Core system in ERP

Increasingly, ERP vendors have tried to reduce the need for customization by providing built-in "configuration" tools to address most customers' needs for changing how the out-of-the-box core system works. Key differences between customization and configuration include:

• Customization is always optional, whereas some degree of configuration (e.g. setting up cost/profit centre structures, organisational trees, purchase approval rules, etc.) may be needed before the software will work at all.
• Configuration is available to all customers, whereas customization allows individual customer to implement proprietary "market-beating" processes.
• Configuration changes tend to be recorded as entries in vendor-supplied data tables, whereas customization usually requires some element of programming and/or changes to table structures or views.
• The effect of configuration changes on the performance of the system is relatively predictable and is largely the responsibility of the ERP vendor. The effect of customization is unpredictable and may require time-consuming stress testing by the implementation team.
• Configuration changes are almost always guaranteed to survive upgrades to new software versions. Some customizations (e.g. code that uses pre-defined "hooks" that are called before/after displaying data screens) will survive upgrades, though they will still need to be re-tested. More extensive customizations (e.g. those involving changes to fundamental data structures) will be overwritten during upgrades and must be re-implemented manually.

By this analysis, customizing an ERP package can be unexpectedly expensive and complicated, and tends to delay delivery of the obvious benefits of an integrated system. Nevertheless, customizing an ERP suite gives the scope to implement secret recipes for excellence in specific areas while ensuring that industry best practices are achieved in less sensitive areas.

Extension

In this context "Extension" refers to ways that the delivered ERP environment can be extended with third-party programs. It is technically easy to expose most ERP transactions to outside programs, e.g.

• Scenarios to do with archiving, reporting and republishing (these easiest to achieve, because they mainly address static data).
• Transactional data capture scenarios, e.g. using scanners, tills or RFIDs, are relatively easy (because they touch existing data).

....however because ERP applications typically contain sophisticated rules that control how master data can be created or changed, some scenarios are very difficult to implement.

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8. Consulting services by ERP



10. Maintenance and support services of ERP System

11. Advantages of ERP for Implementation Projects