Every company has its requirements and wishes regarding what an ERP system should be possible. But unfortunately, it always turns out that the ideal software system does not exist. Unfortunately, there are always certain wishes that the software does not have as standard. What are you doing then?
When I speak to entrepreneurs, a choice is often quickly made for standard. The idea is that standard is better and cheaper. After all, the supplier has spent a lot of time developing the software and maintaining the software. When I discuss customization, people are frequently reluctant and immediately speak about maintainability, labor-intensive and therefore expensive.
Are these assumptions true, and what is the best solution? Are you going for standard or are you going for customization? Or is a mix of standard and customization perhaps the best solution?
Before you, orient yourself on thee purchasing an ERP-system, proper preparation is essential. Make sure you have clearly defined the objectives, and also make sure that the project remains clear. By this, I mean that you should not want too much at once and that you also keep the brakes on the wishes and requirements. Make sure you find a partner who has an Agile project approach This approach gives you the opportunity to change a lot (the way of solving, for example) during the project, while the objective is not changed.
Purchasing a standard ERP System
If you opt for a standard ERP system, you will have to check whether the standard system has the functionalities to achieve your objective. With standard software, you will sometimes have to adapt working methods and processes to the solution that the software has as standard. If certain functionality is not available, you have to come up with an alternative to achieve your goal. With many standard ERP systems (especially cloud solutions), customization is not possible, and you have to comply with the standard. This in itself does not have to be a problem, but make sure that adjusting your working method is not at the expense of the efficiency that ERP software strives for.
If you want to get started quickly and want to save on purchase and implementation costs, standard is the best solution.
Making custom software
If you are convinced that your company has such processes that a standard ERP system does not have, then a custom solution is a suitable solution. Customization gives you complete freedom to design and make the entire ERP system the way you want. What you really don't want is to build everything from scratch and reinvent the wheel. Standard things such as authorization, database connections and screen layout have already been devised by others. Often an available framework is used, and you can use the advantages of available components for development. However, the framework typically has its limitations that you have to take into account.
Customization has the advantage that you get exactly what you want and that you don't get more than necessary. This can be a big advantage compared to standard software. From a cost standpoint, it can be more beneficial to make custom solutions instead of sacrificing efficiency or competitiveness. Many companies have won the competition by implementing something new in their processes. Because it was entirely new, it was (frequently) made as custom work.
Customization, if well-made, provides the best solution. A tailored suit simply fits better than a ready-to-wear suit. However, as an organization, you bear the entire development costs alone and that is not always desirable.
The mix of standard with customization
When we look at the SME companies that we automate, we see that they have many similarities. They all have customers, suppliers and do sales and purchases. We do see that every company has its preferences and sometimes has set up a process completely differently, sometimes in detail. We advise the customer about the standard options and look together at the specific design of the customer. In consultation, an assessment is made of what gives the maximum result. This may be to work as standard or that we make this specific working method or functionality as custom work.
The mix of standard and customization is the ideal solution. You use the best practices of an existing ERP system and add customization. For this, we use an extremely flexible open-source ERP framework. This gives us the opportunity to very easily adjust the database and screens of the software and to make the ERP system perfect for the customer.
Perfect software
A perfect software package does not exist. Many ERP systems excel in a particular domain, such as accounting or project management. The so-called 'Best of Breed' packages. But an SME company often has to deal with all these processes and a choice for these packages leads to island automation and not to high-efficiency and optimal collaboration. Choose a standard ERP system, with a lot of standard functionality. But also provide an ERP system that is flexible and in which customization is easy to realize. This is how you get the best result.
What is your experience with ERP software? What were your considerations and what choices did you make? I'd love to read your response.
What to choose? Standard or custom software