Free Bespoke vs Off-the-shelf Software Price Comparison Tool
The Software-Matters Software Comparison Tool
When thinking about buying software for your business, it can be difficult to decide whether to buy a package off-the-shelf, or have a system specially designed for your requirements. Our software comparison tool looks at the pros and cons of both approaches. The software price comparison tool is designed to help you to compare the possible costs involved in the two routes, to help you to decide which approach might suit you best.
Here are some explanatory notes and things to think about when using the tool:
What system do I need?
Most systems will be medium complexity. We have implemented many medium size systems for a wide range of companies. If your system requires very little reporting, and only a small number of different functions, then it may well be simple. Complex systems are those requiring very many different reports or functions. We normally try to start by implementing simple or medium systems, as we find that it is difficult to specify systems correctly once they become too complex.
What happens if you want the system to evolve as you grow?
Often, once you have purchased some software and used it for a few months you realise that there are further areas of your business where software could be helping. If you have bought a bespoke system, from a company like Software-Matters, you will probably find that your system can be upgraded to include extra functionality. If you have bought an off-the-shelf package, you are likely to need to buy new or extra software.
For our software comparison tool we have assumed that for an off-the-shelf package, upgrading the system will mean starting again, and that the cost will be the same as the cost of the original package. We have further assumed that the training cost for the off-the-shelf system will be 50% of the original training costs. For the bespoke system, we have assumed that upgrades to the system will cost 50% of the original price, and that the training cost will be 50% of its original amount.
How have you calculated training costs?
Our experience shows that bespoke systems require less training, as they are designed, where possible, with your current way of working in mind. With this in mind, for the comparison tool we have assumed that the off-the shelf system will require 4 hours of training per user, and that bespoke systems will require 1, 2 or 3 hours of training depending on the complexity of the system. We cost this in using the hourly rate you supply under “Cost/loss of revenue of staff downtime (for training)”. In our free software comparison tool we have also included the price that the software supplier will charge for the training. For a bespoke package, we assume that this will be a quarter of the price of the off-the-shelf training charge.
How have you calculated set-up costs?
We assume that for the bespoke system, there are no further set-up costs, since the system has been designed to your exact requirements. For the off-the-shelf system, we assume that the set-up costs are related to the cost of a user licence, and have initially assumed that the cost is 0.5 times that of a user licence. You can change this factor if required.
How have you calculated support costs?
For the off-the-shelf system, we have assumed that there is a support fee per user per year. This is initially set to £200 per year, but can be changed if required. For the bespoke system, we have assumed that you would require 3, 5 or 7 hours support per year, depending on the complexity of the system. We have charged this support at £64 per hour (this hourly fee can be changed if required).
Click here for examples of how software can pay for itself.
