In the world of ERP software, you will often see or hear the term ISV. But what exactly is an ISV, and do you need one for your business? This article will help you answer these questions so you can get the best ERP solution possible.
ISV stands for Independent Software Vendor. Simply put, an ISV makes software that is compatible with your ERP system. In the world of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (formerly known as Microsoft Dynamics NAV or Navision), ISV partners deliver solutions that provide additional functionality that is not available with the standard version of the system.
There are many companies out there providing add-on functionality for your Microsoft Dynamics system. The possibilities really are endless; however, below is a list of common areas of functionality that can be improved with ISV functionality:
The short answer is: It depends. The specific goals you want for your system are going to be the major deciding factor. In some circumstances, we find that our clients don’t really need any additional functionality and are fine with the base BC/NAV system. For others, typically larger companies, we find that several ISV solutions are needed to achieve their goals.
You could, but we would not recommend it and here’s why:
First, there is that element of cost. The amount of time that it would take a partner to complete the requested changes could be astronomical, especially if they don’t know what they’re doing. At Innovia, while we have experts in a variety of areas we don’t hesitate to recommend our ISV partners that have spent time building well-developed solutions that offer substantially more functionality than we could reasonably deliver coding on our own.
Secondly, we believe that expertise is critical. A company that focuses on building e-commerce solutions is going to have a better understanding and, thus, will do a better job building solutions for that business need than we could. Because we want all our clients to achieve their goals, we seek out the right ISVs with the right solutions and expertise to take our clients’ systems to the next level.
The cost for ISV solutions varies substantially. The price can depend on several factors such as
A good partner will help you find the right solution that fits your needs. At Innovia, we strive to find the best fit for our clients, whether that means adding a new ISV, adding a field to their base system, or even upgrading their system to a newer version that has the needed functionality built-in.
We hope this guide has helped you understand what an ISV partner is and how they can help you get more out of your Business Central System. Follow the link below to learn more about the ISV partners that our team recommends.
