Configure what you have
If your current system supports the workflow but nobody has set it up, configuration and training may solve the problem with the least disruption.
Buying guide · Business software
Bespoke software or off the shelf?
Start with the work your team needs to complete. A standard product is a good purchase when it fits. A bespoke build earns its place when important parts of the job do not fit, and the difference costs enough to justify building and maintaining it.
Test a real job before comparing feature lists
Take a recent job from enquiry to completion, including a change, a missing field or a cancelled order. Ask how each option handles it. Include the spreadsheets, retyping and follow-up calls that would remain.
Buy a standard product
If your requirements are common and a product handles the awkward cases, compare its total cost, data export and support arrangements before commissioning custom software.
Build the missing part
If a working system only lacks an intake step or a field record, a supported connection can be a smaller project than replacing the whole application.
Compare the whole cost
For each option, include setup, migration, staff time, licences, hosting, support and likely changes. Use the same period and the same number of users. Ask what happens if you leave.
Then measure the current process. For example, if a repeated task takes ten minutes and happens thirty times a week, it uses five hours a week. That is an illustrative calculation, not a promised saving: some review work may remain after automation.
Use your own workload and staff cost in the time and cost calculator. Check whether the benefit is reduced overtime, room for more work or less interruption. Hours freed do not automatically become cash saved.
What a bespoke starting price covers
Inferred’s fixed-scope builds start from £1,495. That is a starting point for a bounded piece of work, not a price for replacing an entire ERP or migrating every historical record.
A useful quote names the workflow, data sources, exceptions, interfaces, acceptance checks and handover. Hosting, support and third-party costs should be stated alongside the build price. If the work needs measuring first, the Operations Audit is £895.
Our pricing page explains the current offers. For a quotation project, bring one rate source and a real quote. For a legacy replacement, bring the reports and exports the business cannot work without.
When custom software is the wrong first step
If the workload is too small, the rules are unsettled or a standard product already fits, a bespoke build may not repay its cost. Agree the process and its owner before encoding it in software.
Where the same important exception causes repeated manual work, start with a small project and clear acceptance checks. Prove that route before expanding it.