Customization vs. Standard Software: Why you can
minimize your Project Risks
with an Out-of-the-box Solution

ERP Projects based on Customizations?

Despite the risks mentioned, many companies are still willing to start new ERP projects based on customizations. Of course, there is a big difference between closing functional gaps and, for example, customizations that are only carried out because individual employees or departments are not open to change. Or because it is possible due to the technology. The decision for or against customization should be made with the individual case in mind. However, excessive or unnecessary customization should be avoided for both your ERP implementation and your cloud migration.

Standard Software vs. Customization - what’s the Difference?

Standard Software: the Out-of-the-box Solution

A standard solution (or standard for short) is a pre-built software solution that already contains all the basic functions for planning, managing and controlling your business processes. It is usually suitable for a wide range of companies as it is based on best practices and standards, making it a kind of out-of-the-box solution that is ready to use - but can also be extended and customized.

Customization: the Made-to-measure Solution

Customization, on the other hand, is a software solution that is specifically developed for a company and tailored to its individual requirements. Here, the functionalities of the standard solution are extended and/or adapted in order to better meet the specific needs of the company.

(Too) many Customizations lead to Problems

In the short term, the extension of a solution with individual software customization is often perceived as pleasant - in the medium to long term, however, an abundance of customizations can have a (very) negative effect.

As (too) many customizations…

• …keep outdated business processes alive.
• …inflate implementation processes.
• …increase complexity.
• …increase dependence on individuals.
• …make your project unnecessarily expensive.
• …block future innovation.
• …make the ERP software more prone to errors.

Cleaning out for Migration to the Cloud How to get rid of
old Customizations and
ensure your Ability to innovate

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The Standard Solution makes your Company more scalable

Excessive customization has even crippled companies. That’s why you should rethink this approach. If your goal is to standardize your business processes, you should not stray too far from the standard solution. This will make your business much more scalable. It will be much easier to expand - because your solution will not need extensive customization to continue to meet new requirements. As a rule, it can be adapted more easily to an increasing number of users and to the growth of the company.

Even more Advantages

So why not go a new way and save the money for costly customizations? Instead, you pay your implementation partner for every change request that they can prevent by using a solution with the standard functionalities. These are the advantages of working mainly with the standard solution:

• Modernization: you can modernize your business processes more easily.
• Time and cost efficiency: your implementations will be more cost-effective, faster and less complex.
• Innovation capability: you can take full advantage of all available innovations.
• Best practices: proven procedures and best practices are already integrated into the solution.
• Support: the software vendor typically provides you with extensive documentation, training and support - so you don’t have to rely on internal resources to maintain the solution, for example.
• Competitive advantages: you become a more attractive business partner and employer. Cooperation with customers is often less complicated and it is usually easier to train new employees. In addition, you can also score points with potential employees with the aforementioned aspects.

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Something always has to change - Technology or Processes and People

When considering “standard solution or customization?”, it is important to remember that the decision depends on many factors, such as specific business requirements, company size, budget and available resources.

Basically, something always has to change for a company’s requirements to match the solution, either the software (technology) by implementing customizations or the company processes and the people who work there. So if you want to use more standard solutions, your processes and your employees have to adapt.

The first Step towards simple and cost-effective Implementation

Would you like to find out more about the approach in which change requests are primarily fulfilled by the standard solution? We will be happy to support you on the way to simpler and more cost-effective implementation.