returnSuccess Software

Realities of ERP System Modifications

ERP systems are massive in size and heavily tied to accounting which is a conservative professional field. Most systems have thousands of programs and system parameters, each affecting the flow of logic resulting in near infinite outcomes for testing changes. Knowing what not to change is frequently as crucial as what to change. So systems have tended to change slowly both in configurations and function, following the axioms of "if it isn't broken, don't fix it" and "Murphy's law".

By virtue of a number of factors, numerous systems are in the process of complete revisions or have recently completed one. Yet many of these revisions were rewritten in their original legacy languages! Why? We believe there a number of reasons. The original languages have grown in capablilities, there were many miserable new language failures in the character to windows conversion period, and the original languages were natively multi-platform, presenting a known and controllable risk.

Legacy languages are not considered cool and very few colleges add these to their curriculum. So there currently is not a ready supply of MIS/MBA/ERP trained graduates, nor are there any apprenticeship programs.

Why pick us?

Thirty years experience in every aspect of application development spanning personal computers to mainframes, for main street stores to fortune 500 companies. We have created and modified modules for a wide range of ERP systems. We have performed extensive data and program conversions/upgrades on many systems. We have a deep contact base among the best in the business, including current and former chief system architects. We do not have a favorite system, or prefer to work in one system over another except where source code licensing makes it non-remunerative.
We have a large bank of experience to draw on when working with new modules or system designs and unfamiliar systems. We definitely enjoy challenges as well. If you are evaluating new systems, talk with us for a refreshingly different viewpoint on the ERP space.

Open Source

We keep a constant eye on the open source space for ERP systems. We deal with a number of legacy accounting and ERP systems based on public domain accounting systems. ERP systems are by our guess a six to ten plus expert person year endeavor just to cover the core basics. That basic list gets larger every year. Plus many project volunteers lack the business skills and experience to design a cohesive environment. So the bulk of open source ERP systems are really glorified modules like the cloud based HRM and CRM systems.
Front Accounting appears to be the best organized and advanced of the truly open source systems, but the features page seems confused between application modules and the internal functions. Expect to find a great deal more in the future on this subject, as web based systems currently look poised to be the eventual winners in the ERP space.