A long looong time ago in the beginning of my career I was an ERP consultant. My first steps in the corporate world were crammed with praise for the power and flexibility of ERP systems (mostly SAP in my case). Clients were bombarded with fancy slides explaining how their business could be configured in the endless options available in SAP and, if the option was not there standard, you could develop it.
The key message was: you do not need to change your business, the system is fully adaptable to your reality.
A mere 5 years later the tune had changed substantially. Tales of implementations gone horribly wrong (now it's the right time to go back to the picture in the beginning of the post) coupled with outrageous maintenance bills of highly customized systems paved the way to the opposite philosophy.
The key message became: the ERP is based on best practice so you should adjust your business processes to the system.
What cherries to pick?
Confused? Naturally! But not to worry, there's a new rule brewing that can be used to sort out "The ERP Dilemma": should companies adjust their businesses to the system or the system to their businesses?
If it is a core competency, adjust the system; if it is not, adjust the company.
I liked your final line, it is true and the best available answer.
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