Retail surgery: What are the main differences between ERP and Best of Breed supply chain solutions?

Put simply, ERP solutions are procured from a single supplier, while a Best of Breed solution is an implementation of a number of specialist applications from several suppliers.

Alan Morris, co-founder of IT services and solutions company Retail Assist, says that ERP solutions can increase efficiency and reduce costs, while also providing reliable information and quicker processing of information, thus reducing the burden of paperwork.

Furthermore, he adds: “They are easily adaptable to changing business environments.” However, they are also expensive to implement and replace, which leads to increased supplier negotiating power. Many have also been designed to be applicable to different business sectors, making them difficult to customise.

“Best of Breed products, on the other hand, provide the optimal solution for each business area. If existing applications are popular, these can be retained and the new application can be implemented alongside them, which protects earlier ROI,” says Morris. However, one stumbling block when implementing various Best of Breed applications is integrating them to create a seamless solution to address end-to-end processes.

Choosing between ERP and Best of Breed solutions has been likened to the choice between a package holiday and a bespoke holiday, adds Morris. “The package holiday gives the purchaser the reassurance of a single point of contact who will take care of everything, while the bespoke holiday gives them the flexibility to get exactly what they want.”