Many prepackaged mobile software providers claim to provide custom applications; however, most of the time they are only customizing fields within a predesigned software package. The result is, instead of getting a program designed around the needs of an organization's unique business model, the organization needs to modify its business model around the program's limitations. It's like buying a suit at a store that only sells three different sizes and sucking in your stomach to fit into an overly tight waist line. With a truly custom mobile system from ACE, you get a custom fit, tailored only for you, programmed to meet the exact needs of your business.

With prepackaged software you have access to a great tool. Unfortunately, it's the same tool everyone else has access to, too. By choosing to use the same software as your competitors, you choose to give yourself no competitive advantage with this purchase. As you'll see in the below section on the true cost of ownership, prepackaged software is often not as cheap as it looks. For what ends up being a sizeable investment, you should maximize your return by setting yourself ahead with a software package which suits your unique business needs and has room to grow as you do.

Determining the real, actual price of software can be confusing and complicated, so let's go back to our suit analogy. Remember the store that only sold black suits in three sizes? Now let’s imagine you discover that the store doesn't actually sell them, but rents them. It's the same with many prepackaged software providers. Often, organizations first need to purchase the hardware and then pay a per-user monthly licensing fee for the software. Now, if you only plan to use a suit on a short-term basis, say a wedding, than renting is definitely the right choice. The suit may not fit quite right, but that's fine because you are only using it for a weekend. However, if you need a suit to wear to work every week, would you rent one?

Per-user monthly licensing agreements can actually penalize organizations for being successful. First, the longer a company stays in business, the more it pays for the software over time. Second, as the company grows, it pays more for each new sales person it adds. Therefore, the total cost of ownership increases indefinitely. It's like renting a suit for work that has an ever-increasing monthly payment

Maybe your sales flow looks like this:
Or, maybe it looks completely different. That's our point. With a prepackaged program, an organization needs to modify its sales to function within the parameters of the program. With ACE on the job, creating custom software, it's the other way around. We seek to understand an organization's specific business model as if it were our own, then design the software to meet its exact needs. There is no "one size fits all" here.

Unlike prepackaged software, you will have the competitive advantage of using a program that isn't available on the open market. Buying prepackaged software is like going back to the three-size suit store and finding they only sell suits in black. They might be able to throw in some fancy shoes or cufflinks, but what if you want pinstripes? ACE's custom software is like picking out your favorite fabric and having a skilled tailor design a suit that will never fit anyone else as well as it fits you.

As we explained in the section about the difference between prepackaged software and custom software, the per-user monthly licensing agreements actually penalize organizations for being successful. First, the longer a company stays in business, the more it pays for the software over time. Second, as the company grows, it pays more for each new salesperson it adds. Therefore, the total cost of ownership increases indefinitely.

It's like renting a suit for work that has an ever-increasing monthly payment.

Pricing for ACE's custom software is the exact opposite because the software is purchased, not rented or leased. As an organization grows and adds people to its sales force, the total cost of ownership actually decreases. As with a suit, you only pay when you need a little more tailoring. Time to let the waist out a couple of inches? No problem, and no need to buy, or rent, a whole new suit.