I recently contracted the services of a company to help me become a GSA contractor. While the company is working on submitting my paperwork, they have encouraged me to start reaching out to potential government clients. To help me find those clients, the company offered me thirty days of access to their website that shows all federal and state opportunities as well as providing search functionality and email notifications. However, after the thirty day trial, the price of accessing their site is $200 / month or $2,000 / year.
The Problem
While the company strongly encouraged me to purchase their services, I am always skeptical of paying for things I don’t need. As a business owner, wasted money comes directly out of my pocket. So, instead of paying for their services, I decided to examine alternatives. First, I found that much of the functionality was already available on the governments System for Awards Management (SAM). Second, I found that registered users of SAM can request an API key to develop their own software.
Developing a Custom Solution
Given that all I wanted was a simple app to display matching opportunities, I requested an API key and started development. To begin, I had a junior developer create an Angular web app. In order to access the SAM API, I created simple Node-based REST service. Next, I updated the Angular app to function as a PWA so that I can install it on my phone.
Outcome
Now, after less than 4 hours of development, I have an app on my cell phone to display opportunities matching my criteria. Or, I can access the site from my computer and go directly to SAM if I want more information. While there are many upgrades I could make in the future, the cost of developing my own custom software was substantially less than paying a third-party to use their service and delivered exactly what I needed.
Advice to Businesses
Today, a significant number of businesses offer Software-as-a-Service. While this model is great for the software provider, it may be less optimal for the consumer. Over time, the total cost of SaaS continues to rise for the consumer while the benefit remains largely the same. However, custom software allows for ownership of the application without a growing price tag. Furthermore custom software can address issues unique to the customer which may not be addressed by a Commercial Off-the-Shelf system.
In order to make the best decision for your business, consider the monthly cost of the application over a several year period. Then, consider the cost of lost productivity due to missing functionality. Once those costs are totaled, find out the cost of developing custom software to meet what you actually need. If the cost of custom development is less than the commercial solution, consider creating your own application.