SaaS Applications
What software do you need, should you build or buy it, and how far along are we?
One table. Five answers per row. Stop here before going deeper.
Capability Router
Essential = needed before day one. Primary = needed within first quarter. Secondary = test when ready. Defer = skip until demand pulls.
Verdict logic: Build what touches your data model. Buy commodity. Bridge everything else. ROI methodology: Priority = (Current + Fit + Value + Edge) / 4 × Edge.
Operations Suite Feature Scan
Recent product research reinforced the "one operational record" pattern: CRM, work delivery, assets, people, fleet, marketing, support, and governance share one identity and customer/job model instead of being stitched together after purchase.
Already covered in the index:
- Customer and revenue — CRM, sales pipeline, proposals, contracts, invoicing, payment tracking, recurring billing, support tickets, customer portal, SLA timers, escalation rules, and relationship history.
- Work and knowledge — projects, tasks, workboards, kanban/calendar/gantt/table views, whiteboards, wiki, unified calendar, email client, templates, signatures, and AI draft replies.
- Analytics and marketing — first-party web analytics, email open/click tracking, bot filtering, session replay, behavioural signals, heatmaps, funnels, hosted forms, field-level analytics, and CRM-linked submissions.
- Identity and governance — SSO, RBAC, audit logging, configurable dashboards, regional hosting, encryption at rest/in transit, API/webhooks, and documented sub-processors.
Under-specified in the superset:
- Quote-to-job-to-invoice flow — quote acceptance, job conversion, labour/parts/travel capture, invoice draft, accounting sync, follow-up tasks, and recurring service contract trigger.
- Shop-floor execution — machine scheduler, operator tablet, floor display, NFC login, time capture, scrap and quality capture, inspections, NCRs, calibration register, and audit evidence bundles.
- Fleet operations — live GPS map, trip history, geofences, configurable alert rules, road-charge compliance, fuel intelligence, suspected theft flags, OBD-II diagnostics, SIM/device management, remote commands, and device shop.
- Workplace hardware — NFC/PIN time clocks, visitor logbook, courier notifications, tablet fan-out alerts, floor-display kiosk, training matrix, and qualification expiry controls.
- Operational compliance — legal/NDA portal, tender workflow, data access/export/delete requests, statutory visitor records, segregation of duties, and audit-pack export.
Index fit: keep this as a superset gap signal, not a vendor entry. The current router has most categories, but field operations, IoT/sensor, workplace operations, and compliance evidence should move from "defer" toward named feature IDs when a venture pulls them.
Essential
| Category | Verdict | Coverage | Top Build Features | Buy Options | Spec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identity + Access | Hybrid | 38% | AUTH-001 L3, AUTHZ-001 L2 | Clerk, Auth0, Privy | Spec |
| AI + Intelligence | Build (core) | 25% | AI-001 L3, AI-008 L2 | Claude, OpenRouter, VAPI | Spec |
Primary
| Category | Verdict | Coverage | Top Build Features | Buy Options | Spec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accounting | Buy | 7% | BILL-002 L1 | Xero, QuickBooks | Spec |
| CRM | Build (core) | 75% | CRM-001 L3, CRM-002 L3 | HubSpot, Pipedrive | Spec |
| Workflows + Automation | Buy + Bridge | 60% | WORK-001 L3, WORK-002 L2 | n8n, Zapier, Gumloop | Spec |
| Analytics + Data | Hybrid | 36% | ANAL-001 L3, DATA-007 L2 | PostHog, Julius.ai | Spec |
| Email Marketing | Buy | 0% | — | Klaviyo, Resend | Spec |
| Landing Pages | Build | 17% | MKTG-004 L2 | Webflow, Bolt, Lovable | Spec |
| Project Management | Buy | 0% | — | Linear, ClickUp | Spec |
Secondary
| Category | Verdict | Coverage | Top Build Features | Buy Options | Spec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blockchain | Build (core) | 0% | — | Sui SDK, Solana Web3.js | Smart Contracts |
| Design | Buy | 0% | — | Midjourney, Canva, Ideogram | Spec |
| Video Production | Buy | — | — | Arcads, Reel Farm, Synthesia | Spec |
| Community | Buy | 0% | — | Circle, Discourse | Spec |
| SEO | Buy | — | — | Ahrefs, Surfer SEO | Spec |
| SMS + Social | Buy | 0% | — | Twilio, Manychat | Spec |
| Search | Buy | 0% | — | Algolia, Typesense | Spec |
| Real-Time | Hybrid | 0% | — | Convex, Pusher | Stack |
| File Management | Buy | 20% | FILE-001 L2 | Supabase Storage, R2 | Spec |
| Security | Buy | 0% | — | Dynatrace, OneTrust | Spec |
Defer
| Category | Verdict | Why Defer |
|---|---|---|
| IoT + Sensor | Defer | No venture activated yet |
| Geospatial | Defer | No venture activated yet |
| Booking + Scheduling | Buy when needed | Cal.com, Calendly |
| Field Operations | Defer | No demand signal |
| Mobile | Defer | PWA first, native later |
| Loyalty | Skip | Premature until scale |
| Direct Mail | Skip | Low digital leverage |
ROI Leaders
The top 10 features by ROI score — what to build when you build:
| Rank | Capability | ROI Score | Category Above | PRD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Multi-Agent Orchestration | 94.5 | AI + Intelligence | Agent Platform |
| 2 | Smart Contracts | 76 | Blockchain | Sui Wallet |
| 3 | Tokenomics | 76 | Blockchain | Sui Wallet |
| 4 | Knowledge Mgmt | 76 | AI + Intelligence | Agent Platform |
| 5 | Process Automation | 67.5 | Workflows | Intel Functions |
9 of top 10 already have a PRD. Full rankings →
Dig Deeper
- Buy or Build — Data sovereignty vs. strategic value: the decision matrix that sets your vendor strategy
- Tech Review — Five-gate process to anchor any tool decision to a feature gap before scoring begins
- Horizontal SaaS — 40+ JTBD specs with top products and build/buy verdicts per capability
- Vertical SaaS — Industry-specific software patterns for healthcare, real estate, supply chain, and more
- All RaaS Functions — 177 features scored by ROI, the full catalog backing the router above
Context
- Tech Review — Five-gate process: anchor to gap → score → verdict → update matrix
- Horizontal SaaS — 40+ JTBD specs with top products and venture toolkit
- Vertical SaaS — Industry-specific patterns
- Buy or Build — Sovereignty decision framework and applied verdicts
- All RaaS Functions — 177 features scored by ROI
- Commissioning Dashboard — L0-L4 build progress by feature ID
- Tech Stack — Which tool fills which position
Questions
Which software categories generate data that becomes your competitive advantage — and which are commodity pipes?
- If CRM is 75% built but Blockchain is 0%, yet Blockchain scores higher on ROI — what does that tell you about sequencing vs scoring?
- What happens to your business if any "Reserve" vendor shuts down tomorrow — and does the verdict column reflect that risk?
- When a category says "Buy + Bridge", what's the trigger that converts bridge to build?
- Which "Defer" category would jump to "Primary" fastest if a venture activates its vertical?