Organizations that operate within the services sector face a variety of challenges in today’s business environment. These include managing a dynamic regulatory landscape and increasing constituent and patient demands.
Because every business is unique, it’s essential to ensure that your ERP system is supporting your specific needs. That’s where the dilemma of customization vs. configuration comes into play. While these terms may sound similar, they actually have quite different meanings.
So, when your business needs to tailor its ERP system, should you customize or configure? Choosing the wrong path can lead to skyrocketing costs and long-term inefficiencies.
Here’s the high-level answer: you can use either method to modify an ERP system to align with your business objectives, but configurations offer greater flexibility, long-term sustainability, and cost savings compared to customizations.
Now, let’s take a closer look at the differences.
Understanding ERP Customizations
“Customizations” refer to altering the core code of an ERP system to create features or functionalities that cater specifically to the needs of the business. These can include hard-coded workflows, custom scripts, or even modifications to the database structure itself.
For example, a company may require a unique approval process for their procurement system that’s not available as part of the ERP’s standard functionality. As a result, they may choose to build it from scratch with custom code.
While customizations allow for very specific tailoring, they often come with some drawbacks. Below we outline just a few:
- Complicated & expensive upgrades: Whenever the system undergoes an update, the custom code may need to be rewritten or adjusted, which can be costly. And failing to take prompt action can cause the customization to become unstable and potentially break.
- Increased IT dependency: Custom solutions often require ongoing support and maintenance from specialized developers. This reliance on IT staff can strain resources and slow down the organization. Moreover, the skills associated with customizations are usually niche and not widely known. That means if you have a position change, new staff will need to be trained on how to support the customizations, which can be difficult if current staff don’t make the effort to document the steps involved.
- Vendor support & compliance obstacles: Many ERP vendors are reluctant to support customized systems, especially if the customizations interfere with the core functionality. This can lead to compliance issues and tends to reduce the overall support a vendor can offer.
- Compatibility challenges: Customizations set up within the ERP system may require further customization to work with existing point solutions, all of which add complexity and cost. This issue is further exacerbated when updates for your core ERP or point solution roll out, which can sometimes break workflows.
- Higher cost: Customizations are time-consuming and can cause projects to become delayed and over budget. Also, after the initial customization, the ERP system may require more maintenance from your in-house IT staff.
Given these challenges, many businesses seek an alternative. That’s where configurations come in: they’re a great way to tailor ERP systems without the risks associated with custom coding.
Understanding ERP Configurations
“Configurations” refer to adjustments made to an ERP system that do not involve altering its core code. Instead, configurations are made through system settings and parameters.
Simply put, a configuration is the process of using an application or software system to do something it was always able to do, that is, within its standard functionality.
With configurations, organizations can accomplish many work tasks, such as setting up workflows, role-based security, business rules, and reporting, all without modifying the system’s underlying code.
For example, your company can configure your ERP system to route invoices automatically based on the department or set up custom dashboards that display relevant information for different user roles.
Here are some of the benefits of using configurations:
- Simpler upgrades & maintenance: Because no core code is altered in a configuration, the system remains more stable and is unlikely to “break” during upgrades. Configurations can be applied directly to the system settings, which makes maintenance easier and less costly. These benefits apply to partner vendors as well. That’s because configurations are typically made in line with vendor guidelines, ensuring that support is never compromised. Put another way, configuration settings are a standard component of the ERP, and the developer will stand behind their product.
- Greater adaptability: As business processes evolve, configurations can be easily adjusted to meet new requirements, without the need for a complete overhaul or custom coding. Configurations are also a better fit for organizations that want to adapt standard processes to their business needs. As businesses grow and change, configurations provide flexibility to quickly adapt the ERP system without disrupting the core functionality. Configurations allow organizations like yours to remain agile when it comes to adding a new user role, adjusting workflows, or introducing new business rules.
