Portal or ERP logins?
Giving a customer an ERP login gets them the data. A portal gets them the data in a screen built for them, without a seat each. Here is the trade-off.
How they compare.
| Topic | ERP logins for customers | Portal by Webisoft |
|---|---|---|
| What the customer sees | ERP screens built for your staff, trimmed by roles. | A portal built for buyers: orders, invoices, shipments, returns. |
| License cost | Usually a named seat or user license per person, priced by your vendor. | Apps work through the ERP API, not named ERP seats (check your vendor's API terms). |
| Access control | ERP roles and permissions, set up and maintained per user. | Each customer sees only their own account, set in the portal. |
| Training | Customers have to learn ERP navigation. | Built around a buyer's tasks, no ERP training. |
| Adding a new contact at a customer | A new ERP user and, often, a new license. | Customer admins invite their own users. |
| Data | Live ERP data. | Live ERP data through the API, written back to the ERP. |
| Your own team | Keeps full ERP access. | Keeps full ERP access, plus focused internal tools if wanted. |
| Time to go live | Varies. | 5 days for the standard modules. |
| Try it before a call | Varies. | A live demo you can click through now, no form. |
Choosing between them.
When do ERP logins still make sense?
For a handful of power partners who truly need full ERP functions, such as a contract manufacturer working inside your production schedule. For everyday buyers, a portal is simpler and does not need a seat each.
Is a portal less secure than ERP roles?
A portal limits each customer to their own account and to the actions you enable, and it never gives them the ERP itself. ERP roles can do the same, but they have to be set up and kept tight for every outside user.
Do API-based portals avoid every license fee?
Not always. Vendors set their own rules for API and indirect access, so we review your contract terms with you during discovery, before you commit.
Weighing other options?
- Webstore or app platform?Selling online to new buyers, or serving the customers you already have?
- Built-in portal or Portal by Webisoft?Your ERP ships a portal. When is it enough, and when is it not?
- Build it or start from a platform?Build it with your own team, or start from a platform?
- EDI or a customer portal?EDI for your big trading partners, a portal for everyone else?
- Email and phone, or a portal?Keep keying in emailed orders, or let customers order themselves?
See what your customers would see
Click through the customer side of the live demo: orders, invoices, shipments and returns, no ERP login.