Software built for the job no product does
Custom software development can cover what packaged products leave out: business applications, customer portals, APIs between systems, SaaS products and rebuilds of old software. Scope would start from your process, not a platform, and the code, the repository and the accounts are yours.
- Scope can include
- Business applications, portals, APIs and SaaS products
- Starting point
- Your process, or a written requirement
- Size of work
- A whole system, or one module of one
- You own
- The code, the repository and the accounts
- Not included
- Reselling or licensing packaged products
What it solves
The situations this is for
Your real rules live in spreadsheets
Packaged software covers the common case and stops at the exception. The exceptions end up in spreadsheets, email approvals and one person's memory. Staff retype the same record between systems, and that is where data errors start.
Old software nobody dares to change
An old application still runs part of the business. The people who wrote it have gone and its framework is out of support, so changes have stopped.
Paying for a product you work around
You pay license fees for software the team works around rather than works in. The license cost is visible on an invoice. The cost of the workarounds is not.
A product idea with nothing to buy
You have an idea and your own budget, and nothing on the market does what you have in mind. Once customers sign in, it needs more than screens: roles, separate data for each customer, onboarding and possibly subscription plans.
Scope
What the scope can include
Business applications and SaaS
- Internal management systems
- Approval and workflow apps
- Customer and partner portals
- SaaS products with separate data per customer
- Sign-up, onboarding, roles and subscription plans
Integration and data
- APIs for internal and third-party use
- Connections to systems you already run
- Moving data from old systems into new ones
- Scheduled or event-driven sync between systems
Legacy application modernization
- A read of what the current application actually does
- Rebuilding in parts rather than one switchover
- Desktop or on-premise tools moved into the browser
- Old and new versions running side by side
Scenarios
What this could look like
A quoting process run from a shared workbook
A scenario this covers: a team prices jobs in a spreadsheet and approves them over email. Scope could include an application with roles, an audit trail, and one current version of every quote.
A founder's subscription product
For example, a founder plans to sell a tool to other businesses by subscription. Scope could start with sign-up, roles and one working feature that real users can try. The code and the repository would sit in the founder's own accounts from the start.
A tool older than the platform it runs on
A scenario this covers: an internal system sits on a stack that no longer gets updates. The work would document what it does first, then rebuild it in pieces while the old version keeps running.
Method
How we would work
A starting point for the first conversation, not a fixed methodology.
- 01
Requirement first, stack second
We would spend the first conversation on your process and its exceptions, not on frameworks. The technology choice can then follow from what the software has to do and who maintains it afterward.
- 02
Build vs buy, answered early
Sometimes a product already covers the need, or a system you already license can be configured to do it. We would rather say that early than build around it.
- 03
One working piece first
Scope can be cut so a usable part reaches real users before the rest is designed. You would see the work running instead of waiting for one delivery at the end.
- 04
Handover built in from the start
Source control, documentation and deployment would sit in your own accounts, not ours. The aim is software that keeps running whether or not we stay involved.
Fit
Is this the right fit?
A good fit if
- Your process runs on spreadsheets and email because no product handles its exceptions.
- Your staff retype the same record between systems that should talk to each other.
- An old application still runs part of your business, and nobody dares change it.
- You have a product idea and your own budget, and you want to own the result.
Not the right fit
A mainstream product already covers it
For accounting, payroll, CRM, help desk or standard ERP, buying and configuring a product is the lighter thing to own. If the process lives in SAP, start at Enterprise Technology & SAP Solutions instead.
No owner once it is live
With no named owner and no budget for changes, a custom application ages badly. A subscription product with a vendor behind it is the safer choice, even if it fits your process less well.
The real problem is your team's backlog
If an in-house team is short of capacity rather than missing a system, building something new would not clear the backlog. If the answer is another hire, Staffing & Talent Solutions covers sourcing and screening for technology roles. Where the goal is one repetitive task, AI & Intelligent Automation is the smaller fix.
Questions
Questions about custom software
Should we build custom software or buy a product?
Buy, if a mainstream product covers the whole process; buying and configuring it is the lighter thing to own. Custom business software is worth considering where products stop at your exceptions, or where staff keep two systems in step by hand. We would say early if a product, or a system you already license, could do the job.
Do we own the code?
Yes. The code, the repository, any domain and the accounts the software runs on are yours. Source control, documentation and deployment would sit in your own accounts from the start, so the software can keep running whether or not we stay involved.
Can you modernize a legacy application without starting over?
It depends on the application, so the work would start with a read of what it actually does. From there, scope can include rebuilding it in parts rather than in one switchover, with old and new running side by side. Desktop or on-premise tools can move into the browser this way.
How do you estimate custom software development?
Scope comes first. We would start with the process and its exceptions, and any estimate would follow from the scope once it is written down. No prices or durations are published here, because the scope decides both.
Can you work with our existing team?
Yes, where there is a defined piece to build: scope can be one module of a larger system. The technology choice would weigh who maintains it afterward, and the code would sit in your accounts. If your developers have a backlog rather than a missing system, new software would not clear it. For another hire, Staffing & Talent Solutions covers sourcing and screening for technology roles.
Are you a custom software developer in Oklahoma City?
Traittek LLC is based in Edmond, Oklahoma, in the Oklahoma City metro area. Enquiries are answered by email, at info@traittek.com. A first message only needs the process and where it breaks down. A written requirement can come later.
Start with the process, not the platform
Describe the process, its exceptions and the systems around it; a written requirement is welcome but not needed.