Ready-made or built for you? How to tell

A ready-made system is the quicker answer when your need is a standard one. Something built around your business is the better answer when the way you work is unusual. The questions below show which case is yours, including whether the software can be customised.

In short: Choose ready-made when your need is standard and you can work the way the software works. Choose built when your way of working is unusual, and ask who will look after it later.

When is ready-made quicker?

Ready-made is quicker when your need is a standard one. A system that already exists does not have to be built first, so you can start sooner.

Taking bookings is a common example, and a ready-made system can be quicker to start with there.

Check three things before you decide. Is the need standard? Can you work the way the software works? Is it clear who will help when something goes wrong?

We supply and support ready-made business software.

The Ready-made software page on this site says more about when it fits.

How much does software cost?

The cost is set by the job, so a fair price cannot be given before the job is understood. Three things shape it: how standard the need is, how much has to be built or changed, and how much looking after it needs later.

Some published guides from software firms say that ready-made software costs less to start, because its cost is shared across many customers. They say built software usually costs more at the start. They also say the ready-made kind can carry subscription or licence fees that keep coming.

These guides come from software firms that build custom software, so read them with that in mind.

One of those guides adds that the first price is a poor measure, and that costs over several years should be compared.

Ask what is included, and what happens to the price if the job changes.

What is custom software, and what are some examples?

Custom software is software made for one business, around the way that business already works. Business software of this kind follows your process, and you do not bend your process to fit it.

Examples of custom software in general include a customer login, bookings, and one place for your data so nobody types it twice.

How to stop retyping the same data in your business explains where double entry comes from and how to find it.

Can the software be customised?

Some published guides from software firms say that built software can be shaped fully around your process, while ready-made software allows only limited changes. Some give the reason that ready-made software is made for a wide range of users. The UK government's service manual, written for UK public services, adds that ready-made products may still need adjusting to the needs of the people who use them.

Before you choose, list what you need the software to do. Mark each item as common or unusual. Common items point to ready-made software. Unusual items point to built software.

Whether a particular product can be changed the way you need is a question for the company that sells it.

How much must you change to fit?

The more standard the software, the more you change to fit it. A step or a habit in your business may have to change to match it.

One published guide puts it this way: with ready-made software, the team adapts to the software, not the other way round.

A small change in habit may be fine. A change that slows your best work or confuses your customers is a sign that the software should be built around you.

Who looks after it later?

Someone must look after any software once it is in use, and you should agree who before you start.

Some published guides from software firms say that with ready-made software the supplier usually provides updates, while with built software the business or its developer carries the maintenance. One guide also warns that depending on a supplier leaves you exposed if the supplier raises prices or stops selling the product.

How do you decide?

Start with the problem, then ask three plain questions. The UK government's service manual, written for UK public services, says to understand the problem before committing to a technology.

Is your need a standard one? How much would you have to change to fit the software? Who will look after it later?

If the answers point both ways, you may not have to pick one. One published guide describes a mix, with ready-made software for common jobs and built software for the work that sets a business apart.

You do not need to choose a technology.

Tell us what you need.