Discover how hidden costs and change management issues can be avoided with tailored solutions that enhance user adoption.
Purchasing software is not like purchasing a home. Recently, a family member decided it was time to purchase a larger home to better accommodate their growing family. From the time they suddenly decided to sell to the time they moved into the new home, less than seven weeks passed. During that period, they chose a realtor, viewed several homes and selected one, showed their own home several times, worked through offers and counter offers and inspections on both homes, closed on both, packed, and moved. If building, it may have taken longer than seven weeks to identify a vacant lot. It certainly helped that both homes were move-in-ready. When purchasing software, however, there is no such thing as move-in-ready and that’s why clients often ask us to build software for them rather than purchasing it off-the-shelf – because even if the cost is not prohibitive, they cannot afford to lose the time and human capital it takes to implement a packaged solution.
I asked Microsoft Copilot “Why would a company choose to develop an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning software) from scratch rather than purchasing one off-the-shelf?” I asked because we have seen a significant increase in requests for custom solutions, ranging from small custom applications, to simple integrations and automations, to turnkey business functions, to complete ERP’s. Some of the reasons were clearly identified in Copilot’s response (See Figure 1). These are all reasons companies have asked us for custom developed solutions. Item number 5 touches on the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) which is a major consideration for some, but rarely do TCO formulas consider the time spent on Requests for Proposals (RFP), software selections, demos, coordinating vendor meetings for large groups of people, future product upgrades, etc. They typically focus on the cost of the software (including subscriptions and/or renewals), customization, data migration, training, and implementation.
A recent surge in custom development requests has originated from complications in customizing the packaged solutions. Many of our clients incurred additional time and expense on the front end of a large package implementation because of customizing the solution to align with their business processes. Months or years later they would discover the hidden costs of customizing the packages when it exasperated the efforts to install patches or upgrades to keep the package current. Faced with the dilemma of falling behind or making it someone’s full time job to do retrofits, some will transition away from the customizations (a.k.a. moving back to the base solution) and instead, opt to change their business processes. This often results in frustrated employees, change management blunders, and additional training costs on top of the hours lost initially customizing the package just to revert it back to the base product. Unfortunately, you may find that only 1 of 10 of the new features were even beneficial to you, so the only business value you received for the hours of planning, implementation, downtime, and support was simply “staying current.”
If you are reading this and have purchased off-the-shelf software before, you have likely encountered some of these pain points. Granted, in some industries packaged solutions are necessary because of regulatory compliance or standardization. Still, some clients come to us and say “Never again will I go through that. If you try to encourage me to purchase a solution instead of building it for me, I will go somewhere else.” Other clients find themselves satisfied with certain modules of their ERP such as purchasing or finance, but ask us to custom develop things like an inventory solution or production scheduling component because the ERP misses the mark in these particular areas. This hybrid approach can be effective, particularly if the ERP vendor doesn’t make you pay for the modules you don’t utilize. Can you imagine purchasing a home that has several more rooms than what you need because you like other parts of it, then sealing off the rooms you don’t need?
Consider this: a partner such as Keller Schroeder only needs to understand two things in helping you develop a custom solution: 1) a solid understanding of your business and the relevant processes, and 2) how to develop best of breed software. We consider it our responsibility and honor to spend time with you learning the intricacies that make your business unique. More often than not, your business is complex which is all the more reason to build software that aligns with it for the sake of simplification and gaining a competitive advantage. An added benefit is that involving the people who will use the software in the design of the software fosters a sense of pride leading to increased ownership and adoption of the solution. At the opposite end of the continuum is time invested in understanding solutions that someone created with another business in mind and the uncertainty of not knowing what you don’t know about a candidate package.
Perhaps my favorite thing about custom application development is that you can ease into it. As we become familiar with your business and processes, we seek to leverage what you already have where and while it makes sense. You can roll out custom solutions incrementally, a department at a time, or any other number of ways. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. This allows you to prioritize the features you need the most while controlling costs and simplifying the change management process. If a custom application seems like a novel idea, consider that our very first project for our very first client in 1978 was a custom developed solution. We have developed custom applications for hundreds of clients in the 46 years since.
As we become familiar with your business and processes, we seek to leverage what you already have where and while it makes sense.
Time. It’s one of the few treasures we can never get back once it’s gone. It is true that we can sometimes design, develop, and deploy a custom solution quicker than a company can select a package and negotiate a contract. I would also be the first to tell you if a particular package is a perfect fit to go for it. While it is possible, it is usually not the case. How would you rather spend your time? Listening to a vendor pitching their product and trying to insert yourself into their story? Or telling your story to a trusted partner so they craft a solution that is uniquely you?
Let’s talk about you – your objectives and your needs. Contact our Applications Solutions Group today to start the conversation on where custom applications can save you time.
Written By:
Rob Wilson
Principal Consultant, Greater Nashville Area
Applications Solutions Group
