A common challenge in the marketplace is the build or buy software debate. Which solution is best? Which has a greater return on investment? Which has a faster time to value? Oftentimes, IT professionals think of this as a binary decision as they weigh their options.
An organization can either pick a best-of-breed, off-the-shelf application which might meet most of their requirements today and then hope there is a useful and thoughtful roadmap for the product’s future. This roadmap would need to solve future business needs.
Conversely, an organization could opt to build an application with in-house development resources and hope to get exactly what the business needs at the very point of execution. However, doing so means the organization then owns all product support and issue resolution going forward. This also means needing to leverage and train ever-scarce development talent; additionally, it requires maintenance of the application with no roadmap moving forward.
There is a third option that combines the best of both worlds, giving you true digital transformation capabilities in what traditionally has felt like an on or off the landscape. For organizations with inventory management requirements, Cloud Inventory® provides best-in-class inventory control Software as a Service (SaaS) built using a low-code, business analyst-friendly platform which enables unparalleled application and process personalization, providing exactly what a business needs.
Being able to address end-to-end problems at every level of the organization (back-office planning, front office insights, and frontline worker execution) with a mobile platform significantly changes the game for your business. Consider the binary build vs. buy decision against the digital transformation an organization can achieve in today’s environment by addressing problems at all levels in the organization – from workers to the end consumer. To put this in perspective, compare the experience of watching a black and white TV, versus a 4K TV: the clarity of information is unparalleled and the result is a much better experience overall.
To fully understand the benefits of this hybrid approach -- enterprises around the world are using Cloud Inventory to address complex business challenges in an agile and unique way. It is imperative to know the pros and cons of both the build and buy solutions as well as what advantages Cloud Inventory provides.
One example company has experienced greater success after utilizing Cloud Inventory’s applications, encountering growth across multiple facets of their business. This customer has addressed extended supply chain challenges through Cloud Inventory’s inventory-first data model and mobile-first applications, immediately addressing challenges inside the four walls of their warehouse and into their field environment. Additionally, they have addressed company and industry-specific personalization requirements through extending Cloud Inventory solutions with the low-code platform.
Get the Best of Both Worlds of the Build vs. Buy Software Dilemma with a Low-Code Platform
The question for organizations analyzing the pros and cons of either side of the build vs. buy software dilemma is: how do you ‘cheat’ the system and get the pros without the cons? Cloud Inventory’s low-code platform answers this question of how to get the best of both worlds. It offers standards-based, off-the-shelf Manufacturing Materials™, Warehouse Inventory™, and Field Inventory™ applications. The twist is, these mobile-first applications are built using the low-code platform so businesses can leverage what’s already built. However, in addition, they can realize unrivaled personalization capabilities to address company or industry-specific processes, productivity needs, or data capture needs specifically addressing unique or complex requirements.
Cloud Inventory offers a perfect mix of the benefits of buy and build solutions. Organizations can utilize the low-code platform, leveraging their internal resources to provide flexibility and make adjustments on their own, or they can count on Cloud Inventory experts for support services.
A low-code environment empowers internal business resources to design new applications and reconfigure existing applications using a flow-chart-like, graphical, and intuitive interface. This results in both hyper-focused applications and high user adoption without the high costs of relying on external resources or leveraging internal software developers to implement changes.
Cloud Inventory’s best-in-class supply chain applications manage the state, location, and authenticity of inventory no matter where it exists in an enterprise, from the warehouse to the field. This powerful, low-code-based solution enables organizations to stop thinking in terms of build vs. buy software and begin realizing the advantages of both build and buy.
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