Job Management Software System.

Since the day Poole Software started serving its customers with bespoke software development and support services, we have had to build at least a couple of job management software systems. In all cases, our customers needed a bespoke job management software system to help them schedule, track and manage their jobs coming in everyday, all day long. This blog post intends to outline a few things we learnt along the way and some opinions on the subject.

The case for a bespoke job management software system

The question would always be the same, “Can you build us a job scheduling software system?" or “Can you do us a job tracking software system?". And the answer would always be the same, “Have you looked around for one?” or “Are there no options out there that you can buy of the shelf?”. And again, the answer back would be the same “Yes, we have looked around, but nothing really fits exactly what we need.”

And this is in simple terms is the case for a bespoke job management software system. The argument is always, “well, could they not speak with some current vendors and request alterations to fit them?”, but that has proved in most cases quite fruitless. Already established vendors will not alter their systems to suit any one customer in particular. And if they agree, then it is expensive and takes a long time.

And so, businesses using these off-the-shelf type systems have to put up with the pain or change their internal business processes to suit the system. They end-up wrapping their business around the system, rather than the system around the business. And when you multiply that by 10 – 15 years, then you have loads of frustration.

The case for bespoke job management software systems has always been quite strong. Each business is unique, with unique business processes and requirements.

The common ground

After having delivered a couple of job management software systems within different domains (e.g. construction industry, fleet management, auto-care, etc.) we have come to learn that there is common ground between the different contexts these systems operate in.

The Customer

Usually there is a customer which owns assets. The customer requires one or more of its assets looked (serviced) at a given time and location (can be mobile or at a depot).

Assets

Customers have assets (e.g. a property, a vehicle, an appliance, etc.) which need servicing. Each assets have a unique identifier and information about it. The assets are usually geographically spread across the country.

Engineers

There are usually engineers (or fitters, mechanics, electricians, etc.) that belong to a given branch.

Branches

The business seeking a job management software system would usually have one or more branches scattered across the country with assigned engineers to it which would be going out fulfilling jobs.

Reporting

The system would be expected to have a comprehensive set of reports / exports.

Billing

The system would be expected to have some form of billing where invoices are raised.

Data Loads

The system is also expected to have the ability to upload new products (units of work), new assets (from the customers), new price-files (both buy prices and sell prices), pictures or images and documents related to jobs and so on.

User Management

The system requires user logins with different levels of access so that certain areas of the system and certain features are protected.

As you can see, there is loads of common ground between the different industries and business contexts. And yet, the case for bespoke is still very strong. And that is because the differences between are painful enough to warrant the money spent on a bespoke system.

The intangible costs

When you look at the costs between off-the-shelf and bespoke, usually off-the-shelf wins because it is much cheaper to pay a subscription charge and then just use the system with support included and all. Very easy adoption process and cost-effective.

What we hear from some customers looking into bespoke job management software systems is that a given off-the-shelf system fits them 95% and the rest they were going to live with, but that over time it has become clear that the 5% is starting to be a real pain and with the lack of ability to change and adapt the system, it is proving difficult.

Let’s say a person needs to do a report every week. It takes them 2 hours to complete it. The system you just bought off-the-shelf does not do that report and it is very expensive for you to request a change like that. Of course, a bespoke system would be altered to do the report and the report will be there on demand within seconds, system generated. You have saved 2 hours of labour per week for the next 10-15 years. Let’s say that is an hourly rate of £18, times that by 52 weeks, and then by 15 years, you get £14,040.00 that that particular report will cost you. Now, how many more reports like that have you got where people are manually generating them when a bespoke software system could do in seconds, as many times as you like without human error. You need to add a margin to that figure of £14K to represent the human error factor.

We need to bear in mind that reports are not the only example. Generating payment links to send out to customers. Chasing people for information. Placing orders, and the list goes on and on.

The point is that whilst an off-the-shelf system will cost you less in the short-term, it will cost you much more in the long-term. It is just that you don’t know how much and hence you cannot budget for it.

Customers can be demanding.

The number of times there come requests where a customer requires a new kind of report, or they may require that a certain type of new information should be captured, or they may require that a new kind of API integration be done, or any other requirement that you have not yet thought about. What do you do then with an off-the-shelf system? Well, you have two choices, you say “No!, Mr customer, we cannot do that. Our system does not support that.”. Or, you do what we have seen done in many places where you start building your own bespoke applications and APIs and whatnot alongside and go through a lot of trouble to get the ever-growing mesh of apps talking to each-other whilst paying for both the off-the-shelf system and for support on the bespoke stand-alone apps. The technical complexity then grows, and support and management become a growing headache.

You will always get loads of different requests from your customers, and the only way to fulfil them all in a manageable way, is to have your own bespoke job management software system. It is no good for your competition to be more accommodating to their customer than you. It does not look good for the future.

Go online.

We have seen bespoke and otherwise job management software systems that require installing from disks or downloading and so on. This makes life difficult. The best option is to build the system as web-based and then users can use it from anywhere and from any device as long as you have put in place a few straight-forward security measures.

That way you can have dedicated areas for your customers to log in and get their data as well as your suppliers. It is much more modern, and it is what most of your customers and suppliers are already used to. Maintenance is much easier because updates are central and can be pushed out with much ease and speed. Interoperability is easy to since web APIs are the norm. And hosting is not too bad depending on the platform you chose.

Conclusion

If you need a job management software system to schedule and track your jobs, then give it some thoughts about a bespoke job management software system. The cost will be higher, but in the long-term you will not regret it.

Customers can be demanding and with your own bespoke system you would be in a good place to respond to all the requests that customers can throw at you.

As a bespoke software development company, we have built bespoke job management software systems from scratch and have the experience to do it for you. Job scheduling and tracking does not have to be that hard with the right software system in place that fits your business exactly.