ERP or Best of Breed : How to choose ?

Deciding between implementing a new ERP or keeping best-of-breed systems (BoB) is an old debate, but it’s still a great dilemma. While BoB applications tend to meet functional requirements better than most ERP solutions, they also silo functions and business units, thus hindering business agility. So, how do you decide?

Comparing BoB to ERP

BoB applications and ERP solutions each have their advantages and disadvantages as summarized below.

Meet your current needs today, plan for the future

Beyond the simplified points listed above, it’s critical that you look at your business environment and future needs. For example, if you are in the retail industry, it will be increasingly difficult for you to offer a seamless omnichannel experience if the bulk of your IT budget is spent on integration issues.

Similarly, consider that what might be an advantage today, could be a disadvantage tomorrow. For example, system maintenance for BoB applications may be easier and less costly at first. But as you grow, you may be forced to add yet another system to broaden the functionalities of your BoB system. Down the road, maintenance of these BoB applications will prove to be more expensive and difficult.

The size of your organization matters too. If you run a large organization, ERP is more likely to be the right choice, because of the sheer volume of data, need for speed and access requirements from multiple locations. One of the major advantages of global ERP systems is the visibility they provide into business processes. For some organization, that visibility is their biggest competitive advantage, because it gives them the agility to respond to changing business needs rapidly.

The evolution of ERP

While in the past many organizations have chosen BoB solutions to fit a particular need, the functionality gap between ERP and BoB is much narrower now. This trend will undoubtedly continue with the advent of ERP cloud vendors.

When ERP uses a common data model in the cloud like Microsoft’s Dynamics 365, you can build your own “PowerApps” as you grow. And ultimately benefit from the latest innovative applications in the cloud much faster and at a lower cost.

Trust the experts

As ERP has evolved, its business case has also changed. It is still a tough decision and you need all the help you can get.

It’s best to talk to an expert to determine which solution will help you keep agile in a competitive market. Contact us today to start planning.