Software built around your process, when no product fits

Custom software versus configured software

Custom software is written for one operation and shaped by its actual constraints. Configured software is a general product adapted through settings, fields and integrations until it approximates the same thing.

Configuration is faster and cheaper right up to the point where the product cannot express what the operation does. Past that point every further step is a workaround, and the accumulated workarounds become harder to maintain than the custom system would have been. The skill is recognising that point before crossing it, not after.

What drives the cost

Cost in custom software is driven by integrations, data migration and edge cases — almost never by the number of screens. A four-screen system that reconciles three legacy databases costs more than a forty-screen system that owns its own data.

The second driver is decision latency on the client side. Development time is cheap compared to a team waiting two weeks for an answer about how a business rule should behave, and that wait is the single most common source of overrun.

The third is scope that was never written down. That is what the Cycle Plan is for: signed in week 1 of a Verttical cycle, it turns assumptions into a list somebody signed, with acceptance criteria and exclusions.

How delivery runs

Incremental, with something in production early. A system that only appears at the end is a system nobody validated.

1. 01

   Diagnostic

   A 60-minute session at no cost with the process owner, and a written Process Cost Sheet within 3 business days: what the process costs today, in hours and dollars, and whether building, integrating a product, or leaving it alone is the right call. If a cycle follows, week 1 produces the Cycle Plan you sign.

2. 02

   First slice in production

   The narrowest end-to-end path that produces real value, in production with real users 8 weeks after kickoff. The process cost is measured with your data in week 2 and again 30 days after go-live.

3. 03

   Widen

   More of the process, more edge cases, more integrations — each increment shipped rather than staged for a release date.

4. 04

   Hand over or continue

   Handover is ready every week: the system deploys from scratch by following its README, and the documentation stays current. After delivery, what comes next is your call: another cycle, a handover to your team, or the 90-day correction warranty alone.

Questions we get asked

When is custom software worth it compared to off-the-shelf?

When the process is a competitive advantage, when no product covers about 80% of it without heavy customisation, when the process changes continuously, when it has to touch several internal systems, or when being stranded by a vendor’s roadmap would be serious. Fewer than three of those and buying usually wins.

What drives the cost of a custom software project?

Integrations, data migration and edge cases — rarely the number of screens. After that, the biggest driver is how long the client side takes to answer questions about business rules, because development waiting on a decision is the most common source of overrun.

How long does a custom software project take?

In a Verttical cycle, what the week-1 plan marks as must-have is in production 8 weeks after kickoff, which follows a week 0 of setup that is off the clock; the process cost is measured in week 2 and again 30 days after go-live. Larger systems are split into successive 8-week cycles, each with its own delivery to production.

What is the difference between custom software and a bespoke product?

None in practice; bespoke is the more common term in the UK and custom in the US. Both mean software written for one organisation rather than sold to many.

Can you work with systems we already have?

Yes, and it is the normal case. Most engagements are as much integration as new construction, because the operation already runs on something and replacing all of it at once is rarely the right risk to take.

What do we get out of the diagnostic if we do not continue?

The Process Cost Sheet, at no cost: what the process costs today in hours and dollars, where each figure comes from, and a recommendation to build, integrate an existing tool, or leave it alone. If you start a cycle and stop at the end of week 1, you also keep the signed Cycle Plan and pay only the upfront milestone.

Start with a 60-minute diagnostic

Tell us what your operation does that no product handles well. We reply within one business day.

Related services

• AI implementation

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• Business process automation

  We measure what a process costs to run before automating it, and say so when the answer is to leave it alone.