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title: Custom software should have to earn the right to exist
author: Giacomo Balli
published: 2026-08-08
url: https://BigBalli.com/blog/custom-software-should-have-to-earn-the-right-to-exist
tags: Engineering, Product, Leadership, Operations
---

# Custom software should have to earn the right to exist

*By Giacomo Balli* | *Published: August 8, 2026*

Custom software should have to earn the right to exist. The default answer to "should we build this" is no, and the burden of proof sits with the build.

The bar is not "would this be nice." It is not "the off-the-shelf tool is clunky." It is not "our process is unique," because every company believes that and almost none of them are.

Custom software earns its place when three things hold.

The workflow is a real competitive difference, meaning a customer pays you more or stays longer because of how you do it, and a standard product would force you to do it the standard way.

You have tried to configure an existing product and can name the specific step where it broke, in writing, with the vendor's confirmation that it cannot be done.

Someone inside the company will own it for years. Not sponsor it. Own it: budget, priorities, the call at 7am when it is down.

When all three hold, build it and do not apologise. When one is missing, the honest move is to configure, tolerate the clunky part, and revisit in a year.

The reason to be strict is not that custom software is bad. It is that custom software never finishes. You are not approving a project. You are hiring a permanent employee whose salary is called maintenance, and nobody puts that line on the proposal.

[Discuss on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7503579249082273793)

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**Tags:** Engineering, Product, Leadership, Operations

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