Why ISV over Custom Development

Among Microsoft Dynamics partners the ISVs, or Independent Software Vendors, are companies focused on specific industries and solutions rather than all-round services. The narrow focus implies deep know-how in the areas covered by the solutions.

Buy vs Build

When implementing ERP, the base application will fit your business 70%, and you need the remaining 30% to have it all covered, which is just normal, as each business is unique in some way, by definition.

So how do you get the missing 30%?

  1. The obvious choice often made without much consideration - contract your implementation partner to develop the missing functionality.
  2. A smarter yet often overlooked option - get an ISV solution for your need. It will instantly cover most of the desired functionality, and the few remaining gaps will be covered on top of a proven solution and the domain knowledge brought by the ISV.

Time to Market

Time to market is critical, and solutions that are set up and just work will give you just that. No doubt you will be better off focusing your efforts on your core business instead of engaging in lengthy software projects.

Project vs Product

ISVs deliver products that are enhanced over time to win the competition themselves. Issues are fixed, new versions are released, and the ISV cares for the installed base, your business included. The product is there already - you can evaluate, try and feel it before any commitments are made to avoid any uncertainty of what you are getting.

Contrast that with a custom-built solution - it is a deliverable of a one-time project. Even when done perfectly at the beginning, consider the long-term options. Software teams happen to be assembled and dissolved in a matter on months, let alone the average 4 years of ERP life cycle. When the team behind the development is dissolved, your business is left with the solution poorly, if at all supported, quickly leading to stale functionality and high cost of ownership. There is no "upgrade to latest version" option, and the only way out is a replacement solution and lost ROI along the way.

A few more thoughts

Custom development might give you the exact fit for your requirements, but how do you know you have the requirements right? Are you confident the project maximizes the business value and minimizes the development cost at the same time? This is much harder than anticipated, and you have to be extremely careful with taking advices. Anyway, it takes time to work out requirements (~20%), time to design and develop (~40%), and time to stabilize for mainstream adoption (~40%). With credits to Mr. Pareto - are you prepared to invest 80% in making the final 20% right? It's ISV solutions that have this part sorted.

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Why Us

E-Commerce for Efficiency

Ideal for B2B trade in manufacturing, distribution, and wholesale business. Fast and functional no-frills solution to boost the efficiency of your sales process. Easily customizable for your business.

Fully Integrated

All product, pricing and other data maintained in Microsoft Dynamics NAV only. No duplicate data entry or maintenance. No additional systems to learn.

Instant and Flexible

Save the precious time with a pluggable ISV solution - add e-commerce to your Dynamics NAV in a matter of few days. Unbeatable flexibility with SaaS-based pricing.