Off-the-Shelf or Custom Software: What’s Best for Your Business?

Influential entrepreneur, Gary Vaynerchuk, preaches that cash is oxygen for business. You may have a big idea that can revolutionize an entire industry, but if you don’t have the cash to build a startup and put in the work, you won’t realize your vision and make an impact.

There are many rules of thumb that go around nowadays, but whatever industry you’re in, the idea of having both short-term and long-term goals is a constant.

For managing financial matters, this means having to decide whether to purchase a cheap off-the-shelf solution for your business software or investing in a more expensive albeit custom software that suits and grows with your business.

Off-the-shelf and custom software are the two main flavors when choosing a software, and each one has a different set of features that cater to different needs and specifications.

If you’re just a small team looking for something to get your feet wet, then the off-the-shelf software is the way to go. But if you want a solution that serves you in the long run, the flexibility and scalability of bespoke or custom software is your best bet.

This infographic shows the pros and cons of off-the-shelf and custom software, and gives a rough guide on how entrepreneurs and C-level managers can determine which one can help them achieve their goals more effectively. It will touch aspects such as scalability, functionality, support quality, etc. to provide a better contrast on the difference between the two.


Previous
Next Post »