Go Beyond the Limits of Off-the-Shelf Applications: With WebRatio Platform You Get Comparable Time and Costs to COTS Solutions

According to Gartner®, 58%^[1] of company’s application spend  goes to COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf)^[2] solutions for their business systems—ready-made solutions already available on the market. 

This choice, however, brings several limitations:

1. Limited customization 

   1. ​COTS applications offer only basic configurations: you cannot deeply modify or add core features. Often, companies are forced to adapt their processes to the software, instead of the other way around.

   2. No access to source code or full control over system logic.
        

2. Risk of vendor lock-in

   1. ​You depend heavily on the vendor for updates, patches, and new features. If their roadmap doesn’t align with your needs, you are tied to decisions you cannot influence. 

   2. If the product is discontinued, migrating or replacing the software can be costly and complex. 
       

3. Complex integration 

   1. ​COTS applications often do not integrate easily with existing systems, creating technological silos or requiring expensive intermediary solutions.

   2. These difficulties may call for additional middleware or connectors, driving up overall costs.
       

4. Scalability and hidden costs 

   1. COTS solutions typically use tiered plans or user/runtime fees: as your company grows, costs can rise significantly.

   2. You may end up paying for features you never use, reducing cost efficiency. 
       

5. Generic user experience and impact on efficiency

   1. COTS interfaces and workflows are designed for broad audiences, not specific business contexts. This can lead to misalignment with internal operations and slow adoption. 

   2. Non-essential or irrelevant features can complicate daily use. 
       

6. Security and compliance not tailored to your needs

   1. Standard solutions rely on generic vendor practices that may not meet the specific regulatory or security requirements of your organization.
       

7. Lack of competitive differentiation 

   1. Competitors have access to the same tools, limiting opportunities to create unique advantages through software. 

       

Overcoming the Limits of COTS Without Extra Time or Costs

The higher productivity of WebRatio Platform’s Low-Code compared to traditional development methods offers companies a competitive edge: the ability to build digital systems tailored to their business needs, with timelines and costs comparable to adopting existing COTS solutions. 

The benefit is concrete: you get a solution designed specifically for your company—aligned with your business rules, processes, and unique activities that set you apart from competitors.  

For example, purchasing, configuring, and customizing an ERP can take small and medium-sized businesses anywhere from 3 to 9 months, while large enterprises may need up to 18 months ^[3]. With WebRatio Platform’s Low-Code, development from scratch can take a similar timeframe, as in the case of the ERP extension for Disugual^[4].

Costs are also on the same level—or even lower for large projects. A small business may spend up to €25,000 for a COTS ERP, a mid-sized company up to €125,000, and for large enterprises, the investment can double.

WebRatio Platform’s flat subscription model addresses the need to control expenses by excluding any costs tied to the usage of the created solution, such as the number of end-users, the number of applications developed, or the Cloud storage consumed. The only cost is based on the number of developers using the Low-Code platform. 

This way, companies can eliminate dependence on application vendors, without having to wait for software product updates or request modifications to fit their processes and activities—all without increasing investment, while gaining applications designed around their operational and business goals. 

Sources

[1] Gartner®, Build vs. Buy Strategy: Top Principles for Enterprise Applications, di Tad Travis, Denis Torii, Anne Thomas, Akis Sklavounakis, 17 February 2025. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and HYPE CYCLE is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_off-the-shelf

[3] https://www.netsuite.com/portal/resource/articles/erp/erp-statistics.shtml

[4] https://www.webratio.com/site/content/en/news-detail/webratio-platform-9-disugual-extended