Step 1 · Orientation

The Software Compass: adapt, switch or build your own?

A structured questionnaire, then 90 minutes of strategy conversation with André Krämer or one of our senior architects. Afterwards you know which path is the right one for your company: build custom software, adapt your off-the-shelf software or switch vendors. A clear recommendation, or you pay nothing.

Request the Software Compass · 749.00 €How the compass works
Who is the compass for?

For decision-makers who want to end the off-the-shelf frustration.

Off-the-shelf software was enough for a long time, but your company has kept growing. Now three paths are on the table, and each one costs money. The Software Compass is for you if you recognize at least one of these sentences:

  • “Alongside the system we keep a second set of books in Excel.”
  • “Our feature requests get rejected by the vendor or priced steeply.”
  • “License costs go up every year, the benefit does not.”
  • “Everyone advises us something different: adapt, switch, build our own.”
What you get

Three things you hold in your hand afterwards.

The three paths compared

Build custom, adapt standard or switch vendors: we assess all three paths for your situation, with costs, risks and consequences. No jargon, but with your numbers.

An honest recommendation

You get a clear statement on which path fits your processes. “Stick with your off-the-shelf software” is a possible answer too, if that is the right one.

The sensible next step

What to do first so the recommendation turns into a decision: your basis for management and shareholders, regardless of whether the path continues with us.

How the compass works

Four steps, a few hours of your time.

1 · Questionnaire

You receive our structured questionnaire: processes, systems, workarounds, costs. It takes about 30 minutes and sharpens your view while you fill it in.

2 · Preparation

André Krämer or one of our senior architects works through your answers and prepares the assessment of the three paths. What you invest here: nothing.

3 · Strategy conversation

90 minutes by video conference, with the decision-maker at the table. We go through the three paths, ask the uncomfortable questions and calculate honestly.

4 · Recommendation

At the end there is a clear recommendation with the sensible next steps. That ends the compass, with no obligation to a further step.

Price & guarantee

Fixed price. Guarantee. Full crediting.

A two-person consulting conversation with a tablet at the window
Orientation

The Software Compass

Questionnaire, preparation, 90 minutes of strategy conversation, a clear recommendation. Carried out by André Krämer or one of our senior architects. All prices net plus VAT.

The results guarantee has two conditions you should know: the questionnaire is filled in completely, and the decision-maker takes part in the conversation in person. Both protect the outcome, because the recommendation is only as good as the conversation.

749.00 €Fixed price ✓ A clear recommendation – or you pay nothing Fully credited toward the Software Roadmap

And if you go further afterwards?

The compass is step 1 of the Custom Software journey. If you decide on the Software Roadmap (7,499.00 €), the 749.00 € are fully credited. Anyone who goes the whole way effectively gets the compass for free.

Why you can trust the recommendation

“Stick with standard” is an answer too.

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, we tell you: stick with standard. The guarantee applies to the clarity of the recommendation, not to an outcome that suits us.

The opposite case is just as real: at our customer Systemische Hilfen Niederrhein, no off-the-shelf software fit their special process. The custom solution we built became so good that Erna Software GmbH grew out of it. The compass tells the two cases apart before you invest.

Request the Software Compass · 749.00 €
Frequently asked questions

Answered clearly.

What happens if you cannot give us a clear recommendation?

Then you pay nothing, that is the results guarantee. You leave the conversation with a clear recommendation on which path is the right one for you: build custom software, adapt standard or switch vendors. Otherwise the compass is free. Two conditions belong to it: the questionnaire is filled in completely, and the decision-maker takes part in the conversation in person.

Why does the compass cost 749.00 € when the first conversation is free?

The free first conversation clarifies whether we are a good fit for each other. The Software Compass answers a different question: which of the three paths is the right one for your company? For that we work through your questionnaire, prepare the conversation and spend 90 minutes on your processes, your workarounds and your costs. This recommendation is the product, and with the guarantee we also take responsibility for it.

Can the recommendation also be that we stick with our off-the-shelf software?

Yes, and then we tell you exactly that. If an off-the-shelf solution covers 90 percent of your requirements and your processes do not set you apart from the competition, standard is usually the more economical choice. The recommendation belongs to you, regardless of whether a contract for us comes out of it.

Do you need to see our systems or data for this?

No. The Software Compass works with the structured questionnaire and the strategy conversation. It is about your processes, your workarounds and your costs, not about technical details or system access. That is why the compass is the risk-free first step.

Who do we have the conversation with?

With André Krämer or one of our senior architects. On your side, the decision-maker belongs at the table, because this is about a strategic business decision, not a technical detail. That is also a condition of the results guarantee.

Still unsure?

Take the free self-test first.

The Off-the-Shelf Frustration Check: 12 questions, about three minutes. You see right away how much your off-the-shelf software really costs you. The compass is the logical next step afterwards, but only when you want it.

Start the self-test
The next step

Request the Software Compass.

Write us a short note about what it is about. We will get back to you within one working day with proposed dates and the questionnaire. You talk to someone who understands processes and software.

Quality Bytes GmbH · Brunnenstraße 21 · 53498 Bad Breisig
+49 2633 4899 430 · info@qualitybytes.de

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