> I feel like we could do much better with a product catered specifically to us. This is likely true, but still might have an overall RoI under 1. I think you

> I feel like we could do much better with a product catered specifically to us. This is likely true, but still might have an overall RoI under 1. I think you have to be in control of the fundamentals of what makes your company different ("don't outsource your core competency"). If you can't immediately see how software is part of that and you have a viable path forward otherwise, I'd tend to advise you not to bring software in-house. Very few software projects are as easy as they seem, are delivered on a timeline that looks like the original schedule, and experienced devs are not inexpensive. (Yes, you can absolutely attract experienced devs to any industry; just give them interesting problems, competitive pay, and leadership that isn't utterly terrible.) I have our logistics group (mostly outbound parcel, so a different part of the industry) reporting into me. We found a niche that we felt gave us a competitive advantage from having that team in-house [and I think that's been proven to be correct], but it was far beyond "the existing software is terrible" to drive that decision. OP: Email is in my profile.