Should companies adapt to ERPs, or the other way around?

Ideally, all companies would want ERPs to adapt to them so as to achieve the full potential of business benefits of the system via customization, which allow them to differ from standard industry practice, thus providing them with a competitive advantage.

However, customization (1 of 3 segments of the ERP system) comes with a price and requires time in the implementation of the system. Furthermore, Customization of the ERP software is limited which led to difficulties in adapting to new business processes. Also, ERPs are often seen as too rigid and difficult to adapt to the specific work flow and business process of some companies. Thus, we see that most companies in general adopting 2 of 3 segments of ERP namely, configuration (original system) and modification (slight deviation from the original system which does not require a huge amount of cost).

To be able to answer the question of "Should companies adapt to ERPs, or the other way around?" One would really have to come from the view point of cost-benefit analysis. Generally, small-medium enterprises lack the fund to introduce customization and even if they do, they are not able to generate as much revenue as large companies do, thus not being able to rip the full potential of the system. In such scenario, these small-medium enterprises would be better off either abandoning their ERP system or sticking to the original system. Thus, it is usually the large companies which have the deep pockets to introduce customization.

In conclusion, if the benefit of customization outweighs the cost (ie. sustainable competitive advantage), companies should ensure that the ERP system adapt to them and not them adapting to the ERP system.