Technology First Taste of IT 2019

Buying Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) Software has been the established standard in IT for decades. In almost all cases, it is still the best approach. Our presentation will look at why it is not ALWAYS the right approach. We believe that companies should consider developing custom software when the software is core to its business operations.

In the last several years, two things have happened: 1) it has gotten easier to develop software and 2) software companies have gotten more creative in licensing, maintenance fees and support tiers. The Software-as-a-Service model entices customers with low initial costs but allow price increases that “boil the frog”. Our presentation does not dwell on the financial reason of why companies should consider developing their own core software; we believe the most compelling case is that companies should control their own product roadmaps. #OwnTheCode

This presentation will utilize a case-study of a large/local healthcare provider that decided to develop their own core business software after:
· Their current vendor sunset their software
· Concluding the current COTS options did not meet their requirements
· Realizing the ROI of migration/licensing costs justified the investment
· Wanting to direct their own software roadmap

We will then discuss how Afidence used open source software, scrum and modern software development to build their new core software, and why you should consider doing the same.