1,000 technology leaders · 6 territories · 2026
Not every organisation has realised it yet.
Explore the findingsof organisations now choose custom over off-the-shelf
Peer benchmark
Four questions. See how you compare to 1,000 of your peers — and what the data says about organisations in your position.
Theme 1
Integration is simultaneously the top driver of custom software adoption and its greatest delivery challenge — the same force fuelling demand and throttling execution.
% citing integration as a reason to build custom
Theme 4
One in four organisations is building AI capability without a governance framework.
Prioritised for investment or transformation, next 12–24 months
The perception gap · Theme 5
of mid-level managers report scope creep as a recurring delivery challenge
point to integration challenges as their primary delivery blocker
"Misalignment between business goals and technical implementation usually happens when stakeholders and technical teams interpret objectives differently. This leads to mismatched deliverables."
Survey respondent
The gap rarely stems from lack of ambition. It stems from measuring success differently at each level.
Theme 10 · The offshore reality check
use offshore partners
of those report better outcomes
Base: Organisations using offshore partners
We work with technical partners in two different ways. The first is where they are embedded in our teams and we treat them like our employees. This is what we have with NashTech's offshore development team. It works well and it's got us to where we are today.
Matt Pilcer, CTO · Unified, US
The risk is not offshore itself. The risk is the wrong operating model around it.
Theme 9 · Partners
of smaller enterprises see their partner as strategic
of larger enterprises see their partner as strategic
The jump from trusted to strategic is not a procurement decision. It is a relationship architecture.
The full picture
Voices from the research
The time to build software is when it gives you an advantage in a competitive market. We build our business around industry best standards — so what tips the balance is commercial needs rather than what a supplier can offer us.
IT Leader · North West, UK
We see our custom software providers as partners — they have to be part of our team. It's more productive and it creates transparency too.
IT Leader · US
What we ultimately look for is a custom software partner who understands us. They need a deep understanding of who we are, including our values and ethos.
Ross Bray, IT and Operational Senior Manager · Velociti, UK