The ERP customization trap

Every consultant has heard "we're different". Every consultant has helped customize ERPs to "match how we work". 5 years later, that customization is the biggest barrier to upgrades, the biggest line item in support, and increasingly — a reason to throw out the ERP.

How customization grows:

• Year 1: 30 custom workflows, 50 custom fields. Implementation cost: $200k.
• Year 2: 60 workflows, 100 fields. Maintenance: $80k/year.
• Year 3: vendor releases major update. Customizations need rework. Cost: $150k.
• Year 5: customizations are so deep, you can't upgrade. You're stuck on the version you bought.

What we recommend:

• For each customization request, ask: "Can we change the process instead of the system?" 70% of the time, yes.
• Customize what's truly differentiated about your business. Not how you receive POs.
• Use ERP modules out of the box even if they're 80% fit. The 20% gap is often less painful than the maintenance debt.
• Prefer extensions (separate modules) to modifications (changes to core code). Extensions survive upgrades better.

Companies that come to us asking for new ERPs — most are escaping over-customized old ERPs. They didn't outgrow the system; they outgrew their own customizations.