Why you should implement best-of-breed rather than relying on your ERP

Why you should implement best-of-breed rather than relying on your ERP to do everything!

When it comes to selecting the best software option, businesses have a tough decision to make.

Implement a general off-the-shelf Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system or,
Opt for specialized, best-of-breed software.

While both options have their merits, best-of-breed software is often a better choice for businesses and offers a more specialized and tailored solution that meets specific needs. They are designed to help businesses streamline operations, optimise supply chains, and reduce waste, making them a more focused and effective choice than an off-the-shelf ERP system.

For example, if a company is seeking inventory management improvements an ERP system will likely have some inventory management functionality. However, a best-of-breed inventory management system will be designed specifically for the task at hand and have more features, flexibility, and adaptability to serve specific business needs.

Advantages of best of breed software

With advanced functionality and the ability to manage business processes in an agile environment, companies using best-of-breed software can expect the following advantages.

Customisations

Best-of-breed software tends to be more customisable than standard ERP systems. This means that it can be tailored specifically to your requirements, rather than trying to adapt processes to fit the software. This is particularly important in industries like supply chain and logistics, where companies may have unique supply chain requirements.

Transportation management systems can be tailored to suit your specific shipping or order requirements, such as special routes, capacity planning, or payment terms. This will help to ensure that costs are optimised, customer demands are met, and overall efficiency is improved.

Easy integration

Software that is best-of-breed is often easier to integrate with existing software systems. Unlike ERP solutions, which can require a complete overhaul of currently used tools and utilities. Best-of-breed software can be seamlessly integrated, rather than requiring a complete rebuild of existing infrastructure, making the implementation process less disruptive.

This can be useful when expanding on solutions like warehouse management systems, best-of-breed solutions can be integrated with existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tools, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, and any other software solutions. For businesses, this means a smooth continuation as they continue to use the software already in place while benefiting from the focused functionality provided by a best-of-breed solution.

Agile response

Best-of-breed software tends to be more agile than its off-the-shelf ERP counterparts. Because these solutions are more narrowly focused, they can be developed and updated more quickly than ERP systems, which tend to be larger and much more complex to manage.

A best-of-breed system can be updated quickly to respond to changes in customer demand, market conditions, or supply chain disruptions. This means that businesses are able to quickly adapt to changes in their business environment and stay ahead of the competition.

Disadvantages

Best-of-breed software can sometimes result in the fragmentation of data and processes across different software systems. This can make it difficult for businesses to gain a holistic view of their operations and can lead to inefficiencies or errors if the software is not implemented correctly.

While it is certainly agile and extremely customisable it can be more expensive than ERP systems, especially in the purchasing and setup stages. Additionally, businesses may need to purchase multiple software licenses and maintain relationships with multiple vendors. However, this cost may be more than offset by the process improvements gained from using best-of-breed solutions.

Key takeaways

Best-of-breed software comes with multiple features that can help businesses to manage operations and reduce expenditure with –

• Specialised functionality
• Tailoring software to business processes
• Meeting unique business requirements
• Integration with existing software
• Agile and faster updates over ERP systems

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