company’s data is kept separate, and that separation is enforced in the application and in the database independently. If you install IWB on your own server, the database and files stay on your server, and we agree on the update policy for your installation with you.

You can change the address once every 30 days, and you can use your own domain, such as erp.yourcompany.com, with an add-on. The status page at status.iwb.com.tr shows the current state of the application, sign-in, and workspace access, along with past incidents.

Every change the IWB team makes from its admin panel for support or operations is written to your Security Log as a “Platform operation” entry. Hosting details are shared in writing at the contract stage. The AI assistant and account emails use service providers based outside Turkey; see the Privacy Policy for details.