Writing
Notes on building
and on buying.
Written to be useful whether or not you ever hire us. Where our interest conflicts with the advice, we have said so in the article.
Custom Software vs Off-the-Shelf: How to Actually Decide
A decision framework for choosing between packaged software and a custom build - the four questions that settle it, and the honest case for buying.
Buying softwareWhat Custom Software Costs, and What Actually Drives the Number
Why custom software quotes vary so widely, the seven factors that move the price most, and how to get an estimate you can rely on.
Buying softwareHow to Choose a Software Development Company
What to ask, what to ignore, and the warning signs that predict a failed build - written from the supplier side, including the questions we find uncomfortable.
EngineeringWhy Field Apps Fail: Building Offline-First Mobile Software
Field apps fail on patchy networks, not on features. How to design offline-first data, choose a conflict model, and test on the connection users actually have.
EngineeringTechnical SEO for Web Applications: What Actually Moves Rankings
The technical problems that stop web applications ranking - rendering, canonicals, crawl budget and Core Web Vitals - and how to verify each one properly.