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Service specification 4 sections Three relevant builds

Customer Portal Software
Development

Get it scoped See the evidence
01

Three we have built

These are live systems, not sample screens. Each gives an outside user a private place to get what they need. See more software projects in our portfolio.

  1. 01

    A separate client portal

    A nationwide facilities business with four service arms - hygiene, technology and robotics, recycling and waste, and integrated services - plus a separate client portal. The catalogue had to sell all four without reading as four different companies.

    Built for ISM Facilities Services
  2. 02

    Member area, certificates and renewals

    A membership platform for a country sports insurance association. Members choose a tier, buy cover online and get their certificate as a PDF in minutes. Behind the front end sits the member area, the renewals cycle and the back office the team runs it all from.

    Built for Country Cover Club
  3. 03

    Gated content, media and partner access

    A members platform for financial advisers. Gated market updates and analysis, business and marketing toolkits, video and podcast libraries, an events calendar, and a partner zone carrying sponsored placements from the fund houses.

    Built for Adviser Hub
Customer service team testing a portal journey on a tablet
Test the whole customer journey

A portal is useful when customers can finish the job without sending an email.

02

What a customer portal is

A customer portal is a private part of a website. Customers log in and find their own orders, files, cases or invoices. They do not need to email your team for each update. The portal is built around what they need to see.

Customer or client?

The software is much the same. Businesses selling services often say client portal. Shops and service teams often say customer portal. Use the word your users know.

Building one or buying a portal product

Most searches for portal software turn up ready-made products. Zendesk, HubSpot, Zoho Creator, Clinked, Softr and Knack are good options when they fit. Buy one when your customers need standard self-service tasks. That may include a login, files, tickets or invoices. The product team maintains the software.

A built portal earns its place when the thing customers want to see already lives in your own system. A product cannot show a record it does not hold. So you either copy data into it, or accept that the portal shows less than your team can see. A built portal reads the record you already keep.

The other split is per-user pricing. Products usually charge for each account, which matters if you have hundreds of customers who sign in twice a year. A build costs more at the start and someone has to look after it afterwards. That trade is worth stating plainly before anyone commits.

A portal is one type of bespoke software. It can use API development to read data from the systems you already run.

What a portal fixes, and what it moves onto you

A portal takes work off your inbox. It also puts your business in front of customers in a new way.

General to this kind of project rather than to any one product. No prices, because none are ours to publish.
What to weigh What a portal fixes What it moves onto you
The inbox Routine questions get answered by the customer looking, not by someone replying. Anything the portal cannot answer still lands on a person, now with less patience.
Your data on show Customers see their orders, documents and history whenever they want. Whatever is wrong in your data is now visible to the customer too.
Working hours People help themselves at nine at night, and nobody is on shift. A portal that is down at nine at night is a new kind of complaint.
Doing things, not just seeing them Renewals, uploads and approvals can happen without a phone call. Every one of those is a process that has to be right, not just a screen.
Who it suits It pays back fastest where the same question arrives every day. With a handful of customers, an email and a phone call are cheaper and warmer.
Keeping it It becomes the place customers expect to go. Which means it can never quietly stop being maintained.

What it replaces

The portal moves routine answers out of email. Customers can read the current record without waiting for a reply.

Customers chase order status by email

A staff member opens another system, finds the order and types the answer back.

The customer signs in and reads the latest status from the order record.

Documents travel as attachments

Old versions stay in inboxes. The right file is hard to find when it changes.

The portal shows the current document against the right account or case.

The same question gets answered again

Each reply starts from scratch, even when the answer is already known.

Common answers and account details stay ready for the customer to read.

Nobody knows what was said to whom

Messages sit across personal inboxes and calls. The account has no shared history.

Messages and updates sit against one record with a clear date and author.

03

What goes in one, and what it costs

The useful parts depend on what customers ask for today. The scope lists each record and who may see or change it.

  1. 01

    Logins, roles and permissions

    Each person gets a private account and sees only their own records. Roles decide what a customer, a colleague of theirs and your own staff can each open, change or download. Sign-ins and changes are logged, so an account can be closed or a permission withdrawn without touching anything else.

  2. 02

    Documents, orders, messages and alerts

    Files sit with the right customer, order, case or renewal. Customers can upload files and share documents with your team. Status and history are clear without an email. Updates stay against the record rather than in one person's inbox. Customers can change approved details themselves. The portal can send an alert when something they care about changes.

