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Knowledge hub · 5 guides

Custom enterprise apps

Software built just for you, when no product fits the way your business works.

What it is

Custom applications are built for one organisation: a claims portal, a dealer ordering system, a field-service app, a pricing engine. You own the code and can shape every screen and rule.

Buy what's standard, build what sets you apart. Custom software costs more up front and needs a team to run it, but it can capture the processes that make you different. Low-code platforms sit in between.

Explainer

Build or buy?

  • Good fit · Standard

    Buy SaaS

    Use it as it comes.

    • Payroll
    • Email
    • Expenses

  • Good fit · Sets you apart

    Buy and extend

    Configure a platform, then build on it.

    • CRM plus your own apps
    • ITSM workflows

  • Poor fit · Standard

    Low-code

    Quick internal apps and workflows.

    • Approvals
    • Inspections
    • Requests

  • Poor fit · Sets you apart

    Build custom

    Own the code for what sets you apart.

    • Pricing engine
    • Customer portal
Two questions decide it: how unique the process is, and how well an existing product fits. Most enterprises end up with something in every box.

Explainer

What's inside a modern app

  1. Web & mobile

    What people see and touch.

  2. APIs & services

    Business rules, exposed through APIs.

  3. Data

    Databases, files and links to other systems.

    • SQL
    • Search
    • Integrations

  4. Cloud & DevOps

    Containers, pipelines and monitoring.

Most custom apps share this shape. Each layer can use different languages; what matters is clean APIs between them, automated tests and a pipeline that ships safely.

Guides

Guides in Custom enterprise apps

.NET & C#

Microsoft's open-source platform for web, desktop, cloud and back-end services.

  • Line-of-business apps in Microsoft shops
  • High-performance APIs
  • Modernising older .NET Framework apps
Typical project: 2–7 monthsSee vendors

Java & Spring

The workhorse of enterprise back ends: banks, insurers, telecoms and retailers run on it.

  • Core systems with high volumes and long lifespans
  • Banks, insurers, telcos and large retailers
  • Teams that need a deep hiring pool
Typical project: 4–9 monthsSee vendors

React, Node.js & TypeScript

The most common stack for modern web apps, portals and APIs.

  • Customer and partner portals
  • Rich, interactive internal tools
  • Teams that ship every week
Typical project: 3–6 monthsSee vendors

Mobile apps

Apps for iPhone and Android: one shared codebase, or two native ones.

  • Customer apps for loyalty, ordering or self-service
  • Field service and inspections, often offline
  • Apps for frontline staff
Typical project: 10–20 weeksSee vendors

Low-code platforms

Build business apps visually, in weeks, on platforms like Power Apps, OutSystems and Mendix.

  • Replacing spreadsheets, email approvals and Access databases
  • Departmental apps with a few hundred users
  • Prototyping before a bigger build
Typical project: 4–10 weeksSee vendors

At a glance

GuideBest fitPricingTypical project
.NETBusiness apps and APIs in Microsoft and Azure estatesFree and open source; tools such as Visual Studio have paid tiers2–7 months
Java & SpringLarge, long-lived back-end systems in regulated industriesFree and open source; some JDK builds and support contracts are paid4–9 months
React & Node.jsCustomer portals, web apps and fast-moving product teamsFree and open source3–6 months
Mobile appsCustomer apps, field-worker apps and frontline employee appsFrameworks are free; Apple and Google charge developer-account fees and may take a share of in-app sales10–20 weeks
Low-codeInternal apps and workflows that need to ship fastPer user or per app subscriptions; costs rise with users and premium connectors4–10 weeks

Glossary

Key terms

Microservices
An app split into small services that can be deployed independently.
API-first
Design the API before the screens, so web, mobile and partners share it.
CI/CD
Automated build, test and release on every change.
Technical debt
Shortcuts that make every future change slower and riskier.
Legacy modernisation
Rewriting or re-platforming old systems, usually step by step.
Low-code
Visual tools that build apps with little hand-written code.

Also worth reading

Other areas

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