Entrepreneurs have two ways to launch their own websites: the first one is to start using out-of-the-box software, while the second one is to create a web resource from scratch. There are several types of ready-made solutions, so we would like to help you choose the best option that would be cost-effective, functional, and flexible. For instance, the functionality of custom mobile app development services might depend on the type of solution you choose due to time and budget prerogatives. The article aims to discuss the differences and the use cases of ready-made solutions or custom-built applications.
Build vs Buy Software: 5 Considering Factors
When you aim to integrate an application or website into your business project, you have to consider the following five factors of build vs buy software essence.
1. Cost
The built solution considers the costs of hiring and relocating personnel for project management, design, and infrastructure development. This type of application will require additional payment for the maintenance and updates; however, it may save costs if it gains a durable competitive advantage.
The buy software circulates over the subscription fees or one-time cost of the license. This type of application may propose limited customization, which will later require significant financial input.
2. Complexity & Scalability
The built application shows a high level of customization, which makes the involved features align with the unique project needs. Although this app type is scalable, the developers have to present a decent level of planning and expertise for the platform to handle the growing number of users.
The bought application usually offers an integrated scalability, which might not suit your business needs perfectly. The roadmap will play a key role in integrating the new features.
3. Time Frames
The built solution is flexible in time frames but may take months and years, especially if the application development is based on constant requirement alterations. Overall, the crafted application is ambiguous in time, as, on the one hand, tech challenges might lead to product delays. On the other hand, the built solution enables the implementation of the iterative development cycles, providing the client with a ready part of a product by the end of the sprint.
The bought solution requires minimal time for implementation, especially when it comes to performing standard operations. The reason is its quick deployment. On the other hand, the software bought may be time-consuming when the project requires extensive customization.
4. Possibilities of the Team
The built application relies on extremely experienced specialists, as their tech expertise will determine the sequence of product logic and its further outcomes. The client can either focus on long-term investment in the in-house team or consider a dedicated team model of outsourcing that covers a well-rounded team, including developers, UX/UI designers, QA, etc.
The bought solution is less dependent on the highly specialized and diverse team and usually requires less number of professionals for training. However, if you buy ready-made software, you have to keep in mind that your dependency on the vendor’s support and maintenance will rise.
5. Security Elements
The build platform requires a decent level of compliance with security standards like HIPPA and GDPR. If the team lacks security expertise, the app might be vulnerable to security fallacies and cyber attacks, which is the limitation of the build solution.
The vendors provide the business representatives with compliance certificates as they have a shared responsibility for maintaining data security and breach prevention.
Buy Consideration
Out-of-the-box software is also called commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) development. It is a set of different programs that include basic functionality that is suitable for the general public.
There are a few types of ready-made developments:
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Saas (software-as-a-service). A good example is marketplaces, which offer you a ready-made website on its hosting and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. Saas option is used mainly by online stores: all you need to do is just fill the site with content and choose a visual look. It is easy to move elements using the drag-and-drop method.
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Open-source CMS solutions are a piece of software, which you can download to your PC and then install on any hosting. These out-of-the-box solutions are the heart of web resources and often have big communities, which develop templates, widgets, plugins and assist in solving some problems. The open-source developments are designed to help users create and edit their web resources.
Pros & Cons of Off-the-Shelf Solutions:
Now, it’s time to discuss the benefits and pitfalls of the ready-made software solutions.
Pros:
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Alleviated Usability. Quick installation and easy use (ready-to-go concept). No technical experience is required.
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Credibility. Proven solutions that are compliant with regulatory standards.
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Software Maintenance & Updates. Regular updates and availability of support (high dependence on the chosen system).
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Functionality. It covers the majority of the required functions for efficient business operations.
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Scalability. Opportunity to scale your system in no time.
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Cost-Effectiveness. Democratic price (always lower than developing from scratch).
Cons:
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Limited Customization. Although the out-of-the-box software performs the required functions, the possibilities of software customization are limited.
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The Risk of Price Rise. This occurs if your service provider is a monopolist.
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High Dependency. Dependence on your provider in terms of getting updates and solving problems. Some of the features you need may be released with a delay.
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Insufficient Functionality (sometimes). You have to hire specialists if you need to integrate new features to expand the project.
Out-Of-The-Box: Use Cases
When thinking about integrating buy vs build software to your business needs, you should consider the following cases when it is appropriate to consider the first option. Based on the discussed five factors above, the ready-made option should be used:
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When the final user is internal.
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When your business is well understood and examined.
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When you don’t expect much user growth.
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When the time is crucial.
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When your team doesn’t include developers.
Build Consideration
Above, we have already mentioned the concept of developing from scratch, which means the creation of your own unique solution, custom software. This approach is preferable for huge projects due to their high requirements and customized structure.
High-customized software is able to boost the operation process in your business, but the game is worth the candle only if specialists are truly responsible for the product. Otherwise, you’ll lose your money and time, and the system developed will require a total modification.
Pros:
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Profitability. Custom digital solutions can enhance revenue based on high customization, making project alterations fit different markets. Additionally, the ownership of the built program gives you intellectual property rights, which enables you to sell it after licensing.
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Enhanced Productivity. Boosted sales are a key to gaining market share. Rest assured that the custom software will pay off soon if, of course, the number of your sales is enough.
