The Customization Trap
Most ERP consultants will build whatever you ask for.
You want a custom field? Done. Special workflow? No problem. Unique calculation? Sure thing.
Six months later, your system breaks during an update. Nobody knows why. The consultant who built it moved on. Your team is stuck.
This is why we say no to most customization requests.
Not because we can't build it. Because we know what happens next.
What Goes Wrong With Custom Code
Customization seems harmless at first. Just one small change to make things easier.
But here's what really happens:
Updates break things. Microsoft releases monthly updates for Business Central. Custom code that works today might fail tomorrow. Someone has to test it. Fix it. Test again.
Nobody remembers why it exists. Three years from now, that custom field is still there. But the person who needed it left the company. Nobody knows if it's still used.
It spreads like a virus. One custom field needs a custom report. That report needs a custom calculation. That calculation needs another field. Before you know it, you have 50 customizations instead of one.
Your team can't maintain it. Standard Business Central? Your team can handle it. Custom modifications? They need outside help every time something goes wrong.
When Customization Makes Sense
We're not anti-customization. We're anti-stupid customization.
We've built massive custom applications. One client has over 1,000 custom objects in their Business Central system. It handles their entire biomass supply chain.
Why did we build it? Because no standard ERP on earth handles biomass logistics. The business truly needed it.
Here's when customization makes sense:
Your business does something genuinely unique. Not different. Unique. If your competitors face the same challenge, a standard solution probably exists.
The ROI is crystal clear. You can point to specific revenue gains or cost savings that justify the build and maintenance costs.
You're committed to maintaining it. Custom code needs care. Updates. Testing. Documentation. If you're not ready for that, don't build it.
Standard options truly don't work. Not just inconvenient. Actually impossible with standard features.
What We Do Instead
When a client asks for customization, we ask questions:
Why do you need this? Often the real problem is a broken process, not a missing feature.
What are you really trying to achieve? The requested solution might not be the best path to the actual goal.
Have you tried the standard way? Business Central has hundreds of features most companies never use.
What happens in three years? Will you still need this? Will you remember why you built it?
Most of the time, we find a better solution. Simpler. Cleaner. No custom code required.
The Two Extremes We Avoid
Extreme 1: Build nothing. Some consultants refuse all customization. Everything must be standard. This sounds smart until your actual business needs don't fit the standard box.
Extreme 2: Build everything. Other consultants build whatever you ask for. No questions. No pushback. This sounds customer-focused until you're drowning in technical debt.
We live in the middle. We know when to build 1,000 objects and when to build zero.
Most consultants get both decisions wrong.
What This Means For You
If you want a consultant who builds whatever you request without questions, we're not the right fit.
If you want a consultant who challenges your thinking, designs clean systems, and builds custom solutions only when they truly make sense, let's talk.
We build systems that last. Not systems that break.