Software products play an important role in enabling businesses in achieving quick and cost effective process automation. A variety of products today exist in the market that cater to a wide gamut of work domains / activities, across industries.

However, the above fact does not undermine the value of a custom build application. While code resue, pre-built component usage, phased development, RAD tools has drastically reduced the time lag between initiation and implementation of a custom solution. And refined software engineering processes, effective project management and quality standards have taken uncertainty and guess work out of the way of a successful implementation.

Decision of going in for a custom solution vis-à-vis outright product usage can be a tough one though there are some definite situations where the choice is obvious:

1. Your business process is highly developed / matured and cannot be served with an off- the- shelf product which is based on generalized process.
2. Your business process or work domain is of a proprietary nature.
3. You have tried off-the-shelf product(s) and know that there are too many limitations to it.
4. Your need is very specific from day one and will evolve with time and usage.
5 You understand the virtues of a system based on open standards.