Affordable Innovation: Reducing the Cost of Custom Solutions

Affordable Innovation
Reducing the Cost of Custom Solutions
February 2009
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CONTENTS Introduction.............................................................................................. 1
Application Life-Cycle Management ..................................................... 2
Rich Development Platform ................................................................... 4
Designer-Developer Collaboration ........................................................ 6
Conclusion ............................................................................................... 8
INTRODUCTION The essence of business strategy is about being different, and most organizations pursue strategies to differentiate themselves from competitors. A firm might offer different products or services, or it may offer the same products or services at lower costs or with increased customer convenience. Regardless of a firm's specific strategy, it's likely designed to differentiate that company from its competitors by providing unique customer value.
In most organizations, where IT is a key business enabler, custom technology solutions are essential in achieving this business differentiation. Apart from whether the purpose of a solution is to drive sales, streamline processes, consolidate applications, or enhance decision making, achieving strategic differentiation is virtually impossible when using packaged software.
Given the need for custom solutions, organizations must look at them as financial investments, with a goal of both minimizing the cost of those investments and maximizing their return. In doing so, organizations should ask themselves questions such as: What will the investment cost, and can we afford it? Can we build what the business needs, and how long will it take? How can we monitor progress and quality during development, to avoid any nasty surprises or budget overruns? And after the solution is delivered, what will it take to maintain and support it?
Today's economic climate presents another challenge to pursuing this strategy of differentiation. Investing in innovation during an economic downturn may seem counterintuitive at first, but it can help companies pull ahead of the com-petition by displaying a show of strength in a climate of weakness. Achieving buy-in for such investments across an organization may even be easier be... [download for more]