The Dilemma of the ERP Publisher

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An ERP system is unlike any other main stream business application in that it has no boundaries in its coverage.

It started off as an accounting system replacing the traditional manual accounting records.  Then it included payroll, warehousing, manufacturing, project control and CRM, to name a few.

Like a thick custard that is poured on top of a hot apple crumble.  It slowly advances to cover everything below!

It is not an easy advance.  Every new frontier requires a full scale design and analysis exercise which requires an expert knowledge of the requirements of that sector.  It is also not an open field with no competitors.  There are many competitors and very good ones at that.  Publishers that have only one focus and that is their particular sector.  CRM or manufacturing for example.

A number of ERP publishers have adopted a strategy where they will not tread into these business areas. Instead they provide direct integrations with the best application in that sector.

Others, march on ahead regardless.

For those that do there is a prize and that is to provide a single application to the business.  It is great for the business as everything is linked, there is no repetition, there is only one place to log in and the support and maintenance is centralised.

Nevertheless, it is a growing challenge for the publisher to establish their R&D efforts to cover an ever widening scope of functionality.  All of this to do while the very core of the system is being constantly improved to take advantage of technological advances.  On the customer service end there is the requirement for more support personnel who are specifically trained in that sector.

There is a middle ground for the publisher too.  Even though they may have a module that is suited to the sector, they will also provide integrations for dedicated providers to that sector.  For Example, Acumatica has a strong CRM system but it also has a built in integration with Salesforce.

Our preference at Tascoli is to march with the custard.  We like the approach that Acumatica has taken to include all aspects of all business sectors within their application.  We believe that this provides the best efficiencies for their clients. We will always recommend the Acumatica module over an external application.

It is a slow march but the developers are smart people.  The platforms for gathering ideas and making the new functionality work within the standard framework of Acumatica mean that they make steady and sure progress.

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Tascoli are dedicated to bring you the latest information about ERP and how it can benefit your business. We implement, integrate and offer on going support to Acumatica ERP UK, Sage 300 UK and QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions UK (now discontinued).

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Tascoli are an ERP and accounting software services company in the UK and Europe. Our passion is your business efficiency.

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