The answers, before the sales call.
What software costs, who ends up owning it, when to buy instead of build, and how to get a process out of a spreadsheet without stopping work. Written to be genuinely useful on their own, including to the people who decide not to call us.
Five things worth knowing before you commission software.
Most of what goes wrong with a software project is decided before anyone writes code, in conversations like these.
What bespoke software actually costs, and what drives the price
Nobody publishes a price list for bespoke software, because the price is a function of what you ask for. Here’s what actually moves it, and how to work out your own payback before you talk to anyone.
Read the guide
Off-the-shelf or bespoke? A straight test for SMEs
Most businesses need both, and the skill is knowing which job goes in which bucket. A test you can apply to any process in about five minutes.
Read the guide
Moving a business process off spreadsheets without stopping work
The spreadsheet got you here, and it will fight you on the way out. The failure modes worth knowing, and the order of operations that avoids a big-bang cutover.
Read the guide
Who owns bespoke software when someone builds it for you?
The answer surprises people: paying for software does not automatically mean owning it. What the default position is in England and Wales, and the five things to settle in writing first.
Read the guide
EN 10204: what 2.1, 2.2, 3.1 and 3.2 actually mean
Everyone in the steel trade says “3.1 cert”. Far fewer can say what makes a document a 3.1 rather than a 2.2, or what breaks traceability once material is cut.
Read the guide
Or read how one of these turned into a product.
MetlSys began as the answer to one trade’s paperwork problem: what it took to build, and the four decisions the whole system rests on.
Got a process that hurts?
Book a free process review. Thirty minutes, one process, and an honest answer on whether software would pay for itself.