Business System Consultation Center - Our Business System ColumnVol.59 2015.11.01 Takahashi Minoru

Sub-systems are the essence of any system and the source of competitive advantage

Thank you for your interest and continued support.
This is Takahashi from the Marketing Plan Research Laboratory.


There are many packaged systems on the market.
There are also many custom-built systems.
There are even semi-custom systems created by selecting specific functions from a packaged system and customizing them.


Regardless of which type of system you use,
the companies that make the best use of them
develop their own subsystems and build and operate them in-house.


In one company, the subsystem takes the form of Excel.
At another company, they take the form of Access.
Regardless of the tool used, the key question is: What problem were they trying to solve by creating it?
That very intention is each company’s unique idea and forms the basis of their sales strategy.


For some companies, the subsystem takes the form of a customer-specified layout for quotations.
At another company, it takes the form of sales summaries organized by specific customers (or by product).
Regardless of how it is built, the question is: how does it solve the problem?
That craftsmanship is what sets each company apart and is where employees can truly showcase their skills.


It would be ideal if these subsystems could be implemented as core system functions, but
in-house subsystems
・Immediate implementation of specification changes
・Modification costs limited to in-house labor expenses
・High effectiveness because they are developed by professionals involved in those operations
.


Just to be thorough, here are the disadvantages:
・Managing the specification history is difficult
・The system becomes unusable if the creator leaves the company
However, the benefits should more than make up for these drawbacks.


I recommend considering a main system that allows for the in-house development of subsystems
as a candidate for your system selection.


That's all, Thank you for reading.

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