An off-the-shelf system — a CRM, a task tracker, a portal, a warehouse program — almost always looks cheaper. The subscription is clear, the launch is fast and nothing has to be developed. Sometimes that is true. And sometimes, a year later, the company pays more for licences, customisations and workarounds than its own system would have cost.
Below is how to tell which case is yours.
When an off-the-shelf system is enough
A boxed product is a good choice if:
- the processes are standard. Sales, tasks and document flow work the same way as in hundreds of other companies, and the box already handles them;
- you need a fast start. The system is needed in two weeks, not in six months;
- the process has not settled yet. The company is still finding its way of working, and it is too early to commission development for a process that has not taken shape;
- there are few users, and the licences are cheap;
- the process does not set you apart from competitors. Accounting, HR records, email — uniqueness is rarely needed there.
In these cases, custom development means money and months spent on something that already exists. It is more honest to plug in a ready-made product and put the budget into what truly makes the company different.
When the box becomes more expensive
The trouble does not start on the day of purchase but later. Typical signs that a ready-made system costs more than it seems:
The process is bent to fit the system. Employees take extra steps because “the system can’t do that”. Every extra step is minutes multiplied by the number of people and working days.
Spreadsheets grow around the system. Part of the data lives in the box and part in spreadsheets next to it, because a field or a report is missing. Reconciling them by hand becomes someone’s permanent job.
Customisations cost as much as a new system. A box can be configured and extended, but every platform has a limit. Beyond it, each change gets more expensive, and every platform update means checking and fixing those changes again.
Licences grow with the company. A per-user subscription looks modest for ten people. For several hundred employees over several years it becomes a serious amount that never turns into an asset: stop paying, and the system stops working.
The data has to stay with you. Some companies cannot keep employee or customer data in someone else’s cloud. Not every box can be installed on your own servers, and the ones that can are often priced differently.
Deep links with other systems are needed. If the system has to exchange data with accounting, the warehouse, the website and a mobile app, the limits of the box’s API quickly become the limits of your business.
How to compare fairly
Do not compare the subscription price with the development price. Compare the total cost of ownership over several years. For an off-the-shelf system it is made of:
- licences for all users over the chosen period, including headcount growth;
- implementation and configuration;
- customisations and keeping them working through platform updates;
- employees’ time spent on workarounds and manual reconciliation.
For custom software:
- development of the first version;
- infrastructure — servers or cloud;
- support and development after launch.
A custom corporate system or CRM starts at RUB 6.8 million and takes 5–7 months. If the three- to four-year cost of owning a customised box is comparable, your own system usually wins: it follows your process exactly, belongs to you and does not get more expensive with every new hire.
The most underestimated line is people’s time. Five extra minutes a day per employee seems trivial. For a hundred employees over a year it adds up to thousands of hours.
The mixed option
The choice does not have to be binary. Often the most sensible path is to:
- keep the box for standard tasks — accounting, email, HR records;
- build your own for what sets the company apart — the key process, the customer service, the internal portal;
- connect them over an API, so data does not have to be moved by hand.
That way the company does not overpay for building what already exists and does not bend its main process to someone else’s logic.
Questions to answer before deciding
Before choosing, it helps to answer a few questions honestly:
- Does this process give us an edge over competitors, or is it the same as everyone else’s?
- How many employees will use the system in two or three years?
- How much time do people already spend on workarounds in the current system?
- Which systems must the new solution know about and exchange data with?
- Where must the data be stored?
- What happens if the vendor raises prices or changes the terms?
If the answer to the first question is “the same as everyone’s” and to the last one “we’ll survive”, the box is most likely enough.
What next
If the answers lean towards your own system, you do not have to build all of it at once. A first version with the key scenario ships in 2–3 months, and features are then added in two-week iterations. During the transition, the new system can run alongside the box and take over processes one at a time.
More about how we build corporate systems and CRMs is on the custom software development page. In a consultation we will help you compare the options for your task — including when it turns out that a ready-made product suits you better.
A boxed product and your own system are not rivals but tools for different jobs. The only question is which process you are willing to hand to a standard solution, and which you are not.
