Custom or off-the-shelf ERP: how to decide

An off-the-shelf ERP covers 80% of what any company does. The question is what happens with the remaining 20%.

The short answer is: it depends on whether that 20% is what sets you apart or just a habit.

If it's a habit, it's cheaper to change the habit than the software. If it's what you do better than the competition, forcing it into an off-the-shelf system usually means giving it up little by little, release after release.

How we look at it. First we list the processes that genuinely give you an edge. Usually there are two or three, not fifteen. If the standard covers them, we go with the standard. If not, we integrate: the standard for accounting and inventory, and custom development for what makes you different.

What we almost never recommend is rewriting from scratch something the market has already solved.