Many companies are at some stage faced with the decision of whether to buy new software which is off the shelf or one that has been especially developed for their needs.
Whether it is an insurance company who wants to develop a annuity calculator or a sales company which needs a good customer service relationship package, it is always a hard decision whether to invest in getting software developed to make sure that it completely addresses your requirements.
The advantages of off-the-shelf software are tempting – it is usually much cheaper than bespoke software and support is much more readily available as there are so many companies already using the same packages.
It also means that you do not have to go through the often steep learning curve of using a brand new software for the first time and all the training and debugging that that requires. Updates and upgrades too, will be far cheaper as they will be developed with a mass audience in mind.
Bespoke software is often quite expensive as it is developed especially for you but it does mean that you can have almost anything you require which can be ideal if you have needs which are out of the ordinary. For niche businesses or large companies this can be an ideal solution to a software requirement.