Question
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What is Custom Software?
Short answer
Custom software is developed for a specific company and its processes, rather than being sold as a finished product to many. It reflects processes as they actually occur – the company is responsible for development, operation, and further development, which are included in the license price of standard software.
The Difference in One Sentence
Standard software is a product used by many companies, to which each adapts to some extent. Custom software is a solution that adapts to a company.
What is Different
| Standard Software | Custom Software | |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | immediate | after development |
| Fit to Process | approximate | exact |
| Initial Costs | low | high |
| Costs Over Years | license per person, ongoing | operation and maintenance |
| Changes | only what the manufacturer provides | fundamentally anything |
| Dependency | on the manufacturer | on the service provider or own team |
What "Custom" Does Not Mean
It does not mean that everything is built from scratch. A sensible project uses proven components – rights management, registration, reporting, PDF generation – and develops individually only what is truly unique: the business logic.
Reinventing registration and user management wastes budget on an area where it makes no difference.
Typical Reasons
- A central process can only be represented in standard with detours
- Several systems need to work together, which do not do so on their own
- Excel spreadsheets have become critical for business applications
- License costs increase with the number of employees, even though most only need a few functions
Key facts
- Core
- Software adapts to the company, not vice versa
- Most Important Rule
- Only build the unique business logic