Back when I was developing a manufacturing ERP, the need arose to offer the same software to multiple customers. This inevitably brought multi-tenant architecture to the table. Although it seemed like a simple idea at first, making the right trade-offs was critical for both the technical and commercial success of the project. In this post, I will share the challenges I faced and the decisions I made while building a multi-tenant architecture in ERP systems, complete with concrete examples.
Why Do We Need Multi-Tenant Architecture?
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are typically complex software suites where businesses manage their core operations. Monolithic structures developed specifically for a single customer can create maintenance and update challenges over time. Especially for service providers, setting up a separate server and database for each customer is a costly and operationally difficult scenario to manage. This is exactly where multi-tenant architecture comes into play.
By opening a single software instance to the access of multiple customers (tenants), we aim to use resources efficiently. This reduces both software development and maintenance costs and eases the operational burden. For example, while developing an ERP for a manufacturing company, if we want to serve 5 different customers, instead of dealing with a separate deployment process for each, we can serve them through a single system. This provides a huge advantage, especially in the early stages or for projects that need to scale.
Multi-Tenancy Approaches at the Database Level
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