As a Product Owner, I’ve witnessed the impact of the Department for Transport’s recent mandate requiring local authorities to digitise their Traffic Regulation Orders (D-TROs) in the coming years. Now, councils face a pivotal choice: should they build a custom system or adopt an existing solution?
This decision holds significant weight. While developing a bespoke system provides control and customisation, there are strong arguments in favour of opting for a third-party Software as a Service (SaaS) solution. So, how should they decide which path to take?
I know this isn’t a simple yes-or-no decision. It’s worth taking the time to:
- Talk to different service providers and compare the offering
- Assess your council’s resources
- Chat with neighbouring councils about their experiences with the process
Or, why not speak with a GovTech expert? Our team would be happy to evaluate your situation – just get in touch by clicking here.
For a quick snapshot of both options, I have noted down some most crucial differences, using AppyWay as the off-the-shelf D-TRO software example:
On top of that, there are some product-specific benefits of the SaaS solution like AppyWay:
- In-house data extraction services: already partnered with trusted survey providers.
- Existing relationships and integrations: with enforcement providers, mapping providers, EVCP providers, etc.
- Maintenance and updates included: no internal responsibilities for security patches, etc.
- Scalability: purchase modules as needed, and scale over time.
- Commitment to DfT DTRO requirements: without internal planning or implementation.
- Integration capability: with other service providers without internal API development.
- Dynamic D-TRO compliance: ongoing updates and new restriction types managed externally.
At AppyWay, customer collaboration is at the heart of our product development. We’re constantly gathering feedback and hosting workshops to ensure we’re meeting real needs. If our customers don’t ask for a feature, we question whether it’s truly necessary.
Want to see how we work? Join us as an observer at our next user group on November 6th in Sheffield. It’s a great opportunity to experience our customer-centric approach firsthand. Leave a message here if you’d like to join.
