Most ERP is built for a business ANZ does not run
The first ERP demo I sat in for an ANZ buyer opened with "multi-entity group consolidation across 14 legal jurisdictions." The buyer had 38 staff.
They were not the wrong buyer. The software was the wrong shape.
The first ERP demo I sat in for an ANZ buyer opened with a forty-minute slide on "multi-entity group consolidation across 14 legal jurisdictions."
The buyer had 38 staff. One warehouse. One country. One Xero file.
They were not the wrong buyer. The software was the wrong shape.
ERP was designed for a business ANZ does not run
Most of what gets sold as enterprise ERP (Oracle NetSuite, SAP S/4HANA, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central) was architected around a specific archetype:
- 500+ staff
- Multi-country, multi-currency, multi-entity
- An internal IT department to own the rollout
- A change-management consulting budget
- A two-to-five-year platform horizon
That is roughly the top 1% of ANZ businesses by headcount. Maybe less.
ANZ is not in that 1%
The ABS reports 91.5% of Australia's 2.7 million actively trading businesses had turnover under A$2 million as of June 2025.
MBIE reports small businesses make up around 97% of all NZ enterprises and contribute about 42% of total economic value.
The buyers actually running operations in this market (distributors, manufacturers, 3PLs, wholesalers, ecommerce operators) sit in the 20-to-500-staff range. One accounting system. One to three sites. No spare IT person.
They are not who ERP was designed for. They are who ERP gets sold to.
Why the mismatch keeps happening
Three reasons:
Vendor incentives. A consulting partner makes more money on a six-month NetSuite rollout than on a six-week modular one. They are not going to argue you down to the cheaper shape, and most ANZ buyers do not have an independent advisor in the room.
Future-proofing as a sales line. Buyers are told they will "grow into" the platform. Most do not. Six years later they are using six of the forty-seven modules they pay for, and the rest just clutter the menu.
No alternative gets pitched. ANZ operators know spreadsheets. They know NetSuite. The layer in between (modular, role-scoped, in-region, on-page pricing) does not get demoed because most of the people booking the demos do not sell it.
What the middle actually needs
An ANZ operator with 30 to 300 staff needs the operating system of the business, not the corporate planning suite of a multinational.
Concretely:
- A warehouse module that runs pick, pack, dispatch, not a "supply chain transformation platform."
- A finance integration that talks to Xero or MYOB, not a treasury module that replaces them.
- Roles that match the team you actually have (pickers, packers, supervisors, dispatch, admin) not 14 "personas" the consultant drew on a whiteboard.
- Pricing on a public page, before any call.
- A rollout measured in weeks per module, not quarters per platform.
- Hosting in-region, so customer data does not leave the country to make the dashboard render.
The shape, said plainly
Operations first. Finance integrated, not replaced. Modules added when the business actually needs them. Pricing visible. Rollout in weeks. In-region.
That is the layer most ANZ operators are looking for, and most of the industry has not built for them.
Where OpsUI fits
OpsUI is built for the middle. More capable than a spreadsheet. Less bloated than traditional ERP.
Modular by design: start with the workflow that hurts most (usually picking, dispatch, or stock visibility), add the next module when it earns its place. Finance stays on Xero or MYOB until you need more than that. The page tells you the price before the call.
Not the enterprise theatre. The actual job.
Frequently asked
Why do mid-sized ANZ businesses end up on NetSuite or Dynamics even when it does not fit?
Usually a combination of three things: the local consulting partner only sells those platforms, the buyer believes they will "grow into" the suite, and no one in the room pitches a modular alternative. The buyer is not making an unreasonable choice. They are choosing from the options they were shown.
What is the realistic size band for modular ERP versus full-suite ERP?
Modular ERP fits the 10-to-500-staff range, single accounting system, one to three operating sites, no dedicated IT department. Above that, especially with multi-entity finance or true global operations, the full-suite case starts to make sense. Below it, you are usually fine on a spreadsheet and a single SaaS tool.
We are an ANZ operator with 25 staff and one warehouse. Where would we even start?
Start with the workflow that costs the most when it breaks, for most operators that is picking, dispatch, or stock visibility. Roll that module out first against your existing accounting system (Xero or MYOB). Add inventory adjacency, then receiving, then finance integration when it earns its place. Modular means you do not have to pre-decide the whole stack.
Can OpsUI integrate with our existing Xero or MYOB rather than replacing it?
Yes. Finance staying where it is, with OpsUI sitting above it for operations, is the default architecture for most ANZ operators in the SMB and mid-market band. The connectors and their roadmap status are listed openly on the integrations page; OpsUI does not pretend a planned integration is a live one.
See how OpsUI approaches this differently.
No hidden fees. No six-month implementations. Just warehouse software that works.
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