Custom Software Out of the Box - Explained

So what do we mean when we say "Custom Software Out of the Box?"

This is our way of saying we believe our Solution Module approach will provide you with the key benefits of both packaged software (Out of Box) and Custom Software WITHOUT the drawbacks of either.

Broadly stated:

• A primary benefit of packaged software is it can be used immediately. You can go from zero to some level of productive deployment pretty quickly. The major drawback, however, is that packaged software is necessarily built with a one-size-fits-all mindset and this one-size probably isn't going to fit your real-life work processes as precisely as you would like. And because of this, you end up using spreadsheets and manual workarounds to fill the gaps.
• A primary benefit of Custom Software is it can ultimately give you software that has been carefully tailored to perfectly fit your real-life business work processes. The major drawbacks of a Custom Software approach is that it tends to take a long time to develop and can be very expensive.

So the challenge has become "How do we give companies functional business software that can be used immediately, but that can also be customized so that it achieves 'Perfect Fit' with every company's unique way of doing business?"

Our answer is The Solution Module approach with the promise of "Custom Software Out of the Box"

Our Solution Modules start with our own low-code development platform. The benefit of Low-Code platforms is the ability to build custom software applications faster/better/cheaper than traditional alternatives. We then apply the 80/20 rule of software, which is that 80% of packaged software features are rarely or never used, which means 20% of the features are responsible for virtually all of the value. We focus intensely on this 20% feature set that is most valuable as the fundamental design principle for our Solution Modules. This is how we are able to deliver on the promise of giving you "everything you need and nothing you don't need"

We have built, or are in the process of building, 25 Solution Modules, all of which embody this 20% feature-set approach and they all can be used either standalone, or together in any combination.

Customizations come next. Why?

Because the number one source of packaged software frustration we hear from the marketplace is that it doesn't 'fit' each company's unique, real-life workflows as precisely as they would like. And because this fit is imperfect, companies compensate with spreadsheets and manual workarounds. They literally change the way they do business naturally to accommodate the software, rather than the other way around.

The ability to customize our Solution Modules easily, quickly and affordably, is a fundamental core competency of Optimum. With customizations, we map your Solution Module specifically to your real-life workflows. (Note that customizations can be done via Optimum or can train you to do this yourself.)

Software that fits.

Custom Software Out of the Box.

Because our Solution Module approach gives you the benefits of both custom software and packaged software without the drawbacks.