We build custom ERP, so it would be convenient for us to argue that everyone needs one. We do not, and the assessment we run before proposing anything is designed to catch the cases where a packaged product is the better answer.
Buy, when your process is not the differentiator
If your accounting, payroll and purchase processes look like everyone else's in your sector, a packaged product will serve you faster and cheaper, and it will keep pace with statutory changes without you paying for them. Customising a standard product to feel bespoke in areas where bespoke buys you nothing is the most common way businesses waste ERP budget.
Build, when the process is the business
- Your core operation has steps no packaged product models — job work, multi-stage yield, lot-level costing, unusual units of measure
- You have already customised a packaged product twice and are about to do it a third time
- The gap is being filled by spreadsheets that several people maintain by hand
- Your competitive advantage is operational, and the system is what enforces it
The question nobody asks in the demo
Who maintains this in three years? A custom system you own outright, with source code and documentation, is an asset. A custom system that only one vendor understands is a liability wearing an asset's clothes. It is a fair question to ask us, and the answer should be in writing before you sign anything.
If the honest answer is that you do not need a new system, that is the answer you should get — before the proposal, not after the invoice.
Our consulting engagements are written so the deliverable is usable by any implementation partner, not only by us. Sometimes that means we map the process, hand over the roadmap, and the client goes and buys something. That is a good outcome.