Some custom software development companies are all about the billings.
Others are interested in the coolest technology.
Stout Systems’ primary focus is on delighting the people who will use the software products. That doesn’t happen without first taking the time to understand both the users and the problems they are trying to solve.
Sometimes companies don’t need to outsource a full project. In fact, it is quite common for a company to need expertise in a very specific area and for a brief period of time.
In addition to large projects such as the ones noted above, Stout Systems often provides short term consulting including:
For more than two decades Stout Systems has helped companies solve problems through the development of custom software products.
But our roots go much deeper.
Our founder John Stout worked on the award winning Video Voice, an early 1980s computer game that assisted deaf people to learn to speak more clearly. He also created weather satellite software for the U-M Space Physics Research lab—which eventually flew on the space shuttle.
Eventually the demand for John’s software development talent was so great that he felt compelled to form a company of like-minded individuals. From the earliest days of Stout Systems, John instilled his core values in his team:
Stout Systems has upheld these values ever since.
Hint: Those of our customers who actually want to understand how much a project will cost and how long it will take to implement really appreciate this model.
Hint: It also allows us to quickly deliver the most important feature set and get it into use. Which customers love.
This method works well for a wide variety of projects from controlling IoT devices through a mobile device to creating complex engineering applications that are accessible from anywhere in the world through a simple Web browser.
Whether or not to create custom software for your business often comes down to the classic buy-versus-build decision.
We like to boil down the buy-versus-build debate to a few simple yes/no questions.
Question 1: Is there a software package, Web site or mobile application that comes close to delivering what you need?
Question 2: Do commercially available applications conform to the way you do things? Or will you have to conform to the way they do things?
Question 3: Are commercial products too big or complex for me?
Custom software doesn't have to be expensive. And it is often more affordable than commercial software–maybe not in year one, but definitely over the life of the software. Most importantly, you must evaluate whether or not it makes sense to conform to commercial software or to maintain what makes your company unique. If that point is true, than you are better off going the custom route any day of the week.
Take a look at Peg Bogema's blog post for an indepth exploration of the buy-versus-build question.
