When it comes to choosing a piece of social value software, there’s a lot to consider. Does the solution align with your organisation’s priorities? Will it integrate seamlessly into your operations? Is it user-friendly? Does it actually solve your particular data inefficiencies?
These are all important questions to ask yourself. And a logical endpoint would be to build a solution in-house. After all, who better to build a piece of software for your team than your team themselves? But just because you’ve got a talented IT team who could build you a suitable social value solution doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right choice for you. Let’s take a closer look at this.
First, the pros of keeping it in-house…
You get full creative control
One of the biggest benefits of building a solution from scratch is that you maintain full control. Many (though not all) existing solutions will tie you into a specific framework or way of tackling social value. But there are no rules or limitations to how you approach this in-house. You can choose the features, measures, and workflows your staff need the most.
Building in-house results in a piece of software that’s uniquely built around your organisation’s priorities, operations, activities, and metrics to success.
You’re not left trying to work around an existing off-the-shelf solution or compromising on any aspect of your social value.
You can gather user input as you build
One of the most important considerations to make when choosing social value software is whether it is simple to use. It’s all well and good investing in a flashy solution, but not if it doesn’t actually make your staff’s lives easier.
Building something in-house bypasses this problem completely. You can consult with your staff every step of the way. And you can ensure the final product is accessible for all. You can be confident you’ll have a product that solves all the problems and inefficiencies they experience on a daily basis.
Now for the cons of building your own solution…
You’ll face ongoing costs
As well as the upfront costs, resources, and hiring of new staff (if you don’t already have the necessary skills), building a solution in-house can leave you with ongoing costs, too.
Inevitably, the solution will have to evolve. Who knows where your organisation’s social value will be in even a year’s time.
Your services or priorities might change. New legislation could come in that completely changes how you’re required to approach social value. And making these core system changes will only steal additional time and resources from your in-house team.
You might not always have the manpower or resources to adapt and this leaves you at-risk of being left behind as your industry moves forward. Or you might find yourself settling for low-quality social value data that no longer hits the mark. By opting for a third-party provider, this is no longer a concern. It’ll be the provider’s responsibility to evolve with the wider social value landscape.
Managing the solution will eat into staff’s time
Hosting your own social value solution will add extra responsibilities to your IT team. During the initial build, you’ll be taking them away from their daily responsibilities. You could find yourself understaffed or resourced in certain areas.
Post-build, there are also security concerns to consider, general maintenance, and fixing any errors that crop up. Do you have enough IT staff to accommodate these extra responsibilities? Can you afford to expand your team?
The last thing you want are critical tasks like cybersecurity, training and supporting staff, and service development to suffer because your IT team has too much on their plates. Or to have a social value system that’s under-supported because their attention is elsewhere.
You face greater risk
Building a piece of social value software won’t necessarily be in your team’s job description. It can be a lengthy, complex process with no guarantees the final product will even work how you expect it to.
By opting for existing software, however, you get a solution that is tried and tested. It will be highly tuned and have gone through many iterations. And this brings a lot of security and peace of mind.
Plus, by building in-house, you miss out on additional support from your provider to minimise errors and onboarding issues. Rather than worrying about whether the system will work or rushing to fix issues as they crop up, your staff can focus on critical tasks, confident your provider is doing all the hard work behind the scenes. You can also lean on their expert support moving forward.
Building a social value solution in-house has some big benefits. But for many organisations, the time, resources, and risk of starting from scratch are simply too high. Especially when you’re still relatively early on in your social value journey. Luckily, there are plenty of existing solutions out there that won’t force you to compromise on the quality of your social value.
Impact makes capturing, evaluating, and reporting your social impact simple. We’re one user-friendly platform for every aspect of your social value. To find out more, schedule a demo, or get in touch with the team on 0161 532 4752.