- Lower total cost of ownership: Customizations often result in high maintenance costs, especially when it comes to troubleshooting and managing code. With configurations on the other hand, businesses can lower the total cost of ownership, because IT resources are not as heavily relied on for ongoing support. Configurations require fewer IT resources, and businesses can be more self-service about making changes.
- Compliance & security: Configurations are typically in line with best practices outlined by ERP providers, which help ensure that systems remain compliant with industry regulations. Also, because configurations don’t tamper with the core code, the ERP system remains secure and less prone to vulnerabilities.
- User empowerment: Configurations empower end-users to make changes without requiring deep technical expertise. For instance, a user in the HR department can configure a new workflow for employee onboarding without needing to rely on IT resources. This can significantly improve response times and streamline processes.
When Configurations Are the Better Choice
Configurations are far and away the more sustainable option when it comes to tailoring your ERP. However, it’s also true that customizations are sometimes needed to support a specific business process.
When the opportunity to opt for a configuration or customization presents itself, keep this in mind: generally, configuration should be your first choice for the reasons we’ve detailed above. If, though, your business actually does require customization, try to keep it to a minimum, so you avoid the risks associated with changing your ERP’s source code.
How Infor Supports Your Business
Infor CloudSuite offers powerful features for businesses to configure, rather than customize, their ERP systems to meet specific needs, that is, to extend functionality while maintaining the integrity of the core system.
Extensibility tools: Infor CloudSuite provides built-in tools to configure business rules, workflows, and reporting directly within the system, allowing users to align the system to their business needs.
Personalization without customization: Infor encourages businesses to personalize their user Portal interface, dashboards, and analytics without writing custom code. This makes it easy to create an ERP system that fits the specific needs of the business.
Integration & API capabilities: CloudSuite offers seamless integration and API capabilities that allow businesses to extend the system’s functionality, without disrupting the core ERP system.
Low-code/no-code options: Infor’s low-code/no-code tools empower business users to configure the system themselves without relying on deep programming knowledge. This means that businesses can make changes more quickly and efficiently.
Making Your ERP Work For You
As businesses strive to remain competitive and answer rising pressures to those they serve, choosing the right approach to implementing and operating your ERP system is crucial. Configurations offer a more sustainable, cost-effective, and flexible solution compared to customizations.
Working with an expert partner such as RPI Consultants will help your organization optimize the powerful configuration and integration capabilities Infor offers.
By leveraging Infor CloudSuite’s powerful configuration tools, businesses can ensure they’re able to scale efficiently, comply with regulations, and empower users to manage the system without overburdening IT.
At RPI Consultants, we specialize in configuring and customizing Infor CloudSuite to meet your exact business needs. Our goal is to help you achieve the full potential of Infor’s platform through scalable, cost-effective configurations.
To learn how we can help streamline your ERP system and help drive long-term success for your business, contact us below.
Customizations & Configurations FAQ
1. What’s the main difference between ERP customization and configuration?
Customization changes the ERP’s underlying code to add new functionality, while configuration adjusts system settings and parameters to tailor existing features. Configurations work within the ERP’s standard capabilities, making them easier to maintain.
2. Why are configurations typically preferred over customizations?
Configurations are more sustainable because they don’t break during upgrades, cost less to maintain, and keep vendor support intact. Customizations can introduce long-term risks, higher costs, and compatibility issues.
3. Are customizations ever necessary?
Yes—some unique business processes may require limited customization when configuration options can’t meet a critical need. However, best practice is to minimize customizations to preserve system stability and lower costs.
4. How does Infor CloudSuite support ERP configurations?
Infor CloudSuite offers built-in extensibility, low-code/no-code tools, and API integrations that let users configure workflows, dashboards, and business rules—all without altering core code.
5. How can RPI Consultants help optimize my ERP system?
RPI specializes in configuring Infor CloudSuite to align with your organization’s needs while minimizing customizations. Our experts ensure scalability, compliance, and lower total cost of ownership through smart, sustainable configurations.
