The pros and cons of creating an in-house location sharing solution vs working with Glympse
A good location sharing solution can offer your customers a seamless customer experience using the latest technology. But building an in-house solution that is scalable and powerful requires a team of experts with the right skills and experience. After all, in today’s technology-dependent world the success of your software solution can directly affect the success of your business.
When it comes to choosing the right location sharing solution for your business, should you build your own or enlist a software partner? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons.
The Cost Of Creating a Location Sharing Solution
In-House
Building your own in-house solution has many costs that you may not have considered, such as:
- Resources to build
- Fees for mapping
- Fees per SMS
- Fees per email
- Ongoing cloud costs
- Ongoing maintenance
- Ongoing support staff
Not to mention opportunity costs—what will you need to say no to in order to devote the time and resources needed to take on such a significant project?
Outsourced
This is not to say that you avoid all of these costs by outsourcing. However, in most cases outsourcing can save your business a significant amount of money. Costs associated with outsourcing to Glympse include:
- One-time implementation fee
- Fees per transaction
However, we get volume discounts on mapping, SMS text and more, which saves you money on transaction fees. And we save you on opportunity costs as well—Glympse is a partner that focuses solely on the last-mile customer experience, freeing you to focus your time and energy on the core of your business.
Technology and Expertise Needed to Develop Location Sharing Software
In-House
To build a top-notch location sharing solution, you need staff with a wide range of technological expertise. It is crucial to have experts who are well-versed in digital web/mobility and who can keep up with the ever-changing world of location permissions. You will also need to have clearly defined specifications, including solutions for battery optimization. In addition, your team must be capable of dealing with the technical challenges that will inevitably arise with this type of software solution, such as integration with enterprise systems and cloud hosting.
Outsourced
Glympse offers 12+ years of location expertise and experience. We are trusted by top brands in more than 80 countries, and our solutions are currently localized to support over 32 languages. We provide all of the technology and expertise you need at a fraction of the cost of hiring your own team.
Time to Market – How Quickly Can You Get Your Solution Up and Running?
In-House
As you consider building your own delivery or curbside solution, it is important to evaluate how long it will take you to implement a complete solution. In today’s quickly shifting market, can you afford to wait? Will your customers stick around for 1-3 years while you build your solution, or will they opt for a competitor who already has a last mile solution in place?
Outsourced
Glympse has a complete solution ready to implement, including advertising, messaging, IVR integration and voice assistant skills. We offer a fast pilot program and quick implementation time to get you up and running.
Data Privacy & Security Needed For a Safe Location Sharing Solution
In-House
Probably the most critical element of building this type of software solution is to ensure data security and privacy, especially when it comes to the compliance aspect of personally identifiable information (PII) data. Is your team ready to build in a way that you can rest assured you won’t have a data breach? Can you confidently assure your customers their data will be safe?
Outsourced
When you partner with Glympse, you don’t need to worry about the safety and privacy of your customers’ data. We are committed to security and privacy, we have a patent in temporary location sharing, and we are SOC 2 Type 2 Certified.
ROI – Will Your In-House Solution Bring Returns?
In-House
When you take on a project that requires such a significant investment, you need to be assured that you will see a return in the form of cost savings, increased sales and improved customer experience and longevity. Will the solution you build be robust enough to give you a solid ROI? Are you confident enough to convince your top executives and investors?
Outsourced
Glympse can provide data and case studies from our current partners to prove that, if implemented well, Glympse will provide cost savings. Our solution also includes the potential to increase sales by offering customers the opportunity to add on to their order through suggestive selling. And the effect our solution has on the customer experience is proven. We can offer customer testimonials from our clients that show the influence our solutions have had on their loyalty and happiness. Time and time again, customers who use our solutions have a positive experience—and happy customers become loyal customers.
Customizing Your Location Sharing Solution
In-House
One of the biggest pros of creating your own solution in-house is customization. Building your own solution gives you enormous flexibility in this area. As you consider whether to build in-house or outsource, think about what customizations you need and make sure any outsourced features you are considering can make those accommodations for you.
Outsourced
Glympse’s solution is highly configurable and is built off of best practices developed by working with our partners over the last 12 years. We will work with you to customize our solutions to meet the needs of your business so you can offer your customers the absolute best in service and ease of use.
Innovation Necessary for a Long-Term Solution
In-House
The last mile is a rapidly changing industry. If you choose to build in-house, you must be prepared to add new features and functions as needed. Is your team committed to years of continued innovation to stay ahead of the competition? Should your limited engineering resources be allocated to continuous innovation in this industry, or should you reserve those resources for the core business propositions of your company?
Outsourced
At Glympse, we are experts in the last mile, specifically around the customer experience. We are continually evaluating trends and enhancing our solutions to ensure they will keep our partners ahead of the game. We will continue to invest in being the leader in location sharing, adding features to our solution as we continue to add more customers in more industries.
Maintaining Your Software Solution
In-House
Consider the long-term maintenance requirements for software solutions. Are you prepared to commit resources to maintain your last mile solution for the long haul? Even if you have the resources to build your own features, will you be able to keep abreast of the continuous changes in technology, such as maintaining the versions on Android and iOS and updating the app to support new mobile devices?
Outsourced
Glympse has a team of experts who are focused and committed to continually enhancing our solution. We stay on top of the maintenance required to keep all relevant and updated so you can focus your time and energy on running your business.
Glympse offers a flexible platform with enterprise-grade location APIs and SDK, as well as fully packaged software solutions for product & service delivery, curbside pickup (BOPIS), and roadside assistance that combine proactive notifications, real-time live map tracking, personalized offers, voice capabilities, and instant feedback combined in a single, personalized and persistent web-based experience for end-consumers. When you partner with Glympse, you have all of this at your disposal.
