Customized management software

 Custom-made or Out of the box? In simpler words: better custom or standard software? Management software can take various forms, from the most to the least complex and expensive, and assessing which of these is the most suitable for the individual company is not a simple thing. Entrepreneurs, managers and internal representatives could be instinctively led to opt for standard solutions with low cost and less impact , and sometimes the choice can prove profitable, but often - especially in the most complex business situations - the customization needs can become essential. But what does it mean to customize an ERP system? And above all, beyond the advantages, what can be - if there are - the risks hidden behind a customized path?

Tailor-made management software: two schools of thought

 The debate on the customization of the management software, particularly heated in recent times, compares equally legitimate positions, but based on different perceptions and needs. On the one hand, there are the supporters of the Out of the box packages, standard solutions that do not require particular adjustments and which, especially in the face of the latest technological developments, can be easily and highly parameterized; on the other, fans of customization, or of the application in the various realities of packages totally sewn on the body of the company. The former base their preference on the low cost of the option (obviously compared to non-standard solutions), on the simplicity and speed of integration in the corporate environment. For the advocates of customization, however, the customer remains a priority, with his needs, his specification and his desire for competitiveness. But which one is right?

 A complex scenario made up of numerous variables

 The answer is easy: nobody, actually. Because, in hindsight, the right and more balanced position on the matter lies in the middle. As always. If both reasons for the two opportunities remain true and justified, it is equally clear that the picture does not end here. Optimize application times, rely on simple solutions to implement, reduce costs and maintenance needs to a minimum (and consequently the TCO), avoid lengthy support and training courses by the vendor, limit the need for assistance: they are all plausible issues in a corporate framework and certainly standard management software can meet in this sense. If we add that the Customized ERP Software's in Dubai provide the customer with a series of best practices imagined precisely to lead the company towards the best implementation of the new processes, it is clear that a non-customized solution can still effectively respond to numerous needs .

 But it is still a non-optimal path, which may not be adequate for all realities. Particularly complex and articulated business sectors, in fact, do not always manage to model themselves on rigid or in any case difficult to shape management software. For them, savings needs do not justify the use of standard solutions that may already be used by the competition or unable to adapt to the peculiarities of the case: that's why customization often becomes a must.

  What does it mean customized management software in practice?

 The choice, in any case, is not necessarily said to be radical. Given precisely this wide range of possibilities, you can in fact go from a particularly simple customization, made of parameter configurations on advanced but still rather standardized packages, up to real "tailor-made" models designed - for anything that cannot be satisfied with the pre-packaged solutions, which in any case generally always play an important role - based on specific business needs. A mix, therefore, of functionality, aimed at creating a harmonious substrate on which the business activity can best flow.

  A path not without risks to consider

 Given therefore the importance, especially in some sectors, of customizations, the gaze must be placed - and the role of the System integrator in this sense is fundamental - on costs (not necessarily economic) and any risks that customization could entail. What the company must keep in mind when embarking on a path with customized management software is that designing a "tailor-made" package means, for the consultant, knowing perfectly the company's needs.

 This obviously translates into the need to proceed with an extremely in-depth analysis of business processes and dynamics: a step that a good System integrator will still have to face, but which in this case is totally suited to imagining innovative, customized and specific solutions for that business. It will therefore be necessary to foresee long preparatory activity times, aimed at mapping company values, waste and identifying all the steps, especially the most critical ones that underpin the production processes. Customizations will not necessarily have to be introduced and applied all immediately (this will depend a lot on business needs): a possibility to avoid a longer running-in time can be to start from the heart of the software and then combine various features, but this option will also entail inconvenience, tying the firm closely to the consultant for longer times .

  This relationship will be necessary and very important to favor a better application of the management software, but the more it will be based on complex skills to be transferred to the staff, the more complex and long it will be to manage. The basic element that companies must take care of to avoid unnecessary risks in terms of productivity will therefore be the competence and ability of the System integrator to quickly imagine the best solutions: it must therefore be an expert consultant in the specific business sector, it will have to prove itself constantly open to listening and analyzing the needs of the company and will have to be able to make all its knowledge available to the company. Only in this way can the customization of the management software be based on guarantee premises, avoiding future risks in terms of bad process management.

 We must not forget, as already mentioned, that the Customized accounting software packages, beyond the economic costs they impose for obvious reasons, are complex and difficult technological functions : they require specific and qualified skills also from a technical point of view and above all impose timing not always adequate for the fast needs of the most advanced businesses.

  A world that goes in one direction

 All these assessments are the basis of the growing disaffection of companies towards highly customized solutions and the growing success of parameterizable solutions: that is, based on standard foundations but equipped with parameters that can be configured according to the needs of the case. Statistics now seem to give success to this type of management software, but it remains true that, in many cases, it is not trends that prevail, but needs. Many particularly critical processes continue to require specific customizations, beyond the possibility of parameterization: the essential is that the companies that opt ​​for this way are aware and aware of the consequences, from longer implementation times to higher costs, up to the need to review the budgets in the upgrade and training items. A good consultant, net of everything, can only prove valuable in this difficult decision-making process.