June 27, 2007
Off the Shelf or Custom?
Which Solution is best for your company?

Basic web template packages can help get your business off the ground, but as needs change and your business grows and becomes more complex, you can quickly outpace the simple packages.

And what about marketing? A simple website can dispense information about your site, but how will you analyze your visitor statistics? What about Search Engine Optimization? Integrated Marketing? On-line sales and conversion ratio tracking? As a company grows, however, its needs grow more specific and more complex. As these issues become more prevelant, applications must be customized more extensively. Traditionally, this is handled by in-house programmers, outside developer firms, or expensive consultants who alter large-scale business process applications heavily to meet a companys needs.

In order to minimize the pain in working with an outside developer, it is critical to make sure that you fined someone who understands your business MODEL. Most important, this will reduce issues in delay or failure. The right website applications can play a huge role in getting work done quickly and efficiently. The right tools, and the right support, can help a company differentiate from the pack and deliver a superior level of service. If your developer can outline the following issues BEFORE the project starts, you have a great chance of success:

" Do the applications cover all our existing processes?
" Will they integrate smoothly with our infrastructure?
" Are they flexible enough to scale and/or change with our business?
" Can we incorporate best practices into the workflows?
" Will the design reflect the look and feel of our project?

So, simple applications may help get you started, but once you begin to outgrow your website, it's critcal to find a developer who has experience in the types of issues your company faces, so that you can easily accomplish your goals.