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Custom software

Every line of code is written for one client.

Custom software, at Codedesign, means web platforms, portals and operational applications designed around one company's processes, built on mainstream technologies, documented, and then run by us or handed over to your team.

  • Enterprise platforms and portals
  • Production, logistics and back-office apps
  • Installable web apps for mobile
  • Documented, maintained, handed over

When standard tools stop fitting

Standard software is designed for the average company. When your processes are part of how you compete — how you provision a ship, pack a machine shipped in pieces, approve a supplier — the average becomes a cost: spreadsheets around the system, manual steps between screens, a team that adapts to the tool.

Custom software closes that gap. It is not always the right answer, and we say so when a product on the market does the job: see bespoke software or platform.

What we build

  • 01

    Enterprise platforms and portals

    One portal in front of many services: procurement, documents, HR, budgets, operations. Each area has its own data, screens and roles, and they share identity and master data.

  • 02

    Operational applications

    Software for production, warehouse and logistics: planning, packing lists, weighing, loading plans, barcode-driven shipping and labels.

  • 03

    Back-office systems

    Master data, approvals, documents, reporting, and exports to Excel and PDF, designed around the way your team decides.

  • 04

    Installable web apps

    Applications that run in the browser and install on phones and tablets, for people who work in the warehouse, on the shop floor or on the move.

  • 05

    Modernisation of existing software

    Ageing applications rewritten or extended one area at a time, while the existing system keeps working.

  • 06

    Plain technology choices

    .NET on the server, Angular in the browser, SQL Server for data, Microsoft Azure or your own servers for hosting, Keycloak for single sign-on.

How we work

  1. 01

    Map the work

    We spend time with the people who will use the system and write down the process as it really is, workarounds included.

  2. 02

    Design before code

    Data model, roles, integrations and architecture are designed and recorded before development starts.

  3. 03

    Release early and often

    Working versions are released in short cycles, each with a changelog, so you follow progress in the software, not in reports.

  4. 04

    Run it, or hand it over

    You choose: we run and evolve the system, or we hand it over to your team with the documentation to take it forward.

Principles

  • Written for one client

    No generic product dressed up as bespoke. The system is designed for your processes and your people.

  • Documented as it is built

    Architecture decision records, a changelog per release and technical documentation are part of the work, not an extra.

  • Mainstream technology

    Supported, widely used technologies, so that any competent team can maintain the system after us.

  • Security from the first screen

    Single sign-on, roles and permissions are designed at the start, not added before go-live.

  • Built to evolve

    A modular structure, so a new area can be added without rewriting the rest.

In practice

For a luxury cruise line we built a modular enterprise platform: 36 back-end services behind one portal, from procurement and crew payroll to the loading plan for provisioning ships in port. Read the case study. For an industrial fan manufacturer, a production and shipping application has reached 68 releases, each documented in a changelog. Read the case study.

Further reading

Questions we are asked

What is custom software development?

Custom software development is the design and construction of an application for one organisation's processes, instead of configuring a product sold to many. The company gets software that fits its way of working, integrates with its systems and can evolve with it; in exchange, it takes on the cost of building and maintaining it.

Is custom software more expensive than a SaaS product?

At the start, usually yes. Over several years it can cost less, when per-user licences grow with the company, customisation is limited or integration is expensive. It costs more; it lasts longer. Codedesign compares both options before starting, and this article lists the factors.

Which technologies does Codedesign use?

Mostly .NET on the server, Angular for web interfaces, SQL Server for data, Microsoft Azure or on-premises Windows servers for hosting, and Keycloak or Microsoft Entra ID for single sign-on. They are mainstream and well supported, which keeps a system maintainable by other teams too.

Can our own team take over the software?

Yes. Every system Codedesign builds is documented as it is built — architecture decision records, a changelog per release, setup and deployment guides — so that it can be handed over to an internal team. Alternatively, Codedesign runs and evolves it.

Do you work with companies outside Italy?

Yes. Codedesign is based in Taggia, Liguria, and builds software for international groups, with interfaces in the languages people use: recent projects run in Italian, English and German.

Can you modernise a legacy application?

Yes, preferably step by step: new modules are built next to the old system and take over one area at a time, while data stays synchronised between the two. It avoids a single, risky switch-over. See systems integration.

Custom software

Which process is your team working around?

Tell us where the spreadsheets and manual steps are. That is usually where the system should start.

Request a private meeting

Email

info@codedesign.it