For a long time, the situation was clear: anyone wishing to use software cost-effectively bought off-the-shelf solutions. Bespoke software was expensive and labour-intensive – making sense primarily where companies were prepared to invest accordingly to meet specific requirements. This cost calculation now needs to be rethought. The reason is simple: AI reduces the costs of software development. What used to take weeks of developer time can now be prototyped in a matter of days. This brings a question back into focus that many companies haven’t even asked for years: Should the process adapt to the software, or the software to the process?
For years, companies have adapted their processes to the capabilities of their software. Not necessarily because these processes were optimal, but because a bespoke solution would have been too expensive. Off-the-shelf software was therefore often the more economically sensible choice. A balance that is currently at a tipping point. If software can be developed more quickly and cheaply, bespoke software is becoming a serious alternative for significantly more companies. This is particularly true where off-the-shelf solutions can only map key processes by making compromises.
Does this make off-the-shelf software redundant? No. For complex systems such as ERP or CRM, off-the-shelf solutions remain the first choice in many cases, particularly in highly regulated areas such as tax or payroll accounting. In these areas, specialist providers monitor changes in legislation and incorporate them into their software – tasks that would otherwise have to be carried out in-house on an ongoing basis. However, the falling development costs are only half the story. Anyone who develops software themselves also assumes responsibility for it – for security, further development, maintenance and adaptation to new legal or technical requirements. This responsibility must be factored into the equation just as much as the costs of development.
After all, AI does not replace professional software development. It generates code more quickly – but architecture, quality assurance, security and maintainability remain tasks that require experience and sound judgement. Those who reduce development costs but cut back on quality assurance and operations are merely postponing the problem. For companies that are aware of this and tackle these tasks head-on, this means that bespoke software is increasingly becoming a serious option. When making strategic software decisions, it should in future be evaluated just as thoroughly as a standard solution.
AI certainly does not turn bespoke software into a new miracle cure overnight. But it is changing the economic landscape to such an extent that the old assumption in favour of off-the-shelf software no longer holds water.
This press release is also available at www.pr-com.de/de/avision .
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