Big vendors of ERP software have seen the potential of the midlevel market, and in order to edge into it, have been scaling down their expensive and complex products. These high-end vendors are also coming out with special preconfigured software packages for particular industries, for example repetitive manufacturing, health care and retail. Not to be outdone, vendors of accounting software for small organizations—Peachtree, for example—are adding sophistication and special modules to their products in an effort to expand into the midlevel market. All these moves are good news for customers. Not only is the competition driving vendors to make their accounting software smarter, easier to use and more flexible, it’s keeping prices in check and giving users more choices.

Some software providers provide "best practice templates" for their customers. These templates are based on the processes and applications that the software providers feel have proven most efficient. The down side is that there is little room for change, innovation or customization for the customer in this situation.

Other vendors are breaking new ground in ERP systems development by giving customers the best that both fast track and configurable systems have to offer. A few provide a frame work tool with which the ERP software entry screens and reports can be quickly modified. A tailored ERP software system can be implemented in a matter of weeks, instead of months. This allows users to have an ERP system which can grow with them and is easy to modify as needs change. In-house IT personnel can even extend and modify these systems if the vendor provides authorization to do so.