At this point, technology and software in particular have become essential parts of the way we do business every day – what your specific business does doesn’t actually matter. It’s both how we’re able to remain as productive as possible and it’s a key concept behind the invaluable relationships that we’re forging with our clients on a daily basis.
Having said that, many companies make the mistake of fully embracing off-the-shelf software – meaning “catch-all” solutions that already exist – as a way to save a little money. This is as opposed to hiring a software developer to design and support something that is built from the ground up with your business in mind.
The former make seem ideal initially, but it’s a choice that also comes with a wide range of hidden costs that you NEED to be aware of moving forward.
Why Off-the-Shelf Software Costs a Business More Money Than It Realizes
One of the major issues with most off-the-shelf software solutions is that they’re more or less designed to be entirely self-contained. While this may have been adequate in the past, that simply isn’t built to support the way critical data moves across an organization.
Contained inside the data being created by your business on a daily basis are the types of insights that organizational leaders need to make the best decisions possible at any given moment. That data needs to move freely from one application to the next in a way that makes it accessible to anyone and everyone in real-time. Off-the-shelf software, however, is rarely designed to integrate with any other solution – meaning that this information will more or less be contained within data silos that don’t have to exist.
This means that certain parts of a customer’s relationship will be cut off from various departments. Management will be making crucial decisions based on an incomplete picture. This doesn’t just make it difficult to capitalize on opportunities soon after they arise – more often than not, it means you’ll be forced to watch them pass you by.
Along the same lines, because most off-the-shelf software isn’t really designed to seamlessly integrate with the types of industry-specific apps you’re probably already using, employees will need to come up with time-consuming workarounds just to do their jobs. Remember that at the end of the day, technology is supposed to support and empower the way your people like to work – it should never hold them back. But that’s exactly what you’re doing with off-the-shelf software, all in the name of saving a few dollars in the next fiscal quarter.
With custom software, on the other hand, all of these factors can be accounted for. Not only can a solution do exactly what it needs to do in the precise way that your people need to be able to do it, but it can also be designed in a way that allows it to integrate with literally any other app that you have in mind.
This won’t just enable your employees to work “smarter, not harder” – it will finally mean that data can flow freely across your organization in the precise way that you need it to at all times.
All of this is to say that while the urge to save a little money up-front by purchasing software that already exists is perfectly understandable, those savings pale in comparison to the amount of money that you’re actually costing your business as a result. The productivity losses alone will more than match any gains that you think you’re getting, to say nothing of how devastating the employee frustrations and damage to company culture can actually be.
So rather than settle for something that is essentially little more than the “status quo,” custom software is clearly the right decision to make at exactly the right time. Instead of forcing yourself into the same “one-size-fits-all” box when it comes to technology, break free from those restrictions and forge your own path. Your company will come out all the better for it.
Contact us today to discuss custom software development for your company!
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