And how to avoid them...
Bespoke software only makes sense if:
- Your problem is truly unique
- It's a source of serious competitive advantage
- What you need doesn't exist in the marketplace
- You can wait for it to be developed
- You are prepared to invest in it year after year to advance its functionality
- You are happy to live in your own echo chamber
For example, when considering how to include map-based representations of information in our iNet solution:
| Your problem is truly unique | No. Lots of people want to represent information on a map |
| It's a source of serious competitive advantage | Yes, possibly |
| What you need doesn't exist in the marketplace | No, it exists |
| You can wait for it to be developed | No, we want to get our solution to market as quickly as possible |
| You are prepared to invest in it year after year to advance its functionality | Yes, we would be |
| You are happy to live in your own echo chamber |
No, we like to draw ideas from clients, comparators, and even competitors to make the best solution we can |
And so we selected IQGeo's geospatial software for utility industries.
The tables are already stacked against DIY software development in the water industry:
- Problems are shared globally and they are pressing
- The industry is a natural monopoly so there is no competitive advantage available, and no single company has a monopoly on good ideas
- Innovation levels amongst suppliers are reasonably high
- Money is tight
So we commend this checklist to our clients when making decisions about visualisation, analytics, control and event management software. Ignoring it is likely to result in:
- A much slower path to a solution that provides effective support to your business
- Much higher costs now and into the future
- A functionality defecit to widely available solutions which grows over time