Custom software development: build vs buy
From a vague business problem to a scope a team can actually build.
Paid advisory with a deliverable, not a slide deck for its own sake. We run discovery workshops, map your processes, review your architecture, and give you a build-vs-buy call with a prioritized roadmap and estimates. Sometimes the honest answer is: do not build this. One accountable delivery lead runs the engagement; the same team can build what we scope, so our advice carries implementation consequences.
Custom software development: build vs buy
What we deliver
Concrete deliverables, clearly scoped. You know before we start what you will have at the end.
Discovery workshops
Structured sessions with the people who own the problem and the people who live it. We leave with a shared problem statement and the assumptions that need testing.
Process & systems mapping
We document how work and data move today, including the Excel sheets and email threads that hold it together. This is the baseline every later decision is measured against.
Architecture & build-vs-buy review
For each candidate solution we assess your existing stack and the total cost of vendor options over three years (planning horizon). You get a written recommendation with reasons, including the option to buy or do nothing.
Prioritized roadmap with estimates
A sequenced plan: what to do first, what to defer, what to drop. Each item carries an effort estimate at our blended senior rate of $25–49 per hour and a note on what de-risks it.
Why our approach works
We are allowed to say no
Consulting is billed for the advice, not tied to a build contract. When an inexpensive SaaS subscription solves your problem, the roadmap says so.
The advisor carries build responsibility
The people who scope your project are the people who would build it. Estimates come from delivery experience, not from a rate card and optimism.
Decisions are recorded
Every recommendation ships with the alternatives we rejected and why. Six months later, when someone asks why you chose this path, the answer is written down.
A roadmap you can take anywhere
The deliverables are yours: process maps, decision records, estimates. You can build with us, with your own team, or with another vendor. Continuing with us has one practical advantage: the estimate and the builder match.
Process
How we work
Step 1: Problem framing
One to two workshops to pin down the actual problem and what success looks like in numbers. If the problem is unclear, that is the finding.
Step 2: Fact finding
We map processes, review the current architecture and data flows, and talk to the people doing the daily work. Typically one to three weeks depending on access (planning assumption).
Step 3: Options & recommendation
We present two to four costed options, including buy and do-nothing where honest. You get the trade-offs in writing and a recommendation we would sign as builders.
Step 4: Roadmap & next step
A prioritized plan with estimates and a suggested first move, often a fixed-scope MVP sprint in the $18,000–45,000 range or a pilot automation. You decide who builds it.
How an engagement runs
- Fixed-price discovery package
- A discovery has a capped budget agreed before the first workshop. You pay for the analysis, not for a sales funnel toward a build contract.
- Two to four weeks elapsed (planning assumption)
- The range depends mostly on how quickly stakeholders are available for interviews. The analysis work itself is the smaller part of the calendar.
- One accountable delivery lead, supported by senior engineers
- The lead runs workshops and writes the recommendation. Engineers review architecture and produce the estimates, so numbers come from people who build.
Tooling
How we analyze
- Discovery & analysis
- Process mappingstakeholder interviewsarchitecture review
- Documentation
- Decision recordsdata-flow diagramsprioritized roadmaps
- Evaluation targets
- AWS / Azure / GCPSaaS vendor optionsyour existing stack
What you walk away with
Written problem statement
The actual problem, its constraints, and the assumptions that need testing, in two pages everyone signed off on.
Process & systems map
How work and data move today, including the informal parts. The baseline for every later decision.
Costed options with a recommendation
Two to four options with three-year cost views (planning horizon). Buy and do-nothing are included where honest; the recommendation is one we would sign as builders.
Prioritized roadmap with estimates
Sequenced next steps with effort estimates at the blended senior rate of $25–49 per hour, usable with any vendor.
Is this the right service?
The right call if...
- You have a problem and three vendor proposals that all recommend different things.
- Budget is approved for something, but nobody can say exactly for what.
- You want a second opinion from a team that builds software itself before committing to a build in the $18,000–45,000 range or beyond.
Not the right call if...
- You already know exactly what to build and just need capacity. Skip discovery and talk to us about a dedicated team or an MVP sprint.
- You need legal advice on GDPR or the EU AI Act. We translate such constraints into backlog and architecture decisions, but legal interpretation belongs to your counsel.
- The decision is already made and the report should confirm it. We charge for honest analysis; confirmation theater is free elsewhere.
Democorder came to us with agency proposals between $80K and $250K. Discovery cut the planned scope by 28% before a line of code was written.
Read the case studyBuilt for the German business environment
International companies running software and AI in Germany need more than engineering capacity. They need a partner who works the way German teams, procurement, and data protection officers expect.
German-speaking delivery lead
One accountable lead runs decisions, written updates, and handover in German or English. Your team in Germany is never the last to get context.
DSGVO and GDPR by design
Data-minimising architectures, EU hosting options, processing records, and DPAs (AVV) prepared together with your data protection officer.
German contracts and invoicing
EUR quotes, phased statements of work, German jurisdiction, and documentation that stands up to procurement and internal audit.
Integrates with German systems
We connect DATEV, SAP, Microsoft 365, Personio, Shopware, and your existing ERP or CRM instead of asking you to replace them.
CET/CEST and US overlap
Daily overlap with German business hours, plus enough shared time for US stakeholders so both sides keep moving.
EU AI Act readiness
Human review, audit trails, and model documentation for the AI systems we build, aligned with how German auditors expect AI to be governed.
Get in touch
Start with the problem
Book a discovery call. If a workshop is the wrong format for your question, we will say so in the first fifteen minutes.
Berlin leads, three hubs deliver
German-led delivery across Berlin, the UAE, and Pakistan — we diagnose your problem first, then build a tailored solution.
EU & US timezone overlap
Daily overlap with teams in Germany and the US — synchronous when it matters.
From MVP to scale-up
One partner across AI, web, mobile, and UX — through every stage of your product.
Email us
admin@solutionplus.io
Response time
Within one business day
Clear & direct
You're not the first to ask, and we're ready.
What do we get at the end of a discovery?
A written package: problem statement, process and systems map, costed options with a recommendation, and a prioritized roadmap with estimates. Everything is yours and usable with any vendor, including your own team.
What if you recommend not building anything?
Then that is the deliverable, and it happens. A share of our discoveries ends with a buy or simplify recommendation. You pay for the analysis once instead of paying for the wrong build for years.
How long does a discovery take and what does it cost?
Most run two to four weeks elapsed, depending on stakeholder availability (planning assumption). Billing is at our blended senior rate of $25–49 per hour with a capped budget agreed upfront, so there is no surprise invoice.
Do we have to build with you afterwards?
No. The roadmap, estimates, and decision records are designed to be handed to any competent team. Clients who continue with us skip a second knowledge transfer; that continuity is the practical reason to consider it.