OnCALL Micro can work with your users to find the best solution for the problem that needs to be solved.

There are many packaged solutions and services that are already available that can provide the best fit for your needs.  Many have "hooks" that allow for custom modifications to extend their capabilities - and some of those extended capabilities may already be available by other vendors.

Needs Analysis:

The first step in solving a problem is to thoroughly understand the problem that needs to be solved.  Pretty obvious, but it sometimes requires stepping back and taking a look at the bigger picture, talking to the stakeholders, and taking stock of the tools that are currently being used to handle the problem.  In some cases, packaged, off the shelf applications are definitiely the way to go.  They may already be running at your site and in some cases they may have the features that you need.  Developing a custom solution by writing a new application, may turn out to be the way to go, but can be a costly proposition and could even make things more expensive (and more complicated) over the longer haul.  Simple, focused solutions are typically better solutions.

Taking Stock:

Our first recommendation would be to take inventory of the applications and services that you're currently using on site, from the more utilitarian applications such as Microsoft Office through the more specialized. Are they used as stand-alone applications, are they web based or as a web service?  Are you using any software that was developed specifically for your company? Taking this type of inventory is also a good idea to make sure that your all your software licenses are up to date, and in the case of custom software whether you have the most current code available - and whether the development tools needed to maintain them are still around.  It's also not a bad idea to review that inventory once a year.

Short Term vs. Long Term:

Is the problem you're trying to solve something that is immediate and self-contained or is it part of a growing need that you're company may be facing?  The reason to ask is that a packaged, off the shelf solution may seem like overkill now but if it provides future benefits that you may be able to grow into over the longer term, it may be the way to go.  In some cases there are applications or services that can be broken down so that you pay for what you use.  In short, what may seem expensive now, may, over the longer term be a more cost effective approach.  In addition many packaged solutions have capabilities where their set of features can be extended or modified to suit your needs.  That may be still require custom development, but may be less costly as the amount of custom development is reduced.

Custom solutions:

The bottom line is that there is a place for building a custom solution, but it's best to first investigate the pros and cons of what's already available in the marketplace and see what would make the most sense and to see if a hybrid solution is the best way to go.  The important things is to get all the facts on the table, review the options and associated costs and see what the best fit might be.