Enterprise resource planning is among the most critical tasks for any company. The ability to manage resources typically defines whether you’re efficient as a firm or not. For example, an overuse of resources will eventually lead to excessive losses, which highly damages company profits. In this article, we want to discuss a technology that will help you overcome this problem. This technology is Enterprise Resource Planning software. It exists in two formats: off-the-shelf and custom. We’ll describe custom software in detail, outlining why it can be vital for your firm.
Defining ERP software
Let’s start with defining ERP software. ERP software is a framework that helps you manage resources in your firm. What are those resources? You can track materials, equipment, and even employees within those apps. More importantly, you can understand the value of each invested dollar through this software. In short, the main goal of ERP software is to help your company understand the status of its resources and manage their distribution.
ERP software exists in two forms. It can be off-the-shelf and custom. On the one hand, off-the-shelf solutions are apps developed by particular companies. They belong to those companies and are usually spread via subscriptions or one-time payments. On the other hand, it’s also possible to find custom ERP development services. Custom ERP services involve the creation of an ERP app explicitly tailored to your company’s needs. In this case, a custom ERP development firm will develop a full-scale solution for your firm.
Choosing Between Custom and Off-the-Shelf Solutions
Both custom and off-the-shelf solutions have a set of advantages and disadvantages that you should take into consideration.
Off-the-shelf solutions are notable for the following aspects:
- They do not belong to you: off-the-shelf solutions are usually controlled by particular firms. This means that you don’t have access to the underlying code of those apps. In case something goes wrong and the relevant firms close down, there’s a massive risk of encountering what experts call vendor lock-in. What is vendor lock-in? It’s a situation in which you rely on a vendor so much that any changes in their functioning openly affect your firm negatively and positively. Generally, vendor lock-in is outside your control, so removing this problem as fast as possible is essential.
- These solutions have access to high-quality technologies like AI on a large scale. Big firms typically have a tremendous number of resources for integrating novel technologies. For this reason, off-the-shelf solutions will likely have many features that are genuinely expensive in development. For example, they often include AI or even machine learning data analysis. Finding those features in such a developed form within the custom development field is difficult.
- They’re cheaper in the short term but have many hidden long-term costs. In many cases, one-time payments or even subscriptions to the relevant software may seem relatively inexpensive. The reality is that these numbers may deceive you. Why is this the case? Firstly, subscriptions, for example, are highly expensive and can disrupt your resources with time. Secondly, even if you use one-time payments, there’s always an additional risk of hidden costs. They may appear in the form of missing features. For instance, if you need to hire additional people for tasks that are supposed to be done by an ERP, you encounter significant losses despite seemingly paying lower sums than for full-scale development.
Custom ERP solutions have the following characteristics that make them superior in a vast number of cases:
- They belong to you altogether: the first reason to use custom ERP software is that it belongs to you. There are no situations in which vendor lock-in can hurt you. Even if the original firm behind your project closes down, there’s never a risk of encountering long-term problems. Why? Because you own the source code. Consequently, you can ask other firms to continue working on this source code or hire developers. You’re the vendor in this case, and there’s no risk of encountering any lock-in.
- You can create custom features: one more reason to develop a custom ERP solution is undoubtedly the ability to create custom features. Let’s imagine that you need RFID scanners in your business and want to integrate them into some monitoring system. Many off-the-shelf solutions may lack the requisite features. In turn, custom software solves the problem once and for all for your firm. Creating a wide range of solutions that will adapt the presented feature is possible. As a result, you’ll be able to save a lot of resources that would otherwise go into adapting to lacking features. In the long term, custom solutions are often cheaper for the firms that own them.
- Some advanced features may be missing: at the same time, off-the-shelf solutions have the advantage of significant resources and economies of scale. In their case, it’s much easier to develop some form of machine learning or AI integration tools. Custom solutions are typically less advanced in this regard and would require significant expenditures to integrate the relevant features. In this light, if you need to use some advanced machine learning features, the best option is to combine custom and off-the-shelf solutions. For example, many firms in the off-the-shelf sector are notable for offering add-on features. You can use those features to maximize positive impacts for your firm. It’s possible to develop extensions or even compatible stand-alone apps that offer unique frameworks for your off-the-shelf software.
Conclusion
Custom software is among the best options if you want to develop ERP software. It’s great both in a complete format and as an extension to ERP frameworks. Do you want to create your ERP solution? In this case, the best option is to address firms like Keenethics. Look for companies with multiple years of experience in the market and unique knowledge of the ERP sector.
