Custom software development: first version in 48 hours.
Custom software is software built exactly for the way you work, because no off-the-shelf tool fits. With us, the first version runs after 48 hours with your data. Then we build it out step by step until it carries the day-to-day work. You own the code.
What is custom software?
Custom software is developed for one specific company and its processes. Off-the-shelf software like a CRM or a project tool is built for many companies at once. It fits as long as your process matches what the vendor had in mind.
Custom software pays off when that's no longer true and your team works around the tool instead of with it. Typical signs are Excel sheets next to the actual system, data moved by hand between three tools, or a process that sets you apart from the competition and fits no standard tool.
Other names for it are bespoke software, tailor-made software or individual software.
The spec is done. The software isn't.
This is how a classic software project often goes. First you write a specification, then it goes out to tender, then into alignment rounds. By the time the first version arrives, months have passed. The process it was built for has long since changed.
The problem isn't the specification. The problem is that everyone is talking about software nobody has seen yet. What's really missing only shows once you work with it. So we flip the order. First a version runs, then come the details.
Classic software project or a prototype first?
| Classic project | With MacNorris |
|---|---|
| Starts with a spec and a tender | Starts with a conversation about the problem |
| First working version after months | First working version after 48 hours |
| Team feedback only at acceptance | Feedback from day 2, with real data |
| If something doesn't fit, it's a change request | If something doesn't fit, it becomes the next step |
| The contract decides who owns the code | You own the code |
| After the project, a maintenance contract | After the project, your team runs it |
How do you know off-the-shelf software isn't enough anymore?
Often a ready-made tool is the better choice. These signals help you decide.
Time for custom software: An Excel sheet runs next to the system, and nothing works without it.
Off-the-shelf still works: The tool covers the process, you just don't use every feature.
Time for custom software: Data moves by hand between three tools.
Off-the-shelf still works: An interface between two tools solves the problem.
Time for custom software: Your process is what sets you apart from the competition.
Off-the-shelf still works: The process is the same at every company, like bookkeeping.
Time for custom software: You pay licences for ten features and use two.
Off-the-shelf still works: A ready-made tool fits almost completely. Then buy it.
How an idea becomes software that runs.
One conversation
Understand the problem
You tell us where things get stuck. We ask until it's clear what the software has to do. If a ready-made tool fits better, we tell you.
48 hours
First version
We build a working prototype with your data. Your team sits at the table and sees every step.
Weeks
Build out
Whatever's missing in day-to-day work gets added step by step. You know the price of each step before we start.
Handover
You own the code. Your team understands the software and runs it itself, with no unnecessary dependency on us.
Typical case: the Excel sheet that carries the company.
A mid-sized company runs its orders through an Excel sheet that has grown over years. Only two people really understand it. No off-the-shelf tool fits, because the process is too specific.
Instead of a specification there's a conversation, and after 48 hours a first web app with the real data. Then it grows in small steps until nobody needs the sheet anymore.
- Data taken over from the sheet
- Permissions instead of file versions
- Connected to ERP or CRM where needed
- Code and docs belong to the company
What you usually ask us about custom software.
That depends on what the software has to do and which systems it connects to. That's why there's no flat price. After a conversation you get an effort estimate and know the price before we start. The entry point is often a prototype in 48 hours, then you decide on every further step.
The first working version is ready after 48 hours. Until the software carries everything in day-to-day work, it takes a few weeks depending on the scope. We build in small steps, so your team works with real data early and every step builds on what's actually needed.
If there's a ready-made tool that covers almost all of your process, take the tool. It's cheaper and faster. Custom software pays off when your team works around the tool, data moves by hand between systems, or the process is exactly what sets you apart from the competition.
The code always belongs to your company. You get the complete source code and documentation. So your team can develop the software further itself, or another provider can take over without starting from scratch. We deliberately don't build in unnecessary dependencies on us.
Your team, if it wants to. We hand over in a way that lets you understand and maintain the software yourselves. If you'd rather have support, we keep building with you. Both work, and you decide after the project, not before.
What does your software need to do?
Tell us about the process that's stuck today. After the conversation you know whether custom software fits. After 48 hours the first version runs.