Is it better to buy off-the-shelf or develop bespoke software?

At some point, every company faces the dilemma of whether to buy or develop custom software.

The answer varies depending on the stage of business the company is in and the budget available for investment.

Companies will always need technology, whether to create something new or improve what already exists: services, internal processes, etc. At this point, the key question is whether they should develop bespoke software or buy one already on the market?

We at Polax want to give you some guidelines to make answering this question easier.

Should you buy or develop software? Let’s find out!

There are several things to keep in mind. Making this decision that can fundamentally alter your company requires that you clarify it with your team and rely on good technological support in the beginning.

Does the software you require relate to the direct core of your business, or does it have other duties that complement yours? Our goal here is to make sure that you determine if your business relies on the software.

For example, if your company is a SaaS and your income comes from it, it would be best to have a bespoke software developed. But if all you need in this case is to improve your accounting system for a local business, you can use an off-the-shelf solution.

To know well what is convenient for your business is the most important thing.

Considering your budget in time and money is essential. Buying an off-the-shelf solution can be cheaper and quicker, but remember that it is very essential to think long-term.

Some companies require you to pay licence fees for periods of use, have limitations in terms of how many machines can run the software, changes in the platform are restricted, or, perhaps, they are made without asking you, and that you always depend on a third party for source code.

Bespoke software development can be more expensive and take longer, but if you choose a good company to assist you in this process, you can find many more advantages: you own the system and can modify it, you pay for the development just once, there are no additional licence costs, and you can add technology later on.

Whenever you decide to develop your own software, you must keep in mind that it must be analysed, requirements must be submitted, tests must be conducted, etc.

We must be very careful in this regard to ensure that the solution really meets our needs.

What we believe

If your company’s main activity requires software to function well, Polax recommends that you develop one that fits your needs.

We know sometimes people are scared when faced with these types of situations, especially when they are not sure if they should buy software or develop it themselves, and that is when they make the first mistake: making decisions based on price and price alone.

It is vital to understand the fact that all companies are different. It is precisely their difference that defines their added value and the reason why they are different from their competition.

Generic software solutions remove the uniqueness of each business, so it is necessary to adapt the business to the software and not the other way around.

It is better to make a good initial investment and have good lasting results over time than to carry constant expenses that are not very scalable and not very beneficial to business growth.