Custom software: 25 questions to ask before you hire a developer

Start with off-the-shelf tools if they fit your workflow. Custom software makes sense once you have outgrown them: your team works around the tool in spreadsheets, two systems do not talk to each other, or a process that sets you apart cannot be configured in a product built for everyone. Our free 30-minute discovery call is a build-versus-buy conversation first, and we will say so if a product you can buy is the better answer.

A SaaS product is built for many companies and you adapt to it. Custom software is built around your process and your data. SaaS is faster to start and cheaper per month; custom software costs more up front but removes the workarounds, integrates with the systems you already run, and puts you in control of the roadmap. Many clients keep their SaaS tools and add custom software only where those tools fall short.

Manual processes that eat staff time, such as approval chains, data entry, and report generation; systems that do not share data, such as accounting, CRM, e-commerce, plant-floor, or field equipment; and decisions that need information nobody can see in one place. One example from our work: automating a manual approval chain for a regional services firm cut processing time from 5 days to under 1 day.

Yes. Integration is most of our work. We connect QuickBooks, Salesforce, Shopify, the U.S. Postal Service, FBI systems, SAM.gov, ERP, CRM, warehouse and transport systems, plant-floor equipment, and legacy platforms rather than replacing them, and we modernize old systems incrementally with no downtime.

Yes, when one process is central to how you make money. Our smallest clients are companies of 3 to 10 people; our typical clients are mid-market organizations with 100 to 5,000 employees. We scope a small first phase so a small company can see a result in weeks, not a year.

Projects typically range from $50,000 to $500,000 or more, depending on scope, complexity, and integrations. Simple automation or integration projects sit at the low end. We give a detailed estimate after a free discovery session, and we scope fixed-phase engagements so you know the cost before committing.

Most projects deliver a working first phase in 8 to 12 weeks. Simple automation or integration projects can ship in 4 to 6 weeks. Complex platforms with many integrations take 6 to 12 months for full delivery, shipped in increments you can use along the way.

Three things: how many systems the software must integrate with, how much of the workflow is unique to you rather than standard, and compliance requirements, since healthcare and finance add review, audit, and security work. Scope creep is the fourth, and fixed-phase scoping is how we keep it out.

For a first project, a fixed-phase engagement: a defined scope, a price, and a delivery window, with the next phase scoped once you have seen the first. Hourly billing moves the risk to you. We do not bill as an hourly staffing firm.

Yes. That is how every engagement is structured: a first phase that solves one problem end to end, then later phases based on what you learn. Working software ships every two weeks inside each phase.

They depend on the contract. We offer a hosting and support agreement sized to the project and the level of support you need, from monitoring only to ongoing maintenance and optimization. If you prefer, we hand the system over to your team with training and documentation and you run it yourself.

Look at who will actually do the work (senior engineers or rotating juniors), whether they will scope a fixed first phase, how often you will see working software, what they integrate with, and what they put in writing about ownership. At Ingress, senior engineers with 10 or more years of experience do the building, and you talk to the people writing the code.

Who exactly will work on my project? How do you price, and what happens when scope changes? How often will I see working software? Who owns the code and the intellectual property? What do I receive if we part ways? What have you built for companies like mine? What does support look like after launch?

A freelancer suits a small, well-defined task with no long-term dependency. Offshore teams lower hourly rates but add time-zone, communication, and continuity risk, and someone still has to manage them. A local firm costs more per hour but gives you senior people you can meet, accountability, and continuity. We are in Canton, Georgia, and serve clients across the United States.

No written scope or estimate; a sales team you never see again after signing; junior staff doing the work under a senior name; no demo until the end; refusing to put ownership and licensing in writing; and hourly billing with no cap on a first project.

We do not publish client names, and we protect our clients' confidentiality. We can walk you through anonymized results from your industry on a discovery call. Published examples: a 15-year-old enterprise platform modernized incrementally with no downtime or data loss; an approval chain automated from 5 days to under 1 day; an AI-augmented development portal that cut feature cycle time from 6 weeks to 3; and production IoT fleet management across solar installations, smart kiosks, and building infrastructure.

Four steps. 1) Discovery and assessment, about two weeks: we audit your systems, interview stakeholders, and map workflows, then deliver a scope document with architecture options, estimates, and risks. 2) Architecture and design: technical architecture, data models, integrations, and security posture; you review wireframes and API contracts before product code is written. 3) Build and iterate: working software every two weeks for you to test. 4) Launch and support: deployment, data migration, user training, and production monitoring, then ongoing maintenance or a full handoff.

Most of it is in discovery: a few hours of interviews with the people who run the process. During the build, plan on a short review every two weeks to test the latest increment and give feedback.

A plain description of the problem and who it affects, a list of the systems involved and who administers them, any must-have deadlines or compliance rules, and a rough budget range. You do not need a specification; discovery produces that.

Working software every two weeks, not a status report. You test each increment, and your feedback shapes the next one. You see results every two weeks, not after months of silence.

It depends on which of our two engagement models you choose. Model 1, contract development: you provide the full requirements and you own all of the software. Patent rights belong to the inventor: if you bring us the solution, you hold the right to patent it, with Ingress listed as the implementer; if you bring us a goal and our team invents how to achieve it, Ingress Software owns the technical patent rights while you still own the software we built for you. Model 2, licensed delivery: a lower-cost, faster model where we implement the features using our best practices at a greatly reduced rate, and you receive a perpetual license to use the software as you see fit. Under Model 2, all technical IP and patents are owned by Ingress Software. We put the model in writing before work starts.

You keep what the contract gives you: under contract development, the code and documentation are yours; under licensed delivery, your perpetual license continues. Projects are hosted in Ingress Software's Git repositories during development, and depending on the model and your cloud needs, the system runs in your own cloud account. We document ownership and architecture so your team or another firm can sustain what we ship.

Security is designed in during architecture, not added before launch: security-minded design reviews in discovery, built-in compliance checks, HIPAA-aligned patterns for healthcare, and staged rollouts with audit trails for finance. Ingress Software carries standard business insurance and cyber security insurance.

After launch we handle deployment, monitoring, and user training, and we offer a hosting and support agreement sized to your project and the level of support you need. If you would rather run it yourself, we hand over the system with training and documentation. The terms are set in your contract.

It is built to grow: cloud-native architecture, documented interfaces, and incremental delivery mean new features are added in phases rather than rewrites. We modernize other firms' systems for a living, incrementally and with no downtime, so we build ours to avoid that outcome.