Companies face a dilemma when installing major software applications: Should they customize the application or stick with a plain vanilla implementation? The decision could have an impact on maintenance costs down the road, as IT staff figure out whether they’ll be able to make outsourcing decisions without having their hands tied by customization performed in the past.
Customization, experts say, is most likely to be employed when a critical system, such as Enterprise Resource Planning or a customer-facing application use special features not necessarily included with the vendor-supplied version. For example, users may want the systems to be rules based, meaning that actions are taken in accordance with specific company policies, events or data values. Not only are there additional development and integration costs required to implement these features, over time customers must staunch extra costs for maintaining these applications, including point update testing and patches.
The discussion of whether to go with plain vanilla often assumes that it’s an either-or-decision, when in fact companies can choose to go with one and then switch to the other. “The discussion on plain vanilla seems to be focusing on systems as if they are static and not an evolving tool,” says Christopher Downey, Partner, Top Tier Consulting. In general, organizations have found that the benefits of customization far outweighs the additional maintenance cost associated with moving from plain vanilla.
“However, an initial plain vanilla implementation can make a lot of sense for a number of reasons,” says Downey. “If the processes have never been automated before, it allows the users to climb the learning curve and understand how automation can impact their processes,” he says. “It keeps suppliers accountable for successful implementation — if an application is heavily customized as part of the initial implementation, blame is often placed on the customization when the systems don’t work. It speeds up the implementation process, so that short-term gains in productivity can be realized sooner, while customized implementation can often take 2–5 times longer than plain vanilla,” adds Downey.
Once the initial plain vanilla application is up and running, the organization should not stop there. A series of customization phases should then be launched to improve productivity. These phases are typically supported by a strong business case that justifies the expense of the effort. An important consideration is the additional ongoing cost of maintaining the more complex environment, and this should be baked into the business case.
