If you're in the market for a new ERP system and you'd like to avoid being the subject of the next big ERP debacle headline, should you plan for a customized system or go with something out-of-the-box? Either route can be strewn with landmines, but the trend these days is to minimize customization, reports Todd R. Weiss at CIO magazine.

ERP systems that undergo customization as the years go by hold out the prospect of "troublesome and terrifying" upgrades because the patches may be out of sync with the changes you want to make, Weiss writes. Alternatively, an off-the-shelf system doesn't always provide the features and functions an organization needs.

In the last big wave of ERP implementations, about 10 years ago, customization was common, according to Rebecca Wettemann, an ERP analyst with Nucleus Research. But most deployments today are out-of-the-box, which is less expensive, offers greater predictability and makes upgrading cheaper and easier, she said.

One of the reasons more organizations are foregoing customization is that vendors have realized that if they include verticalization in their applications, customers will have an easier time implementing them without custom code. These "verticalized applications" include components that can be configured to suit a customer's industry and process requirements. These applications can be upgraded more easily than upgrading custom code.

"If you talk to Oracle, they will tell you don't customize," Wettemann says. "They'll tell you to use a verticalized application and limit yourself to configuring as opposed to customizing code."

For more:
- see Todd R. Weiss's article at CIO

Related Articles:
What to ask your next ERP vendor
Why Carlyle Group opted for a hosted ERP
2010's top ERP flops