When it comes to developing a business solution using technology, it’s often been a battle between a cookie cutter off-the-shelf software package and a pricier custom built solution. There was once a time, when an organization would simply buy a product off a shelf, install it, and hope that it solved their unique business problem. Of course, when you buy something that is meant to work for everyone it means it often doesn’t quite do everything right for you.

The alternative emerged with custom built applications. These can be designed to solve an organization’s unique solutions, but building an application from the ground up is obviously more expensive. It often depended on the size of the business and the uniqueness of their needs that determined which of these kinds of solutions was most appropriate.

 

Eventually, custom built applications evolved into frameworks. Building on top of a framework, like .NET or J2ME, significantly reduced development time and overall cost.

Then came the era of software-as-a-service and cloud-based services such as Salesforce and Microsoft Office 365. Subscribing to software creates a low barrier to entry that prevents a lot of SMBs to afford the solutions they need.

Now CTOs are considering these using SaaS platforms, which are much like the old off-the-shelf solutions, but also have the ability to customize them as needed. This gives us the best of both worlds; an immediate, affordable business solution that is hosted on a cloud, but also a reliable framework that can be customized to fit the unique needs of the organization.