When to build your own software

Mike outlines the transition between a custom-build workflow using proprietary software and the building of custom software. He calls it The Spreadsheet Gap.

This is exactly the same gap I’ve witnessed where I currently work; a financial services firm. My customers request Excel features be built into our non-Excel website. Sometimes this is simple, but more frequently there is disappointment when they find that a “simple” Excel feature translates into months of development time. But they can’t predict what will be huge or not, since there are other “complicated” features which can be done in mere hours.

And that’s the rub. Once a project built with existing tools (often in Excel) becomes unwieldy, or when you want to control its distribution, building proprietary software is the proposed solution. But it’s rarely the right answer. Sure, go ahead and build, but create a new offering that supports the end needs of your Excel monstrosity, don’t try to replicate it on a web page.