Dual OMS Strategy? Here's a Smarter Strategy in 2025

A dual OMS strategy means deploying a second Order Management System (OMS) to fill capability gaps in an aging legacy OMS. While this strategy can add modern capabilities, it can also introduce duplicate costs and integrations. A composable OMS roadmap achieves the same modern capabilities through lightweight, domain‑specific microservices—without running two platforms side‑by‑side.

Retailers and grocers know the pressure all too well: fulfill faster, promise smarter, and keep every channel aligned all without breaking the back-end systems that have been in place for a decade or more. The legacy OMS (order management system) is still doing its job, technically. But every quarter, that job gets harder.

Customer expectations have shifted. A store is no longer just a store; it’s a warehouse, a pickup point, and a returns depot. Orders come in across multiple channels, and fulfillment decisions need to be made in real time, accounting for store inventory, shipping costs, and delivery promises. Many legacy OMS platforms simply weren’t built for that level of complexity or responsiveness.

Yet, in trying to remedy this, many organizations have settled on a strategy that combines the downsides of both legacy and modern systems: the dual OMS strategy.

What is a Dual OMS Strategy?

The concept of a dual OMS strategy is straightforward: instead of ripping out your existing OMS, stand up a second OMS to add modern capabilities without disrupting the core. Use the new OMS to handle modern use cases, real-time inventory visibility, dynamic fulfillment, intelligent sourcing, while the legacy system keeps the lights on. It’s a strategy that appeals to risk-averse executives: a way to modernize without the disruption of a full rebuild.

A recent Forrester study even claims businesses can see a return on that investment in under six months. And while that sounds compelling, our experience working with some of the largest retailers, grocers, and B2B organizations tells a different story.

At Nextuple, we see firsthand what businesses actually need. Spoiler alert—it’s not a second OMS. It’s modern capabilities. The kind that make order promising more accurate, inventory visibility real-time, fulfillment faster and smarter, and operations scalable. And the way to get there isn’t by duplicating systems—it’s by investing in a roadmap that leads to a composable architecture. One that delivers measurable value fast, while laying the foundation for long-term agility and cost efficiency.

Let’s unpack why.

What’s Driving the Dual OMS Hype?

The concept of dual OMS is built on a simple idea: businesses have legacy systems that are too brittle to keep up, but too complex to rip and replace overnight. So, a secondary OMS is introduced to plug gaps—often for advanced inventory or fulfillment capabilities—without overhauling the core.

The Forrester study backs this up with financial models that show ROI in under six months, largely by recapturing lost sales through better inventory accuracy and real-time availability. And many companies in the study see this second system as a stepping stone to replacing their legacy OMS entirely.

But here’s the problem: now you’re managing two OMS platforms, with all the cost, complexity, and operational friction that brings.

What We’re Seeing in the Real World

From our work across the industry, we’ve seen that what businesses actually need isn’t more OMS’— it’s smarter architecture. When a client tells us they’re struggling to fulfill from stores or can't accurately promise delivery dates, the root cause is almost never, "I need a second OMS." It’s almost always, “I need new capabilities, and my current system can’t deliver them fast enough.”

This is where the power of composable architecture comes in. Rather than duplicating systems, we help clients create capability-specific services that plug into their existing tech stack — things like:

• Real-time inventory visibility
• Dynamic order promising
• Network-aware sourcing logic
• Efficient fulfillment orchestration
• Intelligent monitoring and exception management

All of these can be rolled out incrementally, with clear ROI and minimal disruption. No need to run two monolithic OMS platforms side-by-side.

The Problem with Dual OMS: Complexity Without Longevity

Running two OMS systems may get you new capabilities in the short term — but it also introduces:

• Integration headaches: You need to keep order, inventory, and customer data synchronized across systems.
• Ongoing maintenance cost: Licensing, training, support — it all doubles.
• User confusion: Store associates, call center reps, and back-office teams juggling two tools? That’s not scalable.
• Future migration pain: If the end goal is to replace the primary OMS, you’ll end up with a second expensive migration anyway.

You’re essentially putting your business through two transformations instead of one.

A Better Approach: ROI-Driven, Composable Transformation

At Nextuple, we guide our clients through a different approach — one that’s outcome-based, roadmap-driven, and built for the future.

Here’s how we think about it:

1. Start with the business outcomes: What’s the financial impact of better inventory accuracy? What’s the cost of not meeting customer delivery expectations? Quantify the value.
2. Identify the capabilities that move the needle: Don’t chase features — chase impact. If intelligent order promising can reduce cancellations by 20%, that’s a capability worth investing in.
3. Build a composable roadmap: Launch modular services that solve specific problems, integrate cleanly with your current stack, and scale over time.
4. Modernize with control: As new services take over critical functions, legacy OMS functionality can be deprecated gradually — reducing risk and cost.

This is not theoretical. It’s the strategy we’re deploying with leading retailers and grocers right now — and it’s working.

The Bottom Line

The Forrester study makes a valid point: businesses are hungry for modern capabilities, and they’re willing to invest to get them. But layering a second OMS on top of an old one isn’t the only — or even the best — way to do it.

The truth is, your business doesn’t need more systems. It needs more agility. And that comes from a composable architecture that evolves with you — not a stopgap strategy that adds cost and complexity.

If you're facing pressure to deliver more with less, fulfill across more channels, and modernize fast — let’s talk. We’ll help you build a roadmap that delivers ROI today and sets you up for what’s next.

Interested in learning how a composable OMS strategy can unlock the capabilities you need — without the dual OMS overhead? Reach out to us — we’d love to share what’s working for your peers.