Custodian: ERP Customization Debt Manager & Vendor Negotiation Engine

E-commerce Platforms
🔥
9/10
Demand Score
Customization sprawl and opaque vendor arrangements inflate costs, block upgrades, and increase operational risk.
🌊
8/10
Blue Ocean
Competition Level
💰
$3k-15k
Price/Month
Predicted customer spend
⏱️
14 days
Time to MVP
Difficulty: Hard

The Problem

Complex and Costly Workarounds:

Competitor Landscape

  • Panaya
  • Tricentis LiveCompare
  • LeanIX
  • ServiceNow Vendor Risk
  • Rimini Street (alternative support)

Must-Have Features for MVP

Automated customization inventory and dependency graph
Risk scoring (usage, complexity, upgrade impact)
Standards mapping to vendor roadmaps and best practices
De-customization recommendations with cost/benefit
Spec-to-SOW generator with acceptance criteria
Vendor SLA tracker and clause analyzer (NLP)
Refactor backlog with ROI and payback modeling
Executive dashboards for cost savings and risk reduction

⚠️ Potential Challenges

  • Access to ERP transport/code repositories
  • Keeping feature parity maps current across ERP releases
  • Vendor pushback on standardized SOWs and SLAs
  • Change governance alignment with internal architecture board

Risk Level: Low

🎯 Keys to Success

  • Reduce active customizations by 20–40% in 12 months
  • Cut vendor CR cycle time by 30%+
  • Achieve 10–25% savings on negotiated SOWs
  • Upgrade readiness score improved quarter-over-quarter
  • Measured reduction in change-related incidents

Ready to Build This?

This hard-difficulty project could be your next micro-SaaS success.