Why Custom Software?

You may be wondering why you should make an investment in custom software. Wouldn't an off-the-shelf product be better? Not necessarily. Consider the following analogy:

Why buy a car? For some people, using mass transit is a perfectly acceptable solution, requiring little investment on the rider's part. So why do most of us buy cars? Because the bus won't take us where and when we want to go. We recognize that, in the long run, a car lets us be far more flexible, more comfortable, more productive, even though the initial investment may be significantly larger.

What about software-as-a-service (SaaS), or enterprise resource planning (ERP) software? Many vendors offer systems that promise to automate your entire business using a pre-packaged solution. But after spending amounts that can exceed six or seven figures, you discover that the packaged solution doesn't fit your needs, and are forced to spend even larger sums to customize these systems. In addition, these systems often require that you radically change the way you do business in order to conform to how the vendor thinks your business should be run.

Custom software is written for your business, not some generic target market. It allows you to focus on your business, because it's tailored to your specific requirements. It can be modified to change as your business evolves. It can be adapted to whatever level your users are comfortable with, whether they are technically savvy, or computer neophytes. Most importantly, it allows you to be more productive by taking the busy work out of your hands, so you can concentrate on what's important to your business, whether it's serving your customers or identifying new markets.

It takes you where you want to go.