If there is a ‘third way’ between the use of DIY-software and off-the-shelf ERP solutions, it is the White Label ERP solution.
It is by no means a new phenomenon but is one that has evolved significantly in recent times. White Label ERP is emerging in popularity with local ERP development houses in tune with the growing customer demand for personalised, local software solutions.
What is a White Label ERP Solution?
In simple terms, a White Label software solution is made by one company and sold by another. As the name suggests, it is supplied without branding, so that the purchasing company can then customise it for resale or mould it to extend or enhance their existing software.
How do they work?
White Label solutions, also known as Private Label solutions, involve fully-supported software that are often tailored to a specific vertical ‘out of the box’. That means the solution is already tested for market, mitigating risk and reducing development costs and lead-time.
For the vendor, adding a White Label ERP solution to your roster can provide you with the next version of your ERP or business management software solution without having to go back and build it from scratch.
For some vendors, it extends the product range and for others, it can extend their solution allowing them to offer a fully comprehensive offering to their customers that may ward off the competition or allow them to diversify into adjacent verticals.
For the consumer, a business problem is solved at a competitive rate with the vendor able to add value to the offering through bespoke add-on developments or the consultancy services they offer.
What are the advantages of White Label Software?
White Label software is a less risky, more cost-effective alternative to building a software solution from scratch.
Digging deeper reveals further advantages:
- Faster to the local market. The gap between identifying the need for a solution and integrating a White Label solution into your business is dramatically reduced, with none of the testing, troubleshooting and learning curves.
- Robust technical architecture. Software is built specifically for white label distribution and leverages the engineering team’s vertical market experience. The modern platform(s) it must sit on to engage tech-savvy development houses ensures it is a future-proofed solution. Consequently, the technical distributor can be confident in presenting the product and supporting services, knowing that it is sufficiently tested and reliable to carry their own personalized branding.
- Better customer experience. Given that in the majority of cases, the software solution has been adapted and optimised for a target vertical, it aligns closely with the use cases your customers are looking to improve. Instead of adapting to what the ERP solution can do, the customer can press ahead on the back of what their White Label solution enables them to do. That allows distributors to apply their own vertical market experience when presenting a professional solution for delivery. When required, they can bring their own engineering skills and experience in to play to enhance the offering, without sacrificing the advantage of core software updates to the product in the future.
- Affordable cost. White Label solutions allow a considerable degree of customisation without the associated costs of software developer support. Similarly, they are tested and built to run at Enterprise-level ERP uptime. The level of code-free customisation these solutions offer enables the vendor to add value for their customers by facilitating the majority of the customisations they require via their team of ERP consultants.
- Power to scale. ERP providers can expand their product offering and market share through tested White Label software solutions they trust. That allows the provider to focus on customer relationships and expertise, rather than drilling down to the intricacies of code. This creates a compelling way to future-proof the business, given that expertise and customer relationships are unlikely to be phased out of the landscape at any point in the future. Crucial to that process is the presence of a wider community for technical, marketing and solution understanding that would otherwise be available with a solution built in house.
How will White Label Solutions influence the industry?
By itself, White Label ERP will not transform the landscape, but it does add new business models. Because timelines for business development are reduced, not to mention overheads, ERP vendors can scale faster whilst retaining autonomy.
At the same time, the market can support smaller, niche developer teams who might not otherwise be able to survive.
This is hardly a case of future-gazing. White Labelling is an established business model in a huge variety of sectors, from marketing to retail. It is more in tune with the growing demand for niche experiences, customisation and, of course, accelerated timelines.
“White label software works for all parties involved. The developer gets more clients for a product it has already created, the reseller gets to offer more services to their clients, and the client gets all the benefits of the software solution.” – Izaak Crook, AppInstitute.
What white label software developers can do:
- Create a solution ready for execution
- Configure and integrate the solution to the platform and technology required
- Host the applications on architecture of your choosing; on-prem, cloud, hosted
- Monitor performance and offer extended support
- Manage security and reliability of the product
- Focus on innovation
