One ERP vs. Quality software applications + service oriented architecture?

Question

As a modern large company, is one ERP system better than hundreds of highly specialized applications which are service oriented? To provide a little bit of background, we are providing consulting for a client who wants to invest their resources in a monolithic ERP system which will manage everything! What are the pro's and con's of this approach?

As an application developer, I tend to believe that specialized well written and managed software packages tied together by a service architecture would out perform a monolithic approach.

What do you think?

Answer 1

As an application developer, I tend to believe that specialized well written and managed software packages tied together by a service architecture would out perform a monolithic approach.

Maybe, but getting support for one system from one party is easier than getting support from multiple parties and making sure that integration works and keeps on working.

I think a more important question is whether to pick a general ERP or a custom fitted one. Whether the architecture is service oriented or monolithic is maybe is related, but also general ERP systems can be service oriented.

Answer 2

This almost feels like a traditional question on buy vs. build. I will try to lay out some importan points.

If you clients has deep pockets only then can they viably maintain the high total cost of ownership and complexity associated with developing and maintaining custom-designed applications.

Off-the-shelf ERP solutions integrate the best business practices from a variety of industries and incorporate these best business practices into your client's operations which ultimately translates into bottom-line improvements.

Custom-designed applications provide the desired degree of functionality, but their size and complexity require lengthy design, development, and implementation efforts.

A good example that I can think of is Microsoft. Microsoft spent 10 months and $25 million installing SAP R/3 to replace a tangle of 33 financial-tracking systems in 26 subsidiaries. As a result of the implementation, Microsoft estimates annual savings at $18 million, leading Bill Gates to call SAP "an incredible success story."

Hope this helps you think more broadly from all angles.