Customer-specific customizations to ERP software are losing popularity. This is because they are complicated, expensive and often a block to the future. What can you do to avoid customer-specific customizations as much as possible?
1. Choose a proven successful industry-specific ERP solution
The better the ERP system fits your business, the less need for customization there will be. With a generic, broadly applicable system, you will miss out on important functionalities that are important in your industry. Therefore, choose an industry-specific ERP solution that has been used successfully for many years by similar organizations in your industry. While your organization will of course always have unique requirements and wishes regarding the software, with an industry-specific ERP system you can assume that the most important needs have been met.
2. See customization as a last resort
Too often, customization is too quickly seized upon as a solution to a missing piece of functionality. Sometimes also prompted by the software supplier who sees customization as a great opportunity to make extra hours and increase the client's dependence on the supplier. Far better to see customization as the ultimate resort. Try working without the functionality, change the process or way of working, try it with a work-around, find an external application that is largely satisfactory; just some alternatives that you should try first before starting custom development.
3. Recognize the disadvantages of customization
Customization is still appealing to many people. Getting exactly what you ask for, ideal right? Maybe for a while, but definitely not in the long run. A few disadvantages of customization at a glance:
- Customization is expensive to develop: Conceiving, developing, testing, implementing and training customizations is costly. A small piece of functionality can instantly mean many hours of work before it can be put into use.
- Customization slows down the project: When you deviate from the standard during implementation, you incur delays. Developing custom functionality as quickly delays an ERP implementation by several months.
- Support to customization can be a problem: When supporting a standard package, the documentation is in order, the knowledge is present in many people and a solution can be found quickly. With customization, this is often much more difficult.
- Upgrades become more complicated due to customization: With any upgrade, customization is an additional concern. An accurate mapping of how the customization will be incorporated into the new version of the system will be needed.
- Customization compromises continuity: For example, if the custom solution communicates with other applications, will this continue to work well when new versions of these external applications are released. And what about changes in hardware, operating systems and Internet browsers?
"Sometimes change is good; indeed, sometimes change is necessary."
4. Pay attention to change management
A common reason for choosing custom development is to keep working in the same way as in the past ("this is how we've always done it, so it will be in the new system too"). While that should absolutely not be a reason! Sometimes change is good, indeed sometimes change is necessary. New processes, a new way of working. Because times change and systems also change. As long as you achieve the desired outcome/results. Adequate attention must therefore be paid to change management. After all, it is not always easy to accept a new way of working. Guide employees in this, show understanding and give them time, so that the change is seen as an improvement.
5. Ensure tight project management from start to finish
A clear project scope with different milestones, clear agreements and responsibilities also helps limit customization. Tight project management gives little room for new features as part of the project. On the contrary, if you let go of the reins, chances are that many attempts will follow to change the scope, to add new components to the project and to extend the project endlessly. So take control of the project from start to finish. That means a clear scope, a tight schedule and continuous monitoring.
