What you will learn
Section titled “What you will learn”Recognize the three tailoring approaches and identify the questions you should ask before choosing one.
Prerequisites: understand the landscape. No system access is needed for the exercise.
Three ways to adapt a solution
Section titled “Three ways to adapt a solution”IFS describes tailoring as adapting a customer solution to business needs. The main approaches are:
| Approach | Starting idea |
|---|---|
| Configure | Use available designers and configuration capabilities |
| Extend on the inside | Develop customizations within the customer solution |
| Extend on the outside | Build capabilities outside IFS Cloud that interact through APIs |
The IFS tailoring guide explains the approaches and their lifecycle implications. This comparison is an orientation, not an architecture recommendation for a specific requirement.
Ask about the requirement first
Section titled “Ask about the requirement first”For the fictional Northstar Services team, “make this process easier” could mean several things. The coordinator might need a clearer label, fewer manual steps, or information from another application.
Use these questions to make the request concrete:
- What task is difficult today?
- Does standard functionality already meet the need?
- Which people and processes would the change affect?
- Who will maintain it when the solution changes?
- What evidence would show that the change helped?
Try it yourself
Section titled “Try it yourself”A team asks for a separate application that presents selected IFS information alongside data from another system. Which tailoring approach would you investigate first, and what do you need to confirm?
See a suggested answer
Investigate extending on the outside. Confirm that appropriate APIs exist, access and usage conditions support the scenario, and someone will operate the external application. Also check whether an existing standard capability already solves the problem.
This identifies an approach to investigate; it does not approve a design.
Check your understanding
Section titled “Check your understanding”Write a one-paragraph recommendation that includes the requirement, an approach to investigate, and at least two unanswered questions.
Common mistake: selecting a tool before explaining the business problem. Revisit the task and expected outcome if the discussion begins with a preferred technology.
Cleanup: none; the exercise makes no system changes.
Source and review status
Section titled “Source and review status”Reference: IFS Cloud 26R1 tailoring guide. This concept draft awaits expert review. No environment behavior has been verified.