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Customization. Implementing different ideas is easier because your hands are untied. So, custom solutions are always about unique features and design.
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Higher Competitiveness. Convenient software created for external users enhances your competitiveness by improving interaction with you and highlighting your service among other market players.
Cons:
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Costs. Not every company can afford significant expenses in a short period of time. Moreover, in case of poor planning, there is a risk that the digital product won’t pay off. That’s why the discovery stage is so important (slightly higher investments save decent money).
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Time-Consuming Development. Planning and developing requires some time. Furthermore, it may be a challenge to find a professional development team with relevant experience.
Tailored Digital Solutions: Use Cases
After the discussion of the overall differences between ready-made or custom software, their benefits and drawbacks, here are the cases when the crafted option should be applied.
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The final user is external (a good attempt to enhance competitiveness).
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Your business niche is new; it is poorly studied, and, as a result, the market isn’t able to offer a suitable ready-made option.
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Your audience is going to increase significantly.
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Your company has developers, so outsourcing cooperation isn’t a problem.
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The project isn’t time-sensitive.
Thus, out-of-the-box software benefits are evident as well as digital products from scratch. The choice highly depends on the budget.
Buy or Build Software: How to Make a Choice
Indisputably, when you have to choose whether to buy or build software, the decision should be made based on the business needs, covering the aspects of market competitiveness, emphasis on the project requirements, and analysis of the needs to involve the expert team of developers. But let’s discuss in detail how to make the right option exclusively for your case.
The Specificity of Business Needs
When thinking about selecting a bought or built solution, you have to take into account your business needs, overall project complexity, and whether the selected option can fully cover the extent of your operations.
For instance, the logistics organization aims to implement a management system that will fully comply with its business strategy, showing a decent level of custom solutions. Then, the tailored option should be a priority, as it will craft unique features like route optimization to fulfill the business needs.
On the other hand, if the needs of the business projects focus on supporting the basic workflow of operations, or need a temporary business solution, the ready-made option should be a priority. You can define and validate the needs during the project discovery stage and select from ready-made or built solutions.
Integration Requirements
The next element you should consider is integration specificity for the potential application you’re going to buy or build. Let’s take a social media application as an example. If you need a basic social media platform with a minimal integration characteristics, just to support the major functions of sending messages, supporting communication, posting images or videos, you might consider a ready-made solution.
However, if you aim at diversifying your application by integrating multiple features, like the support of cryptocurrency or congratulating people with digital gift certificates, you might take into account creating a social network site from scratch.
The Development Costs
The next factor you should consider when selecting ready-made or built software is the overall development costs. Let’s analyze the options available for a business representative to build peer-to-peer marketplace website. The costs for crafting a P2P marketplace site from scratch require hiring an extensive team of specialized professionals, including developers, QA, UX/UI designers, etc. Nevertheless, this option provides you with high level of optimization for your brand identity.
On the other hand, the ready-made options are cost-efficient, as it does not have to rely on an extensive team of developers. The only moments to consider are the minimized customization and support of the basic functions. So, if you want your project to align fully with your brand strategy and be highly customizable, you should be ready to pay more. However, if you need a basic P2P marketplace, you can choose a ready-made option because of its cost-effectiveness.
Time Considerations
Another element you should consider is the time for product development. If you need to launch the app due to business urgency, then the ready-made option should be selected. These applications are relatively fast to install and do not require extreme tech expertise to learn how to use them.
By contrast, if you are interested in the long-term run, with continuous requirement alterations, you might take into account building the application from scratch as this option will give you the freedom of customization to align your product with your brand identity and respond to the market needs.
Hence, based on the aforementioned factors, you can determine what type of digital solution you need to fully cover your business needs.
Custom Software Development with Agilie
When you make a thoughtful decision to get a crafted digital solution or optimize the ready-made software, you might be interested in economizing resources for the from-scratch or optimized development. Why not consider outsourcing as a decent option to get a digital solution of the highest quality and preserve the financial means?
Explore outsourcing options in fintech.
Agilie is a European outsourcing organization that for over 14+ years specialized in developing from scratch software and optimizing ready-made products. With our client-centric approach, we build fintech-relevant apps, payment solutions, mobile banking programs, and blockchain systems that benefit fintech, real estate, healthcare, and logistics industries.
We’d like to present one of our cases of crafting digital products from scratch.
Chameleon Pay
Chameleon Pay is a multi-digital crypto wallet application, which Agilie developed from scratch. The software aims to provide its users with the ability to store, exchange, and operate multiple crypto assets in a safe and credible digital environment.
One of our core challenges was to ensure the security of clients’ data. Users can preserve their private keys on the device. To guarantee safety, our developers implemented encryption through the Advanced Encryption Standard technology. The decryption could occur only for significant operations, like signing a transaction that required a password. We applied the sha256 algorithm to verify the password's correctness. For more information, you can read the Chameleon Pay success story linked above.
Conclusion
The article discussed the differences between the buy off-the-shelf software or create custom applications. When thinking about the presented product opportunities, you have to take into account the overall emphasis on your business requirement alterations, time, overall implementation cost, etc., before making a final decision. Feel interested? Let’s cooperate!
Feel free to contact us if you have decided to surprise your customers with a user-friendly solution created from scratch.
