When Off-the-Shelf Software Only Does 80% of What You Need

If packaged software covers most of what you do and the gap is minor, keep it and configure it. If the missing part is the part that sets your business apart, you have two better options: build a custom application that handles that part and connects to the package, or replace the package with software built around your process. Which one is right depends on how central the gap is.

Signs this is your problem

• Staff keep side spreadsheets to do what the system cannot.
• You have changed a good process to suit the software.
• The vendor’s answer to every request is a costly add-on or “next version”.
• The same data is typed into the package and into something else.
• You pay for modules nobody uses.
• Reports never show the numbers you actually manage by.

Why the last 20% matters so much

Packaged software is built for the average company in your industry. That is its strength and its limit. The 80% it handles well is the part every one of your competitors does the same way. The 20% it cannot handle is usually the reason customers choose you.

So the business bends. Staff keep spreadsheets on the side. People are hired to manage the workarounds. Good ideas are dropped because “the system can’t do that”. The software your competitors also bought is quietly making you more like them.

Your three options

Configure or customize the package. Sensible for small gaps. Be careful with heavy customization: it can be costly, and vendor upgrades may break it.

Keep the package and build around it. A custom application handles the part that is unique to you and exchanges data with the package. You keep what works and stop fighting what does not. This is often the best value.

Replace it with custom software. Right when the package is fighting you everywhere, or when the process it manages is the heart of the business. The software then fits you exactly, and changes when you do.

We will tell you which one we would choose in your position, including when the answer is to stay put.

What custom software gives you that a package cannot

• It works the way your people work, in their terms.
• It changes when your business changes, on your timetable and not a vendor’s.
• It connects to the other systems you use, so data is entered once.
• It does not show your staff hundreds of features they will never use.
• It captures how your business runs, which makes the company easier to run and easier to sell.

How Keene Systems handles it

1. We map your process and where the package falls short. A business analysis shows the real size of the gap.
2. We give you a recommendation. Configure, extend or replace, with the reasoning.
3. We build the missing piece or the replacement. In short cycles, connected to the systems you are keeping.
4. We bring the data across and support what we build. For as long as you use it.

The next step is a short, no-pressure conversation. Book a call with Lance Keene or use the form on this page.