The second rule of custom development

Yesterday I pronounced the first rule of custom development: “Do not write custom code for open source CRMs.”

After you live with that for a while you might decide to take the training wheels off anyway. Rules are kind of for kids, right?

So we have the second rule:

2. If you feel you must write custom code for your open source CRM, make sure you know exactly why you're doing it.

Knowing why doesn't just mean pointing to a feature you'd like to have.

It means naming a business goal, a real goal that has numbers and units, and references tangible benefits or business value that will be worth the effort and expense of what you're about to undertake.

Here's the thing:

You can do anything you want with CiviCRM. But just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

All the best,
A.