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Internal tools and business systems built for your staff
Replace a spreadsheet or the edge of a packaged tool with a staff tool that has queues, approvals, dashboards and role access. See where it starts.
Written by Cameron Young, CEO · Reviewed by Tara Buckley, COO on
Quick answer:National Digital builds internal tools and business systems for staff, replacing a spreadsheet or the edge of a packaged tool with queues, approvals, dashboards, an audit trail and role access.
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Quick answer
When does a business need a custom internal tool?
A business needs a custom internal tool when staff keep working around a spreadsheet or the edge of a packaged tool. The tool replaces that workaround and adds queues, approvals, dashboards, an audit trail and role access.
Additional Context
The decision to build rests on whether the packaged tool can be configured to match the process. Each workaround adds manual work and a risk of error.
Sources
- Digital Service Standard
Guidance from the Digital Transformation Agency on assessing whether a digital service should be built, bought or integrated.
Internal tools
What this hub covers
Internal tools and business systems cover software that staff use to run the business. The usual starting point is a spreadsheet that has outgrown its job, or a packaged tool that does most of the work and leaves a gap at its edge. The tool that replaces it carries queues, approvals, dashboards, an audit trail and role access, and it connects to the accounting, CRM and booking systems the business already runs.
What an internal tool includes
A queue lists the work waiting for a person and shows who holds each item. An approval step records who agreed to what and when. A dashboard reads from the same records, so the figures match what staff see in the queue. The audit trail keeps each change with the person who made it, and role access limits each person to the records their job needs. These parts are built once for the tool and reused for each new workflow added to it.
Related hubs
A tool that customers or partners sign in to belongs under customer portals. A report or dashboard that is the whole deliverable belongs under data and reporting. A rule that moves data between systems with no person involved belongs under workflow automation. Ongoing fixes and improvements to a tool after handover come under application support.
Where to start and what it costs
The Product Development Plan is the first step. It costs $3,950 (Product Development Plan) and produces the scope, the architecture and a fixed quote in a pack you own. An internal tool build takes 20 – 60 team days and is estimated at $29,900 – $89,700 (Internal tools and business systems) for a first production release.
Next steps
Two ways to get a number.
Get a range now
Seven questions, an instant cost range. No email address, no callback.
Estimate your projectGet a defensible figure
A Product Development Plan is a fixed $3,950 engagement: two working sessions, then the scope, architecture and estimate a build is run from — credited in full against the build.
See the Product Development PlanTalk to us about an internal tool
Tell us which spreadsheet or tool your staff work around today and what they need it to do.