DIY Disasters

And how to avoid them…

DIY blog

Bespoke software only makes sense if:

  • Your problem is truly unique
  • It’s a source of serious competitive advantage
  • What you need doesn’t exist in the marketplace
  • You can wait for it to be developed
  • You are prepared to invest in it year after year to advance its functionality
  • You are happy to live in your own echo chamber

For example, when considering how to include map-based representations of information in our iNet solution:

Your problem is truly unique No. Lots of people want to represent information on a map
It’s a source of serious competitive advantage Yes, possibly
What you need doesn’t exist in the marketplace No, it exists
You can wait for it to be developed No, we want to get our solution to market as quickly as possible
You are prepared to invest in it year after year to advance its functionality Yes, we would be
You are happy to live in your own echo chamber No, we like to draw ideas from clients, comparators, and even competitors to make the best solution we can 

And so we selected IQGeo’s geospatial software for utility industries.

The tables are already stacked against DIY software development in the water industry:

  • Problems are shared globally and they are pressing
  • The industry is a natural monopoly so there is no competitive advantage available, and no single company has a monopoly on good ideas
  • Innovation levels amongst suppliers are reasonably high
  • Money is tight

So we commend this checklist to our clients when making decisions about visualisation, analytics, control and event management software. Ignoring it is likely to result in:

  • A much slower path to a solution that provides effective support to your business
  • Much higher costs now and into the future
  • A functionality defecit to widely available solutions which grows over time