50% of ERP projects fail in the first attempt.

As if that is not enough, I’ll also add that a failure of an ERP development project is not something companies can just shake off and carry on. Such projects are usually so serious, that their failure can cause a major setback for the entire company, or even its death.

How does such a bright-sided and well-intentioned endeavor, as ERP system development, end up in such a debacle? 

Here are some reasons custom ERP development projects fail (according to CIO experts and our experience):

• Ineffective business processes - if you haven’t worked on your business processes to make them effective and unified, then no automation tool will help
• Not including all stakeholders, especially end-users, in decision-making - everyone who is going to be using the system and affected by it, should have a say in the project
• Failing to prioritize features - which can be another extreme of trying to please everyone, and therefore, delaying the shipment of the system by months or even years.
• Trying to deliver the whole thing at once - long gone are the days of waterfall planning, why wait so long and spend so much just to learn that the software sucks, better to learn it early on, and fix it bit by bit.
• Failing to get everyone onboard - a new custom ERP solution means people need to change the way they work, they’d better understand why and know what to do.
• Forgetting to budget for maintenance - you will likely require changes along the way, not to mention that things can break, so it is wise to account for it in your budget.

In this article, we’ll talk about the 8 ways of avoiding those pitfalls, by carefully planning your custom ERP software. We share our own experiences, as well as the experience of others, so be prepared for a lot of examples.

If you are still into Apache vs Nginx comparison, this article may help make up your mind and give a bit broader look at Nginx.

For quite a long time we had been using Apache as a default web server and Nginx only for high load projects until one day Apache went down with only 300 users.

That situation and further experience with Nginx shifted our perception of it as a server suitable only for high loads to a server that is just better for almost any project.

Having worked with Nginx for a few years already, we’ve seen its advantages in projects of various scales, even very small.

However, we've noticed that many of our American clients still stick to Apache. It happens, either because they don't think that other web servers will make a difference or don't know a better alternative.

Knowing the pros and cons of both technologies, we truly believe that Nginx is the best option in most cases and we’ll show you why.

Let me guess what brought you here... Is it your addiction to spreadsheets that you know is unhealthy? Or, perhaps, is it having to switch between 100+ apps that you use to run your company? Or, maybe your current ERP system is driving you crazy?

Either way, we hear ya! We’ve seen it with our clients, and we are also a small business ourselves which means we share a lot of your pains.

When done right, cloud ERP for small businesses can become a great reliever and springboard for your company’s growth. But the question is which route to go: buying an off-the-shelf solution or building a custom one. It seems there are tons of ready-to-use ERP solutions for businesses of all shapes and sizes, so why would you want to develop your own system?

It turns out there are a number of serious reasons to consider custom development. Let’s take a look at them.

‘Won’t a freelancer do just as good of a job as an agency in developing my website/app?’, you ask.

Of course, anyone can screw up. But we are convinced that in the ‘freelancers versus development company’ comparison, a company wins most of the time. There are only a few exceptions.

A Customer Relationship Management System is an indispensable tool for modern sales, marketing, and customer support managers. There are hundreds of off-the-shelf CRM solutions on the market, but more than half of their users struggle with them daily because they don’t fit the business processes or simplify routine actions.

If you’ve experienced the deficiencies of a ready-made CRM functionality, pay too much for features that you don’t use, or are unable to integrate the CRM with third-party software, then take a look at our guide on how to build a CRM. Let’s dive in!

Having a website and two native apps for Android and iOS is a luxury that not every business can afford, especially small businesses. It would be perfect to combine a website and an app that works on any platform. A PWA lets this dream come true. It's no surprise that many companies are testing the waters with PWAs. According to Emergen Research, Global PWA market size is expected to surpass $10 billion by 2027 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32%.

Is it as simple as contacting a progressive web apps development company? Do PWAs really solve all problems and suit any business? Let’s find out.