If your ERP feels weighed down by custom code and slow upgrades, you’re not alone. Many businesses face the same challenge, and it’s costing them more than they realize. Also, legacy system upgrades cost the average company nearly $3 million in just one year.
The good news is you don’t have to keep pouring money and time into maintenance. By using a clean core strategy together with low-code tools, you can simplify your ERP, cut costs, and still keep the flexibility to innovate.
This article will show you how this combination can make your system easier to maintain, faster to upgrade, and more adaptable to business change.
Check out our article "What is a Clean Core Approach?" to learn more about the Clean Core Approach.
What is a Clean Core Strategy?
A clean core strategy means keeping your ERP system as close as possible to its original, standard design. Instead of adding heavy custom code inside the core system, you keep it clean and extend it using safe, upgrade-friendly methods.
The main purpose of this approach is to give you agility. When your ERP is close to standard, you can adopt new innovations, connect new systems, and make changes much faster. You avoid being locked into outdated customizations that slow you down.
With a clean core, upgrades are smoother because you are not rewriting or fixing old custom code every time. Maintenance becomes simpler because the system is less complex.
You also save money in the long run, since a lighter, cleaner core costs less to manage and keeps your total cost of ownership under control.
How Low-Code Supports a Clean Core Strategy
Low-code platforms make it easier to follow a clean core strategy because they let you build, automate, and integrate without touching the ERP’s core code.
You can still meet your unique business needs, but you do it in a way that keeps the core clean, safe, and easy to upgrade.
1. Build Side-by-Side Extensions Instead of Core Changes
With low-code, you can create business applications that run alongside your ERP instead of inside it.
This means you can meet your needs without making risky changes to the ERP core, keeping it stable and ready for updates.
2. Automate Data Flows with Released APIs
Low-code platforms make it simple to connect your ERP to other systems using released APIs. You can move data between systems automatically, without writing complex code, and without breaking the clean core principles.
3. Replace Manual Processes with Low-Code Workflows
If you’re still using spreadsheets, emails, or paper-based approvals, low-code can replace them with automated workflows.
This speeds up tasks like approvals, data validation, and reporting, while keeping the ERP untouched.
4. Enable Fast Prototyping and Deployment
Low-code tools let you test ideas quickly, adjust them, and launch solutions without long IT delays. You can respond faster to business changes while still protecting the ERP core.
5. Integrate External Platforms Seamlessly
You can use low-code integration tools to connect your ERP with partners, vendors, or other business platforms. This makes collaboration easier and faster without adding risky custom integrations inside the ERP.
6. Standardize User Interfaces Across Systems
Low-code allows you to create consistent, user-friendly interfaces across all your systems. Users get the same look and feel everywhere, and you don’t have to modify the ERP core to achieve it.
eSystems helps you plan and deliver low-code solutions that build apps, automate workflows, and connect systems on Workato without changing your ERP core.
Key Benefits of Combining Clean Core with Low-Code
Extensions that stay stable during upgrades
When you keep the ERP core standard and build features outside the core, upgrades don’t break your work.
Your extensions call versioned and released APIs, so new releases replace the engine without touching your apps. You avoid rewrite cycles, cut regression testing, and keep your rollout plans predictable.
Faster innovation cycles
Low code lets you design, test, and publish changes in days instead of months. You can prototype with real data, get feedback, and push updates without pausing your core system. Small product ideas move from a draft to a working app while your core remains clean and stable.
Lower integration and maintenance costs
You connect systems using approved APIs and reusable connectors instead of custom code built from scratch. That reduces the number of scripts to maintain and the hours you spend on fixes after each release.
Centralized recipes, shared data models, and automated checks keep support work small and clear.
Better agility for changing business needs
Your team can respond to new rules, partners, and products without touching core code. You add fields in a side-by-side app, adjust a workflow, or plug in a new service through an API. Because the core stays standard, each change is local, controlled, and easier to reverse if it does not meet the goal.
Best Practices for Maintaining a Clean Core with Low Code
Start with fit-to-standard processes
Align your workflows with your ERP’s built-in capabilities before building anything extra. That ensures you make use of reliable, tested paths that reduce risk and complexity.
For example, if your ERP already has a purchase order approval workflow, adapt it to your needs instead of building a custom one from scratch.
This way, you avoid adding extra layers of complexity that can slow down upgrades.
Use only released APIs for extensions
Build connectors and flows using approved interfaces so your core system remains untouched and upgrade-safe.
For instance, instead of pulling data directly from database tables, connect through APIs released by the ERP vendor for tasks like syncing product data with a PIM or updating customer records in a CRM.
This keeps all interactions within supported boundaries and avoids future compatibility issues.
Keep a zero-modification policy for core objects
Don’t change ERP core objects directly. Keep all enhancements separate, so updates won’t break your logic and your system stays maintainable.
For example, if you need to add a new pricing calculation, build it as an extension app rather than altering the ERP’s built-in pricing logic.
This makes it easier to troubleshoot issues and keeps your upgrade path simple.
Apply governance to extensions and integrations
Set up rules for who can build, what gets deployed, and how integrations evolve. This helps you prevent sprawl, maintain quality, and keep your system under control.
For instance, define an approval process for new automation workflows and maintain a catalog of all live integrations.
That way, you always know what’s running, why it exists, and how it’s connected.
How eSystems helps you apply these best practices
eSystems empowers you to follow these practices by combining low-code tools with strong delivery processes and oversight. We guide your team in adopting Mendix, OutSystems, and Workato safely.
We help you build reusable, side-by-side apps, set up governance in your digital factory, and integrate systems using released APIs. We make sure your clean core stays clean and your solutions stay scalable.
Conclusion
Combining a clean core strategy with low-code gives you the flexibility to adapt quickly, reduce upgrade risks, and cut long-term costs.
By keeping your ERP close to standard and extending it with low-code tools, you gain faster delivery of new solutions without adding complexity to the core.
This approach supports ongoing innovation while keeping systems stable and easy to maintain. With the right partner, you can ensure every change adds value without slowing your business down.
About eSystems
eSystems is your local Nordic partner in digital transformation using low-code. We help you build modern applications, automate workflows with Workato, and modernize your business long before traditional IT can keep up.
We guide you in adopting clean core practices by delivering side-by-side low-code applications, automating workflows via released APIs, and integrating systems without touching your ERP core. We set up secure, scalable automation factories powered by Workato, coach your team in low-code governance, and help you prepare for future growth with reusable digital assets.
If you want to accelerate your clean core journey with low-code expertise and integration best practices, book your transformation call with eSystems today.
FAQ
1. What is a clean core strategy in ERP?
It means keeping your ERP system close to its original design without heavy custom code inside the core.
2. Why is a clean core important?
It makes upgrades easier, reduces costs, and keeps your system more flexible for future changes.
3. How does low-code support a clean core?
Low-code lets you build and connect solutions without changing the ERP core code.
4. Does a clean core reduce customization options?
No. You can still meet unique needs using safe, upgrade-friendly extensions outside the core.
5. How do I maintain a clean core long-term?
Follow standard processes, use approved APIs, avoid modifying core objects, and set clear rules for changes.
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