Top Reasons NOT To Customize Your ERP Solution
It’s quite common for businesses to implement an ERP system that has been tweaked for their company. In other words, customization of ERP systems is normal. However, is it the best thing to do for your solution as well as for your business?
Nowadays, IT Providers are giving users a lot more freedom by developing solutions with capabilities allowing them to change settings or options on their own, without needing custom programming. Fortunately for customers, this eliminates the need for a lot of vendor intervention and reduces costs that were once necessary or requested.
One of the most obvious reasons not to customize your ERP system is due to the increased risks and costs involved in this type of project. This can also extend your implementation phase by weeks or months, depending on the workload.
On top of these risks and costs, your system will be harder to maintain and upgrade compared to the ERP solution out of the box. Complications can arise during future phases of upgrades, which will then require more custom work for those necessary fixes.
Another key reason to stick with the out of the box ERP solution, if at all possible, is due to the fact that most ERP Providers try to follow industry best practices when designing and developing their solutions while also researching the most efficient ways of doing business. Therefore, if you are requesting to customize the system to reflect your current business processes, without first analyzing them to see if there are ways to make them more efficient, you are paying more for a more inefficient system. Of course, by working with the out of the box system, if found to be more effective, it might entail further user training to get your employees accustomed to new business processes but in the long-run it will be best for your business’ success.
All in all, when it is not absolutely necessary for your business, customization of an ERP solution should not be requested. It carries with it heavy costs and risks that may not be worth it. Sit down with an IT consultant first to figure out what is best for your company.
