Even more customizing
The vendor adapts it, for a fee. With every bit of customizing the next update gets riskier, and in the end you have custom software at a rental price that you do not own.
Custom software with .NET
“Off-the-shelf software no longer fits.”
Your processes are your edge, yet off-the-shelf software forces them into a corset. Alongside it, Excel lists and workarounds keep growing. We build software that reflects your process, not the other way around. And sometimes it even turns into a product of its own: one of our customers founded a company for exactly that.
Does this sound familiar?
The system works against you, not for you.
In the beginning the off-the-shelf software was enough. But your company has kept growing, and now it shows in many small places:
- A second set of books runs in Excel alongside the system
- Workarounds that only two people in the company still understand
- Feature requests? Rejected by the vendor or priced steeply
- License costs go up, the benefit does not
- Data is entered twice, media breaks included
- Your best processes fit no standard schema
Three paths that fail
What does NOT help now.
The next off-the-shelf vendor
Switching costs months and nerves, and the underlying problem moves along with you: your processes are special, the new software is not.
Excel as a permanent solution
Flexible, familiar, dangerous: no permissions, no history, no scalability. And when the colleague who understands the macros leaves, the process comes to a halt.
The better path
Software that reflects your process. Not the other way around.
For us, custom software does not start with code, but with your processes. Only once it is clear what makes your company special do we start building: modern, maintainable and in stages that you can stop at any time.
Processes first
In user story mapping we break down your workflows together on the wall before a single line of code is written. That way we build what is really needed.
MVP instead of a mammoth project
Stage 1 is the smallest usable version. Your people work with the software early, and every piece of feedback flows into the next stage.
A modern, maintainable foundation
ASP.NET Core, Blazor and Azure: the same technology we use to modernize industry solutions. The source code belongs to you.
From tool to product
When your software gets really good, it can do more than cover your own needs. We think about licensing and multi-tenancy along the way, in case you want to take that path.
Your software journey, step by step
Every step bookable on its own. Every one is credited.
The shortest of our four journeys: compass, roadmap, stages. No analysis detour, because this is about your processes, not old code. All prices net plus VAT.
Orientation
The Software Compass
Your strategy session: a questionnaire up front, then 90 minutes with André Krämer or a senior architect. Build custom, adapt standard or switch vendors? You get an honest recommendation, and “stick with standard software” is a possible answer.
749.00 €Fixed price
✓ A clear recommendation – or you pay nothing
Fully credited toward the Software Roadmap
Strategy
The Software Roadmap
Two days of process analysis and user story mapping: we break down your workflows, cut the MVP and prioritize the stages. Afterwards we create a click dummy as a tangible preview and your roadmap with stages and an effort estimate.
7,499.00 €Fixed price · 2 days + click dummy
25 % (1,875.00 €) credited toward Stage 1
Delivery
Delivery in stages
Stage 1 is your MVP: the most important process, fully usable. Every further stage is a build-out that your people can work with right away. After every stage you decide anew: exit possible at any time, with no loose ends.
- ASP.NET Core, Blazor, Azure, PostgreSQL or SQL Server
- The source code belongs to you, with no license dependency
- Following our AI-Assisted Software Engineering process
per stageindividually calculated
Roadmap credit toward Stage 1
Ongoing — you have the choice
And after that? Your software keeps running.
Operation, updates and further development: you choose how much of it stays with us.
Sparring999.00 € / 1,999.00 € / 2,999.00 € mtl.
“Your team takes over – we accompany them”: regular sparring, code reviews and architecture advice for your further development.
The maintenance contract498.00 € / 899.00 € / 1,499.00 € mtl.
“We keep it running”: operation in view, Azure monitoring, security and dependency updates and a support allowance with fixed response times.
The crowning finish — only on this journey
From tool to product
When your software gets so good that competitors and industry peers want it too, a new chapter begins: pricing model, multi-tenancy, sales channel. We accompanied one customer down this path all the way to their own software company, and as a software vendor all of our journeys are then open to you.
Part of the sparringor a dedicated workshop
And if you go the whole way?
Software Compass 749.00 €→Software Roadmap 7,499.00 € 6,750.00 €→Stage 1 − 1,875.00 €
The compass is fully credited toward the roadmap, the roadmap at 25 % toward your first stage.
In other words: anyone who goes further effectively gets the Software Compass for free and carries no risk, because the results guarantee stands at the very beginning.
Proof, not promises
Software so good the customer founded a company.
SHN → Erna Software GmbH
- Systemische Hilfen Niederrhein places integration staff for schools and families. The off-the-shelf software did not fit this special process.
- We built the solution individually: ASP.NET Core, Blazor, Azure, PostgreSQL, delivered in phases, each one usable right away.
- The result was so convincing that SHN founded Erna Software GmbH to license the solution to similar companies.
- An internal tool became a business model: the path “from tool to product” for real.
Honestly
Maybe standard is the right choice after all.
Custom software is an investment. If an off-the-shelf solution covers 90 percent of your requirements and your processes do not set you apart from the competition, then stick with standard software. That is exactly what the Software Compass checks, and if that is the answer, we tell you so. That is what the results guarantee stands for.
Request the Software Compass · 749.00 €Frequently asked questions
Answered clearly.
What does custom software cost?
That depends on the scope, which is why we work in stages with fixed-price entry points: Software Compass 749.00 €, Software Roadmap 7,499.00 € including a click dummy (net plus VAT, credited toward each other). After the roadmap you know the effort estimate per stage, and Stage 1 is your MVP. So you never invest into the unknown.
Adapt standard or have it custom-built?
The honest answer: it depends on whether your processes set you apart from the competition. If they do not, standard is usually cheaper. If they do, standard cements your disadvantage. That is exactly the question the Software Compass answers in 90 minutes, with a results guarantee.
How quickly can our people work with the software?
Sooner than you think: Stage 1 is deliberately cut as an MVP, that is, the most important process in fully usable form. At SHN, client management was in production as the first phase while the further build-outs were still being planned.
Who owns the source code?
You do. You pay for the development and receive the complete source code, with no license fees to us and no dependency. Whether your team develops it further itself later or we do remains your free decision.
Who operates the software after go-live?
You have the choice: your team takes over and we accompany them in sparring, or you book the maintenance contract from 498.00 €/month with operation in view, Azure monitoring and security updates. Hosting usually runs in your own Azure environment.
Can we sell our software to other companies later?
Yes, and this is not theory: our customer SHN founded Erna Software GmbH for its custom solution and licenses it to similar companies. If you want to take that path, we think about multi-tenancy, pricing model and sales channel from the very start.
The first step
Ready for 30 minutes that create clarity?
30 minutes, free, no obligation. You talk to someone who understands processes and your .NET world. In the end you will know whether we are the right ones for your project. If standard is enough for you, we will tell you openly.
Quality Bytes GmbH · Brunnenstraße 21 · 53498 Bad Breisig
+49 2633 4899 430 · info@qualitybytes.de