This is an interesting and understandable question, especially when something custom built is usually viewed as a costly alternative to off-the-shelf software.
Lets first look at the advantages that a custom technical solution can give your business:
- Having something designed and built for you ensures it will be specifically tailored to your exact requirements. It will fit in with how you want your business to run now and in the future.
- The user interface will be customised to match your users needs. It can also be setup to talk with your other software to provide a complete and integrated experience. This can save you money by reducing the time and effort in performing business tasks, and can keep your company running smoothly and efficiently.
- The solutions are much more adaptable and can be changed over time to suit the needs of the business. You can talk directly with the developers of the software and arrange changes and updates to be made.
- The support of the software is much better. You can deal directly with the people who produced it, so they know how it works.
- The use of your own professionally produced technical solution means you are at an advantage to your competitors. You have something that makes your business perform more efficiently compared to standard off the shelf packages which they may use.
Bespoke solutions does have some disadvantages, but with proper thought and our help they can be alleviated:
Cost – We know that bespoke software can be more costly than off-the-shelf packages. This is down to the time and effort required to build a unique solution for customers. The mission statement of Productive Inbox is to give all businesses the opportunity to take advantage of bespoke solutions. This means costs are kept low through the reuse of modules and frameworks where possible.Time – You have to wait while a bespoke solution is created for you. This can take days, weeks or even months for the more complex. Productive Inbox reduces the time through agile development technics. We also keep you in the loop by providing update reports on the progress of projects giving you piece of mind. We also allow you to try and test the work as it progresses.The Developer – Picking the wrong type of company to do the work may be a costly expense. Bespoke software isn’t about finding the cheapest business to do the work. Quality is important and picking a developer that is a “cowboy” or doesn’t provide the customer service you expect may leave your business at their mercy. Productive Inbox ensures that all work follows best practise and standards, provides a warranty for completed jobs and doesn’t not charge monthly retainer fees. Also can arrange (at an additional cost) for you to keep all source code for extra piece of mind.
Conclusion
Having a bespoke solution can give your business the upper hand. Your solution will be superior to your competitors, allow you to provide a better service to your customers and let you to work the way you want to work. You can save money in time and energy running the business, and cut costs in the products and services that you provide and market.
