It is often debated whether to buy a standard package for your business administration or resort to custom software. In this post I explain my vision on this.
In today’s computer governed world, there is imho no business process that has not been implemented in software somewhere. If you google enough, I’m sure you will find something that could support your business. Maybe you will have to tweak your processes a bit but you should get a fit.
But wait a minute! SHOULD you tweak your business processes?
I vote NO!
What differentiates you and your business from all the other folks in your neck of the woods? They all sell apples, the same apples.
I believe it is how you sell your apples and how efficient your supporting business processes are. When it comes down to it, you do things just a little different to your neigbour. And you should! That’s what makes your business!
So, if you and fifty other applesellers use the same supporting software and hence business porcesses, your competitive advantage over them fades.
To resolve this, I say you should use a standard package and implement the things that separate you from the lot, in custom software.
August 8, 2007 at 22:31 |
I completely agree with this vision.
There is no gain in writing 100% custom applications and using standard apps is almost impossible without tweaking the business processes. And should you tweak them … Well I say you need to evaluate. Some process might be better in the standard app by tweaking them. One need to evaluate the ROI.
But I do agree in general.
– JOhan
December 20, 2007 at 07:51 |
I would like to see a continuation of the topic
August 5, 2008 at 11:32 |
I will continue on this I am preparing a new post on how this can be achieved with Microsoft software.