The EPM market has shifted decisively toward cloud. Most new implementations are cloud-based, and legacy on-premise vendors are actively migrating their customer bases. But the decision between cloud and on-premise is not purely technical — it affects cost structure, upgrade cadence, security posture, customization flexibility and long-term vendor dependency.
This guide covers how cloud and on-premise EPM differ, the implications for finance teams, when on-premise still makes sense, what hybrid looks like and how to evaluate deployment models during vendor selection.
The Market Shift to Cloud
A decade ago, most EPM deployments were on-premise. Organizations purchased licenses, provisioned servers and managed upgrades internally. Today, the vast majority of new EPM implementations are cloud-based, and the reasons are straightforward: faster deployment, lower upfront cost, automatic upgrades and reduced IT burden.
Oracle has end-of-lifed Hyperion. SAP is transitioning BPC to SAP Analytics Cloud. OneStream and Anaplan are cloud-native. Planful, Pigment, Vena and Workday Adaptive are all cloud-only. The direction is clear.
For most organizations evaluating EPM today, the question is not whether to go cloud, but which cloud platform fits best.
Cloud vs On-Premise: Key Differences
When On-Premise Still Makes Sense
On-premise is increasingly rare for new deployments, but some organizations have legitimate reasons to stay:
•Strict data residency or sovereignty requirements
•Highly regulated industries with on-premise mandates
•Deep customizations that cloud platforms cannot replicate
•Large existing investment in on-premise infrastructure
•Air-gapped environments with no external connectivity
Even in these cases, hybrid models — cloud EPM with on-premise data storage — are increasingly viable.
What Finance Teams Should Care About
For FP&A and accounting teams, the deployment model affects daily experience in several ways.
Upgrade cadence
Cloud platforms release updates quarterly or continuously. On-premise upgrades are major projects. Cloud means you always have the latest features. On-premise means you may be years behind.
Performance and availability
Cloud vendors manage uptime SLAs, typically 99.5-99.9%. On-premise performance depends on your infrastructure team and capacity planning.
Integration flexibility
Cloud platforms offer APIs and pre-built connectors. On-premise may require middleware or custom development for integration.
Vendor lock-in
Cloud subscriptions create ongoing dependency. On-premise licenses give more control but vendor support eventually ends, forcing migration anyway.