  3. 03

    Support tickets and reporting

    Customers can raise and track support tickets in the portal. Your team can keep replies and status changes with the right account. Simple reports show activity and common requests. These self-service records can stay in the portal or pass to another system, as agreed in the scope.

What drives the cost

A portal price needs the users, records, actions and data source written down first. We do not guess from a page count.

  1. 03.1

    How many user types

    Customers, staff, managers and partners may each need a different view.

  2. 03.2

    What it shows, and from where

    Each order, file or case needs one system that owns the current record.

  3. 03.3

    What customers can change

    Viewing is simpler. Changes need checks, permissions and a clear history.

  4. 03.4

    How the data gets in

    A live system link, file import and manual entry each need different work.

How the number gets set
  • Every user role listed
  • Each source system named
  • View and change rights agreed
  • A fixed price against that scope
04

Common questions

What is customer portal software?
Customer portal software is a private part of a website. Customers sign in to see information linked to their account. That may include orders, documents, cases, invoices or messages. A bespoke portal shows the records that matter to that business. It can also let customers update approved details or raise a support ticket. The aim is simple. Each person gets one clear place to find current records and complete routine tasks without waiting for an email reply.
What is the difference between a customer portal and a client portal?
Usually, only the label changes. Retail and service firms often say customer portal. Professional firms tend to say client portal. Both give an outside user a secure login to their own records and self-service tasks. Those tasks may include file uploads, document sharing or order checks. The best label is the one your users know. The name does not set the features, the access rules or where the main copy of each record is kept.
Can a portal connect to the systems we already use?
Yes. A portal can read approved data from an existing CRM, ERP, accounts package or order system. It can also send changes back when that is safe. The scope sets which system owns each record, so two copies do not drift apart. It also states which data a customer may change. Some links run as soon as a record changes. Others run on an agreed schedule. Failed updates need a clear log so staff can find and fix them.
Is a portal secure?
It can be, when security is part of the design. Each user needs a private account and the right permissions. Sensitive actions need checks, logs and secure connections. The scope also covers backups, updates and how access is removed. Staff should be able to close one account without changing anyone else. The portal must check access each time it opens a record. A signed-in user should never be able to guess a link and view another customer's data.
Who owns the portal once it is built?
It depends on the build. A wholly new codebase belongs to the client. Dev Moves owns the Zeus Laravel CMS and licenses it to the client. The project-specific frontend is packaged separately and belongs to the client. Your customer data remains yours. The handover states what belongs to you, what is licensed and what support covers. It also includes the documents needed to run the portal or move it to another suitable developer.
Should we build a portal or buy portal software?
Buy a product when your customers want the standard things: a login, files, a ticket and an invoice. Build one when the records customers want to see already live in your own system, because a product cannot show a record it does not hold. Per-user pricing is the other test. Products usually charge for every account, which matters when hundreds of customers sign in twice a year. Try the closest products first. Their limits will show if a build has a clear job to do.
What about GDPR and customers' personal data?
A portal holds personal data, so the scope has to say what is stored, who can see it and how long it is kept. Practical steps include one account per person, permissions checked on every record, logged access, and a clear way to close an account and remove access. We can build those in. Your own lawful basis, privacy notice and retention policy stay yours. The scope should also cover exports, corrections and deletion requests, so staff know how each request will be handled.
What happens after the portal goes live?
The handover lists what you own, what is licensed and what support covers, with documentation included. We can then maintain the portal, fix faults and add to it. Handover does not create an unlimited support promise, so what is included is set out in the agreement. The same agreement should state who watches failed system links, applies updates and deals with user access. Your team keeps control of the customer data and can ask for a usable export.
Can customers raise a support ticket in the portal?
Yes. A portal can hold support tickets itself. Customers can raise them, add details and track replies in one place. It can also pass each ticket to a helpdesk product your business already runs. The scope decides which system owns the ticket, its status and its history. That stops the portal and helpdesk from both treating their copy as the main record. Customers still get a clear view, while your team works in the system chosen for support.

Every question we get asked, in one place

What a portal is usually wired into: bespoke CRM system, field service management software, mobile app development and web application development.

Next step

Show us what customers keep asking for

Bring the emails, files and status requests. We will map what belongs in a portal and what should stay in the systems you already use.

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  • Building for businesses across the UK
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Question 1 of 5
What are we building?

Choose the closest fit. It does not lock you into anything.

What needs to work better?

Describe what happens now and what you want to change.

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