Should an ERP system be customized? That is a question asked by many companies. Although some people say it should never be done, in almost every ERP project one of the first user requests is for customization.
If you accept that customization is a fact of ERP life, then what criteria should the project owner use to select and prioritize customizations? One objective framework for deciding on customization has been provided by consultant and author Geoffrey Moore. In his book ‘Dealing with Darwin’ Moore proposed the concept of ‘core’ and ‘context’ as a way to prioritize growth strategies, but the concept can also be extended to ERP customization.