I recently read an article that argues that you should purchase a software solution that gives you most (not all) of what you need and then use add-on software programs to get the rest of the features that your business specifically needs. In other words, you should purchase software A because it fulfills 80% of what you need, and then return to the software hunt for software B, C, D, and E which give you the rest of the features that you really need (and a bunch of features that you don’t).
The article compares this type of purchase with buying a car. Stating that a car has one basic function (getting you from point A to point B) and then you can add additional features that you might want (air conditioning, seatbelts, rear-view camera, etc.). Their argument is that you will be purchasing the car for its nuts and bolts because it fulfills that basic need and that alone is a sufficient enough reason. However, now that you have the car you can add air conditioning, rear-view camera, and all of the other features separately to customize the car to your specifications.
As I was reading, I couldn’t help but think that this is such a preposterous (and outdated) way of looking at software. Why would I buy something that only does part of what I want? Could you imagine buying a car that did not have seatbelts and having to buy them separately? No? Me either. Although seatbelts are not the main feature of a car, they are an important safety feature.
However, a feature like air conditioning is only considered essential for some people and unnecessary for others. For example, someone living in Alaska might not need AC in their car, but for me, living in Florida I would die in the heat without it. However, that same person in Alaska would want heated seats, which I would consider unnecessary. (Although they came standard in the last car I purchased). Why would we be purchasing the same car when it doesn’t fully fit the needs of either of us.
Now I hear you saying, “who cares about extra features, just don’t use them?” And I agree with you to a point. In the car scenario you are right. I never turn the heated seats on, and I never turn my AC off, not a huge inconvenience and definitely something I can live with. But software is a different thing. Especially when the number of unnecessary features becomes overwhelming, or they interfere with the features you really want to use. There is software where you can’t even use the feature you want without using the features you don’t, or you can’t easily access the features you want because of all the extra clutter. Further adding to this difficulty, is that you have to add additional software to the original solution. If each added software has five unnecessary features and you need five additional software, you now have twenty-five features that are not being used.
Taking this analogy further, have you ever bought a car with every feature that you wanted? In most cases the answer is no. There is always some compromise somewhere. Maybe it is not the right color, maybe it doesn’t have automatic headlights, or maybe it’s not as fuel efficient as you would like. Somewhere along the sales journey you have made a compromise on your purchase and got 90% or less of what you originally wanted.
I can’t help the car industry, but when it comes to technology, we as consumers and developers need to stop compromising and demand software that gives us everything we want. Stop settling for software that only does part of the job, or that has so many useless features that it becomes cumbersome and impossible to use. In the long run you are creating more of a headache and nuisance for yourself and your employees.
Instead, we need to demand all of what we want by utilizing custom software solutions. Businesses need software that is going to separate them from the competition by engaging their customers, empowering their employees, and most of all making their lives easier and more productive. The only way to fully achieve this is through software that is built specifically for that business. Software that is straightforward and efficient.
This includes small and medium size businesses who have limited resources to begin with. Imagine spending a hefty amount on software thinking that it will make your small business more efficient and prosperous, then you find out that it doesn’t do everything that you need it to. And the only remedy is to spend more of your hard earned money on additional software that will supplement the one you have already purchased. At what point do you compromise and settle for software that is incomplete? When do you step up and demand software that is built for your business needs?
Technology trends, including the increasing availability of low-code software, APIs and Web Services have given businesses of all sizes the ability to re-evaluate their software solutions and to fight for software that does 100% of what they need 100% of the time. This is the new trend, we as business owners need to focus on. We need to stop settling and fight for what we need.
If you are struggling to find software that gives you what you really want, then you need to reach out to a software consultant and start a discussion about your needs. Software developers live for the challenge of developing software that truly solves a customer’s problem. Customized software is the future and businesses need to grab a hold of these solutions and revolutionize the way we all do business. Reach for something more by partnering with experts that can deliver the software that you really need.
