Definition
Cloud ERP is ERP software hosted by the vendor and used through a web browser, usually paid for as a subscription, rather than installed on the customer's own servers.
What is cloud ERP good for?
The vendor runs the servers, backups and upgrades, so the customer needs no in-house infrastructure and gets updates without a project. Staff can work from any location with an internet connection. The trade-offs are dependence on internet access, less control over where data is hosted and the need to check the vendor’s security practices.
Example: a trading company with offices in two countries and a warehouse in a third gives all three teams the same live system through a browser.
“Cloud” covers both shared multi-tenant software and hosted single-company installations, so ask which one you’re buying, and how tenants are kept apart, for example with row-level security.