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Custom software & apps
When the process is unique, the tool can be too
When the work lives across spreadsheets, emails and programs that do not talk to each other, we build management tools, client and staff portals, web apps and mobile apps around the way your business actually works.
When the tools become the limit
From tools that impose compromises to software built on your process
Spreadsheets, separate applications and manual procedures can work for a long time. When they start producing manual steps, duplicated data and forced workflows, a bespoke solution lets the tool be built around the way the business actually works.
Where the friction appears
Duplicated data
The same information lives in several places and gets updated by hand.
Missing functions
The standard software offers plenty, but not what the process actually requires.
Forced workflows
The team adapts the way it works to the tool’s limits and creates parallel steps.
Little visibility
Status, responsibility and useful data are not available in one reliable place.
Web & Mobile
The right platform, on the right device
We do not start from the technology, but from the product that has to be built. A web application, a mobile app or one integrated ecosystem: we define the architecture that suits the users, the processes and the goals of the project.
Web application
When the work happens in the browser, on any device.
For example
- Platforms and SaaS products
- Dashboards and business systems
- Portals and private areas
- B2B and B2C systems
- Internal tools for the team
- Nothing to install or manage
Mobile app
When the experience needs more than a responsive site.
For example
- iOS and Android apps
- Cross-platform development
- Push notifications
- Fast access and authentication
- In-app payments
- Device-specific features
Web + Mobile
When the platform and the app are one product.
How it holds together
- One backend
- APIs shared by both
- Common users and roles
- The web to manage and analyse
- The app for everyday use
- Synchronised data and integrations
Do you really need an app?
Not every project needs to be published on the stores. In plenty of cases a web app or a PWA offers a better experience, more sustainable costs and simpler maintenance. The technology is chosen for the product, not to follow a fashion.
Who it is for
When a solution built on the process becomes reasonable
Custom software makes sense when the way of working is specific, stable enough to be modelled and important enough to justify a dedicated investment.
Businesses with specific processes
For work no standard product covers without significant compromise.
Growing operations
To move past spreadsheets and manual steps before they become a bottleneck.
Teams with fragmented tools
To centralise data, roles and operations spread across several systems today.
New digital products
To turn a validated problem into a first usable product, on the web or on the stores.
What it can include
The foundations of a tool that has to last
We do not pick functions from a catalogue. We model users, data and operations around the task the software has to make simpler, more visible or more reliable, on the web, on mobile or on both.
Dashboards and reports
Information, indicators and priority tasks in one view, useful both to work and to decide.
Users and roles
Access and responsibilities separated according to what each person has to do.
Workflows
States, rules and approvals that make the process traceable.
CRM and business systems
Data and operations modelled on how the business actually sells and works.
Portals and SaaS
Private areas and products accessible to clients, partners or end users.
Mobile apps
iOS and Android applications, for work in the field or for daily use away from a desk.
Backend and APIs
The engine shared by web and app, and the data exchanged with the tools already in use.
Notifications and documents
Messages and files generated at the moments the process calls for.
Data and security
Structure, permissions and protections appropriate to the information being handled.
15 days of post-launch support included
After going into production we stay available to check the system works on real cases, to deal with any faults in what was released and to clarify how it is used by the people using it daily.
New features, or work outside the agreed scope, are assessed separately.
The first release contains the functions needed to produce the main value. Anything that does not serve to verify or support that flow can enter a later phase.
Are you holding the process together with spreadsheets and workarounds?
Show us what has to happen, who is involved and where visibility is lost today. From there we can assess whether building is genuinely needed.
How we work
Building in phases, with decisions that can be checked
We reduce the uncertainty before the code, and keep every release small enough to be tried in the real work.
Discover the Hextern methodAnalysis
We define the problem, the users, the goals and the constraints.
Processes and data
We model the information, the roles, the states and the operating rules.
UX and prototype
We make the flows and the screens visible before full development.
Development
We build the agreed core in increments that can be checked.
Testing and release
We verify real cases, permissions, integrations and going into production.
Evolution
We use feedback and priorities to define the following iterations.
Build or adapt?
When developing a bespoke solution genuinely makes sense
Custom does not automatically mean better. The right choice depends on how common the process is, on what compromises the existing tools impose and on what removing them is worth.
