Industry guide
Should a facilities team buy facilities management software or build a custom system?
Buy a product such as Corrigo or UpKeep when your work orders, vendors and preventive maintenance run close to the standard pattern and you want many sites on a known platform. Build a custom system when your approvals, vendor rules and reporting are specific enough that you would pay for a product and still keep the working process in spreadsheets and email.
| What you are comparing | A product | A custom build |
|---|---|---|
| Cost over five years | Subscription fees every year, plus implementation fees, optional modules and services. Most vendors on our lists quote per customer, so the total is known only after a sales process. | A one-time build scoped in writing, then running costs such as hosting, database and email. No licenses, so the total does not rise as you add people or sites. |
| Per-seat fees | Usually yes for the people who do or manage the work. UpKeep charges per user on its lower plans and publishes those prices, and FMX bills users who manage or close tasks. | None. Technicians, managers, requesters and vendors can all be given access without a fee for each. |
| Fit to your process | You work the way the product models work orders and vendors. Rules it cannot hold stay in email and side spreadsheets. | Built from your process, including approval limits, vendor rules, inspection rounds and the reports your leadership asks for. |
| Time to launch | A per-user CMMS can be started quickly. A multi-site platform is a project, with implementation, data loading, vendor onboarding and training. | Starts with discovery and a written scope. Working screens are shown during the build, and the schedule is set in that scope. |
| Vendors and requesters | Vendors and occupants use the portal the product provides. Some products charge nothing for them, and others leave it to the quote. | Vendors, tenants and staff get portals designed for what each of them does, on the same system and at no fee for each user. |
| Changes after launch | Limited by plan and by what the vendor exposes. Multi-site and workflow features often sit on the top plan. | Anything can change, because you own the code. Changes are scoped and built as you need them. |
| Vendor risk | Pricing, packaging and contract terms are the vendor's decisions and can change at renewal. | No subscription to renew. The risk moves to keeping a maintainer available, which is why every account is in your name and the code is written to be handed on. |
When buying facilities management software is the right answer
Buy when your maintenance operation is close to the standard pattern. An in-house team with work orders, preventive maintenance and parts is well served by a CMMS, and a chain with a large vendor network is the customer the multi-site platforms were built for.
Buy when you need it running soon and the need is plain. A product with a published per-user price can be in front of a team before a custom system has been scoped.
When building a custom facilities system is the right answer
Build when the product has become something you work around. The signs are approvals that happen in email, a spreadsheet that holds the limits and exceptions, and a monthly report assembled by hand from exports.
Build when the people who touch the system are many and varied. Technicians, store managers, tenants, vendors and executives each need a different view, and paying or negotiating for each kind of user raises the cost. A system you own has no fee for any of them.
How to compare the cost of facilities management software with a custom build
Compare the cost over five years and do not stop at the first-year quote. Add subscriptions at the plan you need, implementation, optional modules, and the staff hours spent moving information between the product and everything beside it. That is the product number.
The custom number is a one-time build plus running costs. Black Badger does not publish a price, because the figure depends on what the system must do and what it must connect to. A written scope gives you the number to set beside the product total.
What a custom build involves, and how to ask about one
Questions buyers ask
Is a custom facilities system cheaper than a product?
A custom facilities system is not always cheaper than a product in the first year, and we will not claim it is. Over several years the comparison changes, because a build is paid for once and subscriptions repeat. The larger the number of users, sites and modules, the sooner the custom system costs less.
Will outside vendors use a custom facilities portal?
Vendors will use a custom portal if it is simpler than what they use now. A vendor needs to see the job, accept it, upload proof and get paid. We design the vendor side around those steps, and the written scope covers their side as well as yours.
Can we keep our accounting or ERP system with a custom facilities system?
Yes, you can keep the finance system you already have. A facilities system should send approved vendor invoices and costs to that finance system. There is no reason to replace finance software that works.