Emerging Businesses: Seek an ERP Solution that Preserves Your Competitive Edge

A prospect (whom we eventually won) recently asked me a very pointed question: the top 6 companies in my industry use SAP, tell me why I should not implement the same. I am sure lot of emerging businesses face this dilemma - should they implement what large companies use or should they look for a new generation system like Microsoft Dynamics AX with a potentially better fit?

Let me put forward my defense on why emerging businesses are different from their large brethren.

First, they are emerging. Their needs are different. Imagine a company with USD 100M turnover doubling to 200M in 2 years. Would their processes be the same when they were on 100M turnover? The answer is NO. They would need nimble and adaptive processes that can change with their growth.

Second, the large companies ERPs are more rigid. You cannot change or customize SAP or Oracle so easily. That is one of the reasons they highlight best practices with their software. They simply cannot change it easily and don't have a choice. I am of the firm belief that every company, irrespective of their size, has a best practice. That is the reason for their existence and why they compete successfully with the larger companies. For example, they may have an efficient procurement system that differentiates them in their industry. So one needs to answer the question - do I adapt to the same processes as my largest competitor or do I retain my unique best practice, which is my reason for doing well in a competitive world? Conserve your best practice!!

Third, you need an ERP application which can integrate well with third party or consumer friendly application. I spoke recently about ...