Tired of begging for a spot on your software provider's roadmap?
Team Resilience
OutSystems
Basics
You have a brilliant idea. Something that can give you an edge over the competition. But then the frustration begins. To implement your idea, you need to adjust your software. And you are working with a mix of interlinked standard packages. That will be a difficult story…
The trap of off-the-shelf software
For many organizations, off-the-shelf software feels like a great choice. The costs are clear and manageable. The software has proven itself, and someone else keeps it running.
But standard software packages also come with many disadvantages.
You are pushed into the average
If you work with standard software, you also work with standard processes. You are forced to work like everyone else. In other words: you automatically become a follower instead of a front-runner. The opportunity to leave your competitors behind by doing things differently and better is significantly limited. A waste, especially if you are originally an unconventional organization.
Your priorities are not leading
When you purchase off-the-shelf software, the priorities of the suppliers are leading, not yours.
We work a lot for trading companies, and we see that this is even more painful there. Because a trading company is one continuous chain. Purchasing, storage, sales, and transport… they are all interconnected. So if you change something in one, something often has to change in the other as well.
If you work with 4 different software packages, you also have to convince 4 suppliers to customize their software for you. And preferably as quickly as possible.
The chances of them all cooperating and sticking to your timeline? Quite slim.
And there you are. Held hostage by other companies' priorities.
They don't talk to each other automatically
Another disadvantage? Off-the-shelf packages do not talk to each other automatically. You have to have integrations built for that. That costs money. And those integrations also need constant maintenance, because as soon as one of the suppliers rolls out an update, the integration might fail.
Also annoying: if something goes wrong in such an integration, it is often unclear where the problem lies. Is it supplier A? Supplier B? Or the party that built the integration? Before you know it, you waste hours on troubleshooting while your process is at a standstill.
How a tire wholesaler does things differently
One of our clients, a tire wholesaler, shows that there is another way.
Speed and innovation are in their DNA. This is clearly reflected in how they approach things. For instance, they choose to supply their customers using their own trucks and have their own garage on-site for the maintenance of those vehicles. They keep everything in-house so they have maximum freedom of movement. That is how they safeguard their competitive advantage.
They applied that same philosophy to their software.
They consciously decided against buying a series of standard software packages. Instead of being forced into a mold, we are building a custom system together in which all their processes converge: purchasing, warehousing, sales, and transport. They don't have to adapt their processes to the software. Rather, their system is built in such a way that it optimally supports their unique processes. As the foundation for this system, they chose OutSystems, an AI development platform. This gives them the flexibility to adapt things and add functionalities very quickly.
And they are reaping the benefits. They do not have to beg suppliers to please put their wishes on the roadmap. Instead, they can decide for themselves when they are rolling out new features to all the countries where they operate.
They are not dependent on others. They decide for themselves when they innovate.
This is how you organize maximum agility
Traditional custom-made software has a bad reputation. And rightly so. It costs a lot of money and it sometimes takes years before the system can go live. By that time, the market has already changed and your competitive advantage has vanished.
But modern AI development platforms like OutSystems ensure that you can build custom software in a fraction of the time it used to take. What used to take months can now be done in weeks. That makes you highly agile, allowing you to quickly respond to opportunities or changes in the market.
Comfort or control: you choose
In the end, you come to a fundamental choice.
Standard packages offer comfort. Someone else makes the decisions, someone else takes the responsibility. You only have to pay and use. It's often easier, but you trade away your innovative power.
With custom solutions, you determine what happens, you set the priorities. It's more complex and asks more of you. But it comes with a very big advantage:
You are in charge of your own future.
What are you going for?
