FlowOverlay: Policy-Aware Sidecar Workflows for ERP Without Core Customization

E-commerce Platforms
🔥
9/10
Demand Score
Teams are stuck with rigid ERP workflows, creating shadow processes in spreadsheets that fail audits and delay revenue recognition.
🌊
7/10
Blue Ocean
Competition Level
💰
$2k-12k
Price/Month
Predicted customer spend
⏱️
12 days
Time to MVP
Difficulty: Hard

The Problem

Complex and Costly Workarounds:

Competitor Landscape

  • SAP Build Process Automation
  • Oracle Process Automation
  • ServiceNow Flow Designer
  • Nintex
  • Camunda
  • UiPath
  • Kissflow
  • Pipefy

Must-Have Features for MVP

Drag-and-drop workflow builder with SoD policy engine
Contextual side-panel UI injected into ERP screens
Sidecar state store with immutable audit log
Template library for finance, supply chain, and HR flows
Environment promotion (dev/test/prod) with versioned migrations
Instant rollback of workflow definitions
SLA timers, escalations, and analytics dashboards
API-first design to orchestrate RPA or microservices where needed

⚠️ Potential Challenges

  • Browser extension approval and hardening
  • ERP API coverage gaps for specific steps
  • SoD policy modeling and conflict resolution
  • User adoption of new sidecar UI
  • Latency considerations for globally distributed users

Risk Level: Low

🎯 Keys to Success

  • Cut cycle times by 30–50% on targeted processes
  • Zero core ERP changes required for majority of use cases
  • No material audit findings for process controls
  • >70% of changes shipped in under 5 days
  • High user satisfaction (CSAT > 4/5) on sidecar tasks

Ready to Build This?

This hard-difficulty project could be your next micro-SaaS success.