Why Headless? Breaking Down the Benefits of Tailor’s Headless ERP Solution
In recent years, the concept of headless architecture has become increasingly popular in the world of software development. In essence, headless architecture separates the front-end user interface from the back-end logic and data storage. Headless architecture not only provides better customization, scalability, performance, and security but, more importantly, it allows for flexible integration with other systems via APIs. This means businesses can seamlessly connect their ERP systems with other applications, enabling better cross-functional collaboration, streamlined operations, and a comprehensive view of their data.
At Tailor, we believe that headless architecture is the future of enterprise resource planning (ERP). In this article, we’ll explore why we believe this to be the case, and how our platform is pioneering the concept of headless ERP.
Supercharged UX
Many businesses struggle with their ERP’s user experience. If you’re one of them, you’re not alone. Traditional ERP systems often have clunky, outdated interfaces that are difficult to navigate. It’s not always due to the vendors’ inability to implement a better UX, but rather because these ERPs have too many features on the screen that are irrelevant to YOUR requirements, which makes it hard for users to interact no matter the cosmetics design.
That’s where headless ERP comes in. By separating the front-end UI from the back-end logic and data storage, headless ERP allows developers to create a bespoke user interface that is optimized for the specific needs of their users. This results in a more efficient, user-friendly experience that can ultimately lead to increased productivity, improved customer satisfaction, and higher profit margins.
Easy to Integrate
Today’s enterprises use more than 120 applications per company. Centrally controlled single suites of systems are not preferred anymore. Best-of-breed software solutions and AI tools are being adopted by each team across the company to cater to their unique use cases. ERP should also be able to fit with this distributed approach. Headless ERP provides a customizable, scalable, and flexible solution that can integrate with a wide range of systems and services.
Because the front-end UI is separated from the back-end logic and data storage, it’s easy to connect the ERP system with other applications, providing a cohesive single source of truth.
This allows businesses to create an integrated view of their data, which streamlines their operations and improves cross-functional collaboration. The result is a more efficient, data-driven business that is better equipped to adapt to changing market conditions and customer needs.
Easy to Customize
Headless ERP is also highly customizable, which is critical for businesses that need to adapt to changing market conditions and customer needs. Because the front-end UI is separated from the back-end logic and data storage, it’s easy to customize the ERP system to match the unique requirements of a business.
Moreover, Tailor Platform offers developers a simple approach to customize the data model, business logic, and more without writing lengthy code.
This allows businesses to create bespoke applications that cater to their specific needs, as well as integrate with other systems and services. Additionally, headless ERP is designed to be expandable and sustainable, which means that businesses can continue to customize and expand their ERP system as their needs evolve.
Isn’t it Tedious to Build the Front-end UI Myself?
Building a frontend for your business software can be a daunting task, but with the right backend, it can be a breeze. At Tailor, we offer a platform that makes building a custom frontend UI simple and straightforward.
Boilerplate Template
Tailor provides a boilerplate frontend template to jump-start your frontend development. The open-source boilerplate includes a Next.js library, a GraphQL client, and some other configurations needed for smooth development. With the boilerplate, you can quickly generate a UI that is optimized for your business requirements.
Low-Code Development Tools
In addition to the boilerplate, Tailor allows developers to use low-code development tools like Retool. Retool is a WYSIWYG editor that includes pre-designed React components. With Retool, you can build custom UI components and workflows without writing any code. This is a great option for internal use cases, where the UI design is not the primary focus.
AI-Assisted Development
AI-powered tools can also help you design and implement a frontend UI that is optimized for your business.
Given that your custom ERP’s API specification is described in a GraphQL schema, it facilitates introspection, enabling AI to comprehend the schema structure accurately. This understanding allows AI to generate frontend code that aligns precisely with the backend API schema. With a little bit of prompt engineering, you’ll have a frontend code that fits your use cases.
This is a great option for businesses that need to build a custom UI but don’t have the resources to do so in-house.
Natural Language Interface
Finally, Tailor can integrate with ChatGPT, an AI-powered natural language interface. With ChatGPT, you can ask for data and have it presented in natural language. This allows for a more intuitive and user-friendly interface, especially for non-technical users.
In conclusion, building a custom frontend UI can be easy if you have the right backend. With Tailor’s boilerplate, low-code development tools, AI-assisted development, and a natural language interface, you can create a UI that is optimized for your business requirements. If you’re interested in learning more about Tailor and how it can benefit your business, we invite you to check out our Developer Documents or book a demo with us today.
Comparison with Legacy Systems
Finally, headless ERP offers several advantages over legacy ERP systems. Legacy systems are often monolithic and difficult to customize, which can make them unsuitable for businesses that need to adapt to changing market conditions and customer needs.
Additionally, legacy ERP software makers attempted to create a one-size-fits-all solution by adding as many features as possible to accommodate diverse business needs. However, this approach often resulted in bloated software that contained many superfluous features.
As a result, a single company may only use a small percentage of the entire codebase while the rest is irrelevant to their specific use case. This can lead to painful situations for developers who must work with code that is never relevant to their company’s needs. Ideally, businesses want to have only the necessary code, without any unnecessary features that can decrease development efficiency and make the software harder to use.
Headless ERP, on the other hand, is designed to be highly adaptable and customizable. This allows businesses to create bespoke applications that cater to their unique needs, and to integrate these applications with other systems and services. Additionally, headless ERP is designed to be expandable and sustainable, which means that businesses can continue to customize and expand their ERP system as their needs evolve.
Conclusion
AtTailor, we believe that headless ERP is the future of enterprise resource planning. By separating the front-end UI from the back-end logic and data storage, businesses can create a supercharged user experience, integrate with other systems and services, and customize their ERP system to match their unique requirements. Additionally, headless ERP is designed to be expandable and sustainable, which means that businesses can continue to customize and expand their ERP system as their needs evolve.
If you’re interested in learning more about headless ERP and how it can benefit your business, we invite you to check out our Developer Documents or book a demo with us today. Together, we can revolutionize your business operations with Tailor Platform.