To Buy or Build: Appointment Management Software
By Coconut Software - Feb 5, 2018
You’ve identified an evident need in your organization – how to improve customer experience – and you realize that an appointment management software solution can help, the only questions is, do you build or do you buy?
What do you choose? Initially you may think that you already have the resources in-house that are paid for, so why invest in an external solution? Before completely ruling out the “buy” option and building and appointment management software, ask yourself these few questions:
Buy or Build Appointment Management Software: 6 Questions to Ask Yourself
- Is this a core competency of your organization?
- If we built in-house, what projects would we be taking resources from?
- How long will it take to build?
- How complex are the features and functionality that are needed?
- Who’s going to maintain the software? What if they leave the organization?
- Who’s going to manage the rules and regulations to ensure the software is compliant with local laws?
If the answer to #1 is no, then you might want to consider outsourcing.
According to the 2015 CHAOS Report by Standish Group, 19% of large IT projects are scrapped completely after spending money, investing resources and time in the project. Additionally, according to an article by McKinsey, “On average, large IT projects run 45 percent over budget and 7 percent over time, while delivering 56 percent less value than predicted.” Is it worth the risk?
What to Look For When Buying?
- A partner, not a vendor, who can support the dynamic-ness of your organization.
- The ability for full branding (and multi-branding) to ensure the solution will look and feel the same as your website does.
- A platform with built-in data and analytics to help you improve your workflow and demonstrate ROI.
- The ability and flexibility to integrate into the systems you’re already using.
- Role based access control to ensure the right people have access to what they need and not to what they don’t.
- A solution that is responsive so it can be used on any platform or device.
When deciding to build or buy, it really comes down to evaluating the risks and benefits associated with both choices. When it comes to appointment scheduling software, a solution like Coconut Calendar can save you the time, money and headache associated with an internal build and implementation and allow you to focus on your core business to ensure it’s reaching its full potential.
When deciding between building or buying, getting a chance to experience available software is a great way to see what functionality is most important to you and the scope of the product you’re taking on.
