Anyone who needs new software soon runs into the basic question: buy something ready-made or have something built? Both paths have their place. What matters is not which is better in general, but which fits the workflow in question.
What off-the-shelf software does well
Off-the-shelf software is built for many customers. That is exactly its strength:
- It is there straight away. You can try it before you commit.
- It covers the usual things well. Accounting, payroll, email, spreadsheets: here every business works in much the same way, and vendors have built in years of experience.
- Legal changes arrive with the update. When tax rates or reporting rules change, the vendor follows.
- Plenty of people know it. New staff often know DATEV, Microsoft 365 or a common ERP from their last job.
The downside: off-the-shelf software reflects how the vendor imagines your workflow. If yours does not match, you adapt to the software - or you work around it.
What custom software does well
Custom software is built for one business. Its strengths lie exactly where off-the-shelf software is weak:
- It follows your workflow. Screens, approvals and reports look the way your people actually work.
- It contains only what you need. Not a hundred menu items of which five are ever used.
- It grows with you. When a new line of business arrives, the software is extended instead of adding yet another program alongside.
- It can belong to you. With the rights to the source code, you do not depend on what a vendor plans for its product.
The downside: you need someone to build the software and then look after and develop it. And there is work at the start that off-the-shelf software spares you: the workflow has to be described before anyone can build anything.
The comparison at a glance
| Off-the-shelf software | Custom software | |
|---|---|---|
| Start | right away, after set-up | after concept and development |
| Fit | you adapt | the software adapts |
| Running costs | licence or subscription per user | operation and further development |
| Change requests | ask the vendor, often in vain | can be implemented |
| Dependency | on the vendor and its roadmap | on the developer, cushioned by source code and documentation |
| Strength | workflows that are the same everywhere | workflows that make you different |
The question behind the question: how special is your workflow?
Most decisions get easier once you split the workflow into two parts.
The part that is the same everywhere. Posting invoices, running payroll, managing appointments. Off-the-shelf software nearly always wins here. Developing your own accounting system does not pay off for a mid-sized business.
The part that sets you apart. How you price quotes, how orders move through production, how you look after your customers. This is where the typical signs appear that off-the-shelf software is no longer enough:
- An Excel list runs alongside the system, and nothing works without it.
- Data is retyped from one program into another.
- The software has been customised so often that nobody dares to update it.
- Staff have developed workarounds that only they know.
The middle way: off-the-shelf for the usual, your own software for the special
In practice it is rarely one or the other. Often the best solution is this: the off-the-shelf software keeps doing what it does well, and a separate application is built for the part that does not fit. The two are connected through interfaces so nothing is entered twice.
That has two advantages. The off-the-shelf software stays updatable, because nobody tinkers with its internals. And your own application stays manageable, because it only covers what is special.
As a rule we build such applications on ElbDesk, the foundation we build on: sign-in, permissions, collaboration and documents are already there and do not have to be created from scratch for every project. If you have an ERP, it stays.
What to look out for with custom software
Custom software is only as good as the conditions it is built under. Clarify these before you start:
- Who owns the source code? You should receive it or be able to request it at any time.
- How is it documented? Without a description of the workflows and the technology, nobody else can take over development later.
- Who runs the software? Servers, backups, updates and monitoring need to be settled before the first employee uses it.
- How is it built? Step by step with a first usable version is better than one big package at the end of a long wait.
- Who is your contact? One person who knows your business is worth more than a ticket system.
Five questions for your decision
- Does every business in your sector handle this workflow the same way - or is it one reason customers come to you?
- How many workarounds and extra lists exist around your current software today?
- How often does the workflow change? What changes constantly needs software that keeps up.
- How many people use it every day? The more there are, the more a user interface that fits them pays off.
- In five years’ time, do you still want to depend on what a vendor plans for its product?
If you hesitate over the first two questions, it is worth taking a close look at the workflow before you choose any software. What comes out of that is described in our guide to high-level and detailed concepts.
