Project management guide
Should a large organization buy enterprise project management software or build its own?
Buy an enterprise project management product such as Smartsheet when your governance is close to standard and you want teams working in it soon. Build a custom system when you would spend the license budget fitting a product to your stage gates and resource rules, because over five years the product keeps charging per seat and a system you own has no license fee.
| What you are comparing | A product | A custom build |
|---|---|---|
| Cost over five years | License fees every year for every paid seat, usually on a quoted Enterprise plan, plus the configuration and administration needed to keep it matching how you work. The total grows with headcount. | A one-time build scoped in writing, then running costs such as hosting, database and email. No licenses, so the total does not grow with headcount. |
| Per-seat fees | Yes. Every product on our lists is priced per user, member or seat, and the plans a large organization needs are mostly priced by quote. | None. Adding a project manager, a contractor or an executive who only reads status adds no fee. |
| Fit to your process | You configure the product toward your intake, gates and approvals, inside what your plan allows. What it cannot model ends up in spreadsheets and slide decks beside it. | Built from your process, including the scoring, funding gates and resource rules that are specific to your organization. |
| Time to launch | A team can sign up quickly, but an enterprise rollout is a project of its own, with security review, configuration, migration and training before it is the system of record. | Starts with discovery and a written scope. Working screens are shown during the build, and the schedule is set in that scope. |
| Portfolio and resource planning | Available, and often held on the top plan. Several vendors list portfolio or resource management as Enterprise features. | Built to the way your PMO already compares demand with capacity, with the reports your steering committee reads. |
| Security and audit controls | Sign-in, provisioning and audit controls come ready-made on the upper plans, backed by the security program the vendor runs. | Built to your requirements on accounts you own. You decide what is logged and kept, and you produce the evidence for your auditors. |
| Changes after launch | Limited by plan and by what the vendor exposes. Automation, integration and API use is often metered. | Anything can change, because you own the code. Changes are scoped and built as you need them, and nothing is metered by a plan. |
When buying enterprise project management software is the right answer
Buy when your governance looks like most governance. If your phases, approvals and reports are close to what the products offer, configuration covers the rest and you gain software that thousands of people already know how to use.
Buy when your security team wants controls that are already built and documented by a large vendor. That is an advantage for regulated work, and a custom build does not hand it to you.
When building a custom enterprise project system is the right answer
Build when the product has become a project of its own. The signs repeat. Portfolio decisions are made in a spreadsheet exported from the tool, each department has configured it differently, and the PMO spends its time reconciling.
Build when the license bill is more than the software is worth to you. Per-seat pricing means a growing organization pays more every year for the same software. A custom system costs what it costs to build and then what it costs to run.
How to compare the cost of an enterprise subscription with a custom build
Do not compare a first-year license quote with a build. Compare five years. Add up paid seats on the plan you need, the administration you staff or contract, and the add-ons. 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 has to do and how many other systems it has to agree with. A written scope gives you the number to put beside the product total.
What a custom build involves, and how to ask about one
Questions buyers ask
Is a custom system cheaper than an enterprise license?
A custom system is not always cheaper than an enterprise license in the first year. A build costs once and a subscription repeats per seat, so the comparison usually turns toward custom as headcount and years add up.
What if the developer who built our system is no longer available?
A developer who is no longer available was a risk with custom software for a long time. Black Badger answers it two ways. Every account the system runs on is created in your name, and the code is written so that another developer can read it and carry on.
Can a custom system work with the finance and HR systems we keep?
Yes, a custom system can work with the finance and HR systems you keep. Most enterprise project systems need budgets from finance and people from HR, and a custom build connects to the systems already in place. A tool that works does not need replacing.