Buy vs Build in Grant Management
When organisations plan new grant management systems, one question surfaces time and again: should we buy a proven solution, or build one on existing platforms?
Clear policy direction
Governments across Europe have set out strong guidance on this choice. In the UK, the Technology Code of Practice emphasises buying commodity software where it exists, and only building bespoke solutions when there is a clear need. EU and national digital strategies take a similar stance, highlighting interoperability, standards, and cost-effectiveness.
Why build is tempting
With platforms such as Microsoft Power Platform, Oracle Fusion, Workday, SAP, or ServiceNow already in place, building grant processes onto them can appear attractive. These platforms are licensed, widely adopted, and marketed as low-code environments that promise speed and flexibility.
The challenges of building
But experience shows that extending enterprise platforms into full lifecycle grant management brings risk:
- Complex governance and release management overheads
- Weaker user experience for external applicants and reviewers
- Projects that grow in scope and cost over time
- Gaps in meeting the sector-specific compliance and audit needs of funders
The case for buying
Specialist GMS platforms like AIMS are built for the complete grant lifecycle — from call design and application, through review and award, to payments and monitoring. They deliver quicker implementations, lower long-term risk, and sector-specific functionality out of the box.
Not buy or build, but buy and align
Buying doesn’t mean abandoning platforms. The right approach is often to buy and integrate: adopting a specialist GMS as the system of record for grants, while aligning with enterprise finance, HR, and analytics systems already in place.
AIMS’ position
With over 30 years in the grant management market, AIMS combines the strengths of a proven, configurable solution with the ability to align to broader digital strategies. For funders, this means:
- Confidence in a system designed for grants
- Flexibility to configure to unique programmes
- Alignment with enterprise IT investments
- Compliance with UK and European digital standards
For organisations weighing buy vs build, the evidence and policy direction point the same way: buy and align. And AIMS is designed to deliver exactly that.
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One Platform, Many Programmes: Scaling Multi-Agency Grant Administration with a Single Grant Management System
How can multiple agencies collaborate effectively when managing shared funding programmes? This article explores how a multi-agency grant management platform can centralise applications, evaluations, reporting and oversight, enabling organisations to coordinate funding programmes more efficiently and transparently.
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Grants in a Corporate ERP Transformation: Five Architecture Considerations Before You Decide
ERP transformation programmes are reshaping corporate systems across finance, HR and operations. This article explores five key architectural considerations when integrating grant administration into an ERP-led environment, and how organisations can avoid embedding long-term complexity into their funding systems.
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What is grant management software?
Grant management software is used by grant makers and administrators to help manage grants, funding, accreditation, corporate giving, scholarships and other awards programmes.
Grant management software cuts down on administration time for grant makers, ensures transparency and accountability in grant giving, and allows funders to measure the impact of their grant giving by providing simple access to data.
If you are at the beginning of your journey to find the right software solution, you may feel that you don’t know the right questions to ask. Feel free to get in touch to find out what you should be asking a prospective grant management software supplier.
Let us help you get what you need.
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Whole-of-Government Grant Management: Three Shared Service Models That Work
Across government, grant management is under pressure from every direction: rising demand, tighter assurance requirements, higher expectations of transparency, and the practical challenge of running dozens (sometimes hundreds) of schemes across departments, agencies and arm’s-length bodies. A common theme sits underneath most of these challenges: fragmentation. The Problem: Why Public Sector Grant Management Is Fragmented The […]
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Compliance in grant management isn’t one-size-fits-all. While public funders face statutory regulations like the AI Act, Data Act, or Procurement Act, other grantmakers — from medical charities to family foundations — operate under different governance, ethical, and regulatory pressures. Understanding these variations is key when selecting or configuring a grant management system (GMS). Education & […]
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Compliance Beyond the Public Sector: Challenges for Research, NGOs and International Development
When we think about compliance in grant management, most attention falls on public sector obligations like the AI Act, Data Act, Procurement Act, or NIS2. But for research councils, charities, and international development agencies, sector-specific compliance frameworks are just as critical — and sometimes more complex. Research Sector NGOs & Charities International Development Cross-Cutting Themes […]