Standard software
It is often the most efficient choice when the market already solves the problem well.
- The process is common to many businesses.
- The features that are needed already exist.
- Configuration and limited customisation are enough.
- The cost of adapting stays below the cost of building.
Custom software
It makes sense when adapting to the tool costs more than modelling a tool on the process.
- The process creates a specific advantage or responsibility.
- The tools impose significant operational compromises.
- Particular integrations, data or roles are required.
- The system has to evolve alongside the company.
Start from what is needed
You don’t have to build everything in the first release
Where the project allows it, we start from the features that generate the main value and use real experience to decide what to build next.
- MVP
- Real use
- Feedback
- Evolution
Possible directions
What shape can the project take?
These are scenarios, not packages. Each one can live on the web, on mobile or on both: one project can pass through more than one, but the first release has to have a legible main job.
Internal application
A tool for the team’s work.
Centralises operations, data and responsibilities that live today in spreadsheets or separate applications.
May include
Dashboard, workflows, roles
Portal or platform
A space shared with clients or partners.
Makes data, requests, documents and activity available through dedicated access.
May include
Private areas, documents, services
CRM or business system
The commercial and operational process in one system.
Models contacts, cases, states and activity on how the company actually works.
May include
Contacts, cases, reports
SaaS product
A digital service aimed at many users.
Starts from a validated problem and an MVP clear enough to be used and measured.
May include
Onboarding, plans, administration
Timings and investment
A defined first release, and a roadmap that can evolve
The starting reference covers software with a clear scope. Features, roles, integrations, data migration, security requirements and the presence of a mobile app can change the investment and the duration significantly.
Build investment
- Custom softwareIndicative time · 4-8 weeks
- fromStandard price
€5,000Promotional price €2,500-50% Launch
Larger projects
Platforms, mobile apps and phased systems
Roadmap defined in phases
On quotation
For large projects we avoid one undifferentiated estimate: we separate discovery, the first release and the following iterations, each with goals and decisions that can be checked. Mobile applications belong here, because scope and publishing vary too much for a single reference.
Going into production and 15 days of post-launch support included in the project.
The indicative time refers to the first release with a defined scope. Integrations, migrations and approval cycles can extend the duration.
The initial proposal makes clear what enters the first release, what stays out and how changes are handled. The start and the roadmap are agreed after the analysis.
After the 15 days of included post-launch support, ongoing management is optional. Projects managed by Hextern start on the Evolve plan, from €169 per month.
Systems with heavier infrastructure or operational requirements are sized separately.
Frequently asked
Frequently asked questions about custom software and apps
The decisions to settle before turning a process, or an idea, into a product used every day.
It depends on the scope of the first release, the number of roles, the integrations and the complexity of the data. The published reference is a starting point; after the analysis you receive a proposal with the functions, phases and investment defined.
No. Where the project allows it, we start from the core that produces the main value and postpone secondary functions to iterations guided by real use. An MVP is not a fragile version: it is the smallest release capable of verifying the project’s main value.
Yes. A mobile app can be the product itself, or the mobile half of a web platform with a shared backend and shared users. We assess together whether an application published on the stores is needed or whether a web app answers better, and if it does, we say so.
Yes, if it offers reliable ways to integrate. We check the APIs, the exports, the limits and the suppliers’ responsibilities before including the connection in the scope.
The code, the approved assets, the credentials and the access delivered are yours. Any third-party services or libraries naturally keep their own licences, which are clarified before use.
We define roles and permitted operations while modelling the process. The controls are designed around the real data and responsibilities, rather than relying on what the interface happens to show.
Yes. The roadmap can be updated using feedback, usage data and new priorities. Every evolution is estimated and approved before it enters development.
After going into production, 15 days of post-launch support are included, to check that it works on real cases. Ongoing management afterwards is optional: it is defined by the infrastructure, the criticality and the pace of evolution of the system, and stays separate from the cost of building it.
The first step
Let’s build the tool around the way you work
Tell us about the process, the current tools and the result you cannot get today. We’ll assess whether building, integrating or a simpler route is the right answer.
- A 30-minute call
- Free and with no commitment
- Straight to the technical lead