Off-the-shelf or custom software: how to choose

Start from an honest position

Most of the software a company relies on should be bought, not built. Accounting, payroll, email, office tools and basic CRM are solved problems, and thousands of other companies pay to keep those products working. Building your own version of them rarely makes sense.

Custom software makes sense in a narrower set of situations, and in those situations it can be among the best investments a company makes. The skill is in telling the two apart. Martin Fowler frames it in a useful way: separate utility functions, which every business needs but which do not set you apart (payroll is his example), from strategic functions, which are part of how you compete. Utility functions are usually best bought, and the business should adapt to the package instead of customising it heavily. Strategic functions are where custom software earns its cost.

When off-the-shelf is the right answer

• The process is standard. If your invoicing, payroll or leave requests work the way they do in most companies, a good product already handles them well.
• The rules change often and the vendor keeps up. Tax, payroll and e-invoicing rules change regularly. A widely used local product updates for everyone, which is hard to match with your own team.
• You have no IT staff. A hosted product with support removes the need to run servers, backups and updates.
• You need it next week. Configuration takes days or weeks. A custom build takes longer.
• Many companies use it. Bugs are found and fixed by other users before they reach you, and it is easier to hire people who already know the tool.

When custom pays off

• The process is how you compete. A pricing model, a service workflow or a way of planning production that customers value and competitors lack.
• You are bending the business around a tool. If staff keep parallel spreadsheets, copy data between systems and work around missing features every day, you are already paying for a custom solution, only in salaries rather than software.
• Per-user pricing does not fit your model. Licences priced per user become heavy when you want to give access to many customers, drivers, field staff or partners.
• You need several systems to work together. When the value lies in connecting the ERP, the warehouse, the website and the couriers, no single product owns the whole flow.
• Local requirements are missing. International products do not always support local tax rules, languages or document formats in Bulgaria or other EU countries.

The hybrid option

For many companies the best answer is neither pure option. Keep a proven product at the core, for example the accounting system or the ERP, and build custom parts around it:

• a customer or supplier portal that reads orders, invoices and documents from the core system
• integrations with tax authorities, banks, couriers or marketplaces that the product does not cover
• dashboards that bring data from several systems into one view
• small tools for specific teams, such as a mobile app for drivers or warehouse staff

This gives you the reliability and legal updates of the product, and custom software only where it adds value. The condition is that the core product has a documented API and gives access to your data. Check this before you buy, not after.

Hidden costs on both sides

Neither option is as cheap as its first quote. On the off-the-shelf side, watch for:

• price increases at renewal, and per-user prices that grow along with the company
• essential features sold as extra modules or higher plans
• consultants needed to configure and adapt the product
• manual workarounds for what the product does not do, often invisible in the budget
• customisations that break when the vendor releases a new version
• fees or limits for exporting your data or using the API

On the custom side, watch for:

• maintenance, hosting, security updates and monitoring for as long as the system is in use
• the time your own people spend on requirements, testing and decisions
• dependence on a handful of developers who know the code
• missing documentation, which slows down every change and complicates every handover
• technical debt from shortcuts taken to meet early deadlines

Compare the options over several years, including the time of your own staff, not just the first-year price.

Lock-in and data ownership

Lock-in is the cost of leaving. With a hosted product, ask before you sign: can we export all our data, history and attachments included, in a usable format? Is there an API? What help does the vendor provide at the end of the contract? The EU Data Act, which has applied since 12 September 2025, includes rules meant to make it easier for customers to switch between data processing services such as cloud providers. It is useful protection, but your contract and the actual export function still matter most.

If the product processes personal data, the provider acts as a processor under the GDPR, and you need a data processing agreement stating where the data is stored and what happens to it when you leave.

With custom software, lock-in takes a different form. Make sure your contract gives you ownership of the source code, that the code lives in a repository you control, that hosting and domain accounts are in your company's name, and that the system is documented well enough for another team to take it over. A custom system whose keys are held only by the vendor is not truly yours.

A short decision checklist

• Is this process a differentiator, or a function every company needs?
• Does an existing product cover most of your needs without heavy customisation?
• How many users will need access in three years, customers and partners included?
• Which systems must it connect to, and do they have documented APIs?
• Can you export all of your data, at any time, in a usable format?
• Who will maintain the solution in three years, and what will that cost?
• What happens if the vendor raises prices, is acquired or discontinues the product?
• What is the total cost over several years, including your own staff time?

If most answers point to a standard need, buy. If they point to a process that is yours alone, or to several systems that have to work together, consider custom or hybrid.

How MTV GROUP can help

We help companies decide what to buy and what to build, and we recommend off-the-shelf products when they are the better fit. Where custom work makes sense, we build integrations, portals, dashboards and applications around your existing systems, with the code, data and accounts kept in your name. If you are facing this decision, get in touch.