Custom ERP or SAP: a table to fill in with your own numbers
SAP suits a business whose processes match its standard flows. A custom ERP suits one whose process differs from its competitors' and earns money because of it. The table below sets the two side by side. Answer each row for your own company, then read the section on which answers point where.
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The two options side by side
- Process fit
- Custom ERPModules follow the way you work today
- SAP (or another packaged ERP)Your process moves toward the product's standard flow, or you pay for changes
- Licence
- Custom ERPNo per-seat fee to Brihat on custom work
- SAP (or another packaged ERP)Fees usually follow the number of users
- Source code
- Custom ERPIn your repository from the first commit
- SAP (or another packaged ERP)Held by the vendor
- Release plan
- Custom ERPModules go live one at a time; the first release is typically 5–8 months
- SAP (or another packaged ERP)Set by the implementation partner's plan
- Upgrades
- Custom ERPYou schedule them
- SAP (or another packaged ERP)The vendor sets the pace; heavy changes make each upgrade larger
- People who can maintain it
- Custom ERPEngineers who know the stack
- SAP (or another packaged ERP)Consultants certified on the product
- Leaving later
- Custom ERPYou already hold the code and data model
- SAP (or another packaged ERP)Moving off is a project in its own right
- Where the risk sits
- Custom ERPIn the build and in how well discovery captured the process
- SAP (or another packaged ERP)In the fit between product and process
| Criterion | Custom ERP | SAP (or another packaged ERP) |
|---|---|---|
| Process fit | Modules follow the way you work today | Your process moves toward the product's standard flow, or you pay for changes |
| Licence | No per-seat fee to Brihat on custom work | Fees usually follow the number of users |
| Source code | In your repository from the first commit | Held by the vendor |
| Release plan | Modules go live one at a time; the first release is typically 5–8 months | Set by the implementation partner's plan |
| Upgrades | You schedule them | The vendor sets the pace; heavy changes make each upgrade larger |
| People who can maintain it | Engineers who know the stack | Consultants certified on the product |
| Leaving later | You already hold the code and data model | Moving off is a project in its own right |
| Where the risk sits | In the build and in how well discovery captured the process | In the fit between product and process |
How to read your answers
Go row by row and note which column describes your situation.
- Process fit: if a rival could copy your order-to-delivery flow from a standard template, the packaged column fits. If your costing, scheduling or dispatch rules are why customers choose you, the custom column fits.
- Licence: multiply the seats you expect in ten years by the per-user fee you have been quoted. Set that against a build cost. Brihat's rule of thumb: about 100 users over ten years tends to favour custom, while 20 users over three years tends to favour a package. This is an estimate, not a measured result.
- Integration: list the systems that stay. If most of your pain sits between systems rather than inside the ERP, the work is an integration layer, and either option needs one.
- Appetite for ownership: custom software needs a named owner inside your company after launch, or a partner who runs it.
A third path: both, split by process
Some companies keep SAP for the ledger and statutory returns, where a standard flow helps. They then build custom modules for the processes that set them apart. The integration between the two becomes the project.
Brihat can build around an existing SAP or Oracle installation rather than replace it. If SAP's end of support is the trigger, read the options for leaving SAP ECC.
What a custom build looks like
Custom ERP modules cover orders and purchasing, production planning, stock and warehouse, finance and GST, HR and payroll, quality and maintenance. They share one record of products, customers and suppliers. Read the full list on the custom ERP service page.
One case shows the shape: a steel processing group replaced five systems with one modular ERP.
Questions buyers ask
The risk sits in a different place. With a package it sits in fit: gaps close through customisation and workarounds. With a custom build it sits in delivery, which phased releases are meant to contain, with a chance to stop after each phase.
Anyone who holds the source and the handover pack. The pack is kept current at every release. Brihat can run and support the system after launch, or hand it over in full.
Yes. See the split-by-process section above.
Tell us what you want to build.
The first call is 45 minutes with an architect, usually the founder. It is free, and we will sign an NDA first if you ask.