Custom software built for the way your business actually works

Software that fits the business, not the other way round

Off-the-shelf software makes you work the way it works. When a spreadsheet has become the system of record, when two tools that should talk to each other do not, or when a job takes five clicks that should take one, that is usually a custom software problem. We scope it, build it and support it for Central Florida businesses.

What sets us apart is that we already know the building. The cameras, the door controllers, the phone system and the network behind them are all things we install and maintain — so when a business wants those systems tied into its own software, we are not integrating with a black box. We put it there.

What we build

• Internal tools – the scheduling, tracking and reporting screens a business runs on day to day
• Integrations – connecting the systems you already use so data is entered once
• Business applications – web applications built to a specific workflow rather than a generic one
• Automation – taking the repetitive, error-prone steps out of a process

Common questions about custom software

When does custom software make sense instead of off-the-shelf software?

Custom software makes sense when the process is the business and no packaged product fits it without bending the process out of shape. Off-the-shelf software is the right answer for anything generic, such as email, accounting, payroll and document storage, because thousands of businesses need the same thing and the vendor has already solved it. It stops being the right answer when you are paying for a large product and using a fraction of it, when staff keep a spreadsheet on the side because the system cannot hold what they actually need to track, or when two packaged tools are stitched together by someone re-typing data from one into the other.

Custom does not have to mean replacing everything. Often the best result is a small tool that sits between the packaged products you keep and does the one thing none of them do. The question to ask is not whether it can be built, but whether this process is worth owning.

What is an integration, in plain terms?

An integration is a connection between two pieces of software so that information entered in one shows up in the other without a person carrying it across. When a new customer is created in your CRM and the same customer appears in your invoicing system without anyone typing the name twice, that is an integration. When a door controller logs a badge swipe and the swipe shows up on a timesheet, that is an integration too. Under the hood it is usually a small program that talks to each system through the interface the vendor provides, translates between the two formats, and moves the data on a schedule or the moment something changes.

The hard part is rarely the connection itself. It is deciding which system is the source of truth when the two disagree, what happens when one of them is offline, and how anyone will know when a record failed to move. Those questions get settled during scoping, before any code is written.

How is a project scoped so the cost is known before building starts?

Scoping turns a conversation about a process into a written description of exactly what the software will do, and that document is what the cost is based on. It starts by watching the process as it runs today: who touches it, what they enter, where it stalls. Then the screens, the data, the rules and the connections the new tool needs are written down, along with what is deliberately left out. The exclusions matter as much as the inclusions, because most surprise costs come from work that was assumed rather than stated. A good scope is short enough to read in one sitting and specific enough that two developers would build roughly the same thing from it. Once it is agreed, the build is broken into stages that each deliver something you can use, so if one stage changes what you want next, the change is made to the plan rather than discovered at the end.

Who owns the code and the data?

The business paying for the software should own the code and the data, and that should be written into the agreement before work begins rather than assumed. Owning the code means the source is delivered to you, kept in a repository you have access to, and can be handed to another developer if you ever choose to. Owning the data means it lives in a database you control, in a standard format, and can be exported in full without asking permission.

It is worth checking the same points for everything the software depends on: the accounts for hosting, domains and third-party services should be registered to the business, not to the developer, so nothing lapses or becomes a bargaining chip if the relationship changes. Software that uses licensed components or a vendor's hosted service carries that vendor's terms with it, and the scope should say what those terms are so there are no surprises later.

What does support after launch look like?

Support after launch is the part most people forget to ask about, and it decides whether the software is still useful for as long as the business runs on it. In practice it has three layers. The first is fixing what breaks: a bug nobody hit during testing, a third-party service that changes its interface, a report that stops matching the accounting system. The second is keeping the ground under the software solid, which means updating the components it is built on, renewing certificates, checking backups and keeping the server or hosting account patched. That is the same work as looking after the rest of a business's IT. The third is change. A working tool generates requests for the next thing it should do, and having a way to queue, scope and schedule those keeps the system moving with the business instead of freezing at the version that launched. Ask any developer which of the three they cover, how you report a problem, and what response to expect.

Where we work

We build and support software for businesses across the greater Orlando metro, from Clermont and Winter Garden east into Orlando and south through Kissimmee and Four Corners:

• Orlando
• Clermont
• Winter Garden
• Ocoee
• Windermere
• Four Corners
• Kissimmee
• Davenport
• Groveland
• Minneola

SPCom Solutions is a service-area business — we come to you, and software work is often done on site alongside the systems it connects to. See the full service area