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# How should small firms decide whether to buy, build or bodge their software?
- URL: https://www.ipswich.co.uk/how-should-small-firms-decide-whether-to-buy-build-or-bodge-their-software/
- Published: 2026-08-27T07:51:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-27T08:26:12.000Z
- Description: A new book by Ipswich IT consultant Richard Maly sets out a plain-English framework to help small business owners navigate one of the most common – and costly – decisions they face: what to do about their technology.
- Author: Oliver Rouane-Williams
- Tags: News, Business, Maly IT Solutions

**Why it matters:** Small and medium-sized businesses regularly face a choice between buying off-the-shelf software, commissioning something bespoke, or making do with a quick fix – but, according to Maly, no one ever tells them how to approach that decision, leading to expensive mistakes.

**The details:** "Buy, Build or Bodge: How business owners make software decisions that don't come back to bite them" publishes on 5 September, and will be available on Amazon in paperback (£9.99) and on Kindle.

- It is the first book from Richard Maly, founder of Maly IT Solutions, an Ipswich-based IT consultancy providing bespoke software development and fractional CTO services to SMEs across Suffolk and Essex.
- Maly has nearly 30 years of experience in the software industry.
- The book gives small business owners a jargon-free guide to asking the right questions when deciding whether to buy, build or bodge their software.

**What they're saying:** Maly said he wrote the book after watching businesses across Suffolk and Essex make the same expensive mistakes over the years.

"I've been writing software for nearly 30 years, mostly alongside the people who actually use it, and in that time I've seen things," he said. "Business owners usually know something needs to change. The hard part is making decisions that are complicated and carry real financial weight, and time and again I see bodges happen instead. That's nobody's fault, because no one ever tells you how to do it. The book is a plain-English, jargon-free guide to asking the right questions, so you can make an informed choice about whether to buy, build or bodge."

**For context:** The book arrives at a time when small firms are under pressure to adopt AI and new technology without clear guidance on what will actually help.

**The bottom line:** Maly hopes his first book will give small business owners the confidence to make software decisions that do not come back to bite them, whether that means buying, building or bodging.

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