The verdict in three sentences
A custom customer portal letting 600 industrial clients view service reports, contracts and invoices costs, as a 2026 estimate, between 50,000 and 120,000 EUR with a German agency or IT services firm, over a 3 to 5 month project. Application maintenance and support adds 1,000 to 2,500 EUR a month. Payback rests mainly on cutting about 30 % of customer service calls and on faster invoice collection.
What the portal must do from version 1
The head of operations at a 200-technician company servicing compressors, production lines or HVAC plants gets the same requests every week: 'can you resend the report from the visit on the 12th?', 'where is the quote for replacing the motor?', 'when is the next preventive visit?'. The portal must answer these questions with no human involvement.
Version 1 usually covers five modules: signed service reports (PDFs produced by the CMMS or the technicians' mobile app), the preventive maintenance schedule, contracts and covered scope, invoices and reminders, and service requests with ticket tracking. Access rights are central: at a multi-site client, the maintenance manager of one plant should only see that site, while the purchasing director sees everything.
| Module | 2026 range (EUR) | Technical dependency |
|---|---|---|
| Client accounts, multi-site rights, optional SSO | 8,000 to 16,000 | Client directory |
| Service reports (view, search, PDF) | 10,000 to 22,000 | CMMS or technician app |
| Preventive schedule and history per asset | 8,000 to 18,000 | CMMS |
| Contracts, scope, SLAs | 5,000 to 12,000 | ERP or CRM |
| Invoices, reminders, online payment | 7,000 to 16,000 | Accounting ERP |
| Service requests and ticket tracking | 8,000 to 20,000 | Dispatch tool |
| Client dashboard (uptime, interventions) | 4,000 to 10,000 | Consolidated data |
The low end (50,000 EUR) assumes a CMMS with an API and a view-only scope. The high end (120,000 EUR) includes ticket creation, online payment and several connectors.
Comparing quotes: IT services firm, agency, offshore team
For the same functional scope, price gaps between suppliers come from day rates, the share of consulting and the level of commitment. Here are 2026 benchmarks, compared with the Kolonell grid of 11/10/2026 for custom applications.
| Supplier type | Portal budget (EUR) | Monthly support | Watch points |
|---|---|---|---|
| National IT services firm | 90,000 to 120,000 | 1,800 to 2,500 EUR | Strong governance, day rates 900 to 1,200 EUR |
| Berlin web agency | 50,000 to 90,000 | 1,000 to 1,800 EUR | Check CMMS integration skills |
| Coordinated freelancers | 35,000 to 60,000 | Variable | Key-person dependency |
| Kolonell, medium application | 4,000,000 to 7,000,000 FCFA (6,100 to 10,670 EUR) | Premium maintenance 120,000 FCFA (180 EUR) | Focused scope, Dakar team, video calls and sprints |
| Kolonell, complex application | 7,000,000 to 15,000,000+ FCFA (10,670 to 22,870+ EUR) | Depending on changes | Multiple connectors, multi-site, payment |
A portal with five modules and two connectors falls in the 'complex' bracket. Whatever the supplier, insist on a functional specification, ownership of the source code and a reversibility plan.
Mini case study
Typical scenario: Jonas, head of operations at a 200-technician industrial maintenance company in Berlin, manages 600 client accounts. His customer service team receives 2,500 calls a month, averaging 7 minutes.
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With 30 % of calls avoided, that is 750 fewer calls a month, or 87.5 hours. At a 45 EUR fully loaded hourly cost, the saving is about 3,940 EUR a month, roughly 47,300 EUR a year. If online invoice access cuts average payment time by 5 days on 30 M EUR of revenue, working capital needs fall by about 410,000 EUR. For an 85,000 EUR portal and 1,500 EUR monthly support, 103,000 EUR in the first year, direct payback lands around 26 months, not counting the cash gain. These figures are estimates to recalculate with your own volumes.
FAQ
How long does an industrial customer portal take to deliver?
Allow 3 to 5 months, including 3 to 4 weeks of scoping. Timing depends mostly on the quality of your CMMS and ERP APIs.
Do clients need a mobile app?
Rarely in version 1: a responsive web portal covers 90 % of client use. A mobile app makes sense for technicians, not for buyers.
What does 1,000 to 2,500 EUR a month of support cover?
Bug fixes, security updates, connector monitoring and a small volume of changes, often 2 to 5 days a month. Anything beyond is quoted separately.
How do we secure reports and invoices?
EU hosting, strong authentication, access logging and per-site rights are the minimum under GDPR. A penetration test before go-live costs 5,000 to 10,000 EUR.
Can we start with an MVP?
Yes: view-only service reports and invoices already cover most calls, for 40,000 to 55,000 EUR. Tickets and online payment come in phase 2.
Let's scope your project. Tell us about your CMMS, your ERP, the number of client accounts and your priority modules: we will price an MVP and a phased roadmap. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
