In case you are a small business or startup owner, we bet you’ve heard about all the obvious advantages that custom software can bring to the business. If not, catch up on the article!
Currently, it’s difficult to envision a prosperous business functioning without software apps. The latter supports small businesses and startups in automating workflows, controlling multiple resources, and optimizing various business processes. However, sometimes, it gets hard for businesses to choose between designing some non-standard solution and putting solid sums in custom software development.
The global spending on enterprise software between 2009-2021 is $599 billion, which shows 13.2% growth from the previous year.
The global consumer spending on mobile apps addressed in the second quarter in 2021 were seen as $34 billion.
The number of google play app downloads recorded in quarter 2 in 2021 is $27.6 billion. (Source: Statista)
In case you want to support your business with a software solution but doubt whether it can exactly help you, then knowing all the benefits of custom software development will come in handy for you to do the right thing. Before we reveal to you all the wonderful pluses, let’s learn the basics first.
In case you understand what type of custom software can assist your business but don’t have the relevant qualification to implement the idea in reality, this task should be left to professional software development companies. You will find those at a B2B marketplace called Engre.co. Here, engineers design win-win solutions to lead your business to success.
Wondering what the parameters are to choose the best software development company at B2B marketplaces? This short guide will help you.
Custom software development is considered the procedure of creating software apps that meet the specific requirements of a certain startup or small business. If they compare custom software with COTS solutions, custom options, as a rule, target particular problems. Unlike COTS software, the custom is designed exclusively for in-house realization, not resale.
There exist various forms of custom software development: Mobile design, mobile app development, website development, software tool design, back-end development, cloud computing, API development, embedded platform design, etc. In fact, nobody might enumerate all of the existing kinds of custom software development.
When it comes to the timeframe there are no set rules for software integration services and development solutions, nor there is any time-frame, there is no hard-and-fast rule. Software engineers can only say “it depends on the circumstances.” The release date will depend on the necessary functions, the current infrastructure, the experience of engineers within the team, and so on. The list is limitless.
Custom software development can’t be reached at one stroke, but in steps where each will vary in time depending on complexity and scale. For instance, the requirement collecting stage might need up to three weeks, while coding, in most cases, needs several months. Well, on average, it takes from 5 to 11 months to build custom software.
Custom software design undoubtedly delivers a whole bunch of advantages that we will consider further on. However, they should bear in mind several moments before investing in the design of a personalized software solution for your business.
Commonly, an enterprise mobile application development from the scratch is a difficult and time-consuming experience including the strong expertise of an engineering team from the ground up is a difficult and time-consuming experience including the strong expertise of an engineering team. However, if time doesn’t stand by you and your business badly needs the already integrated solution at any early date, then out-of-the-box software might be a better option at this point.
Another aspect to ponder on is the software creation price. In the short run, off-the-shelf software solutions can help you to economize as long as they maintain the desired functionality, correspond to your basic requirements, and don’t need any unique configurations.
At the same time, ready-to-use software can’t satisfy the needs of all types that business operations have nowadays. If your enterprise software development solution should cope with hard and unconventional processes, conform to high-security policies and industry regulations, or just serve as a stepping stone towards your business to improve — nothing is better than custom software development.
Determining the need for custom software isn’t challenging. Evaluating the current software solution while watching the competitors, you can pen down a list of necessary changes that might convince you to get a custom solution.
Below are a few points to determine the need for a brand new tailored product after collaborating with a dedicated and experienced IT consultation services provider.
As technology changes rapidly, companies realize the need for digital transformation services for scalability and maintaining a competitive edge in the market. Custom development leverages companies to choose from various technology stacks to design and customize their software that can also align with their customers’ needs.
Most companies rely on their legacy structures and applications to manage business operations. Most companies admit that it is difficult to move from legacy systems to modern systems. However, it is also true, for continuity, businesses need to adapt to the change. Collaborating with a legacy application modernization services provider, companies can develop a tailored solution that can align with the business model, follow unique in-house processes, and is easy to use.
The need for a custom solution also arises when the company does not have the requisite funds to buy a white-labeled solution and reap the benefits of automation. Customized solutions are affordable while staying in line with the market needs.
Companies that are thinking of developing something unique, look for tailored solutions. A tailored solution is designed that can be integrated with the comprehensive requirements of the company while being distinctive in the market.
When you have realized the need for change, it is time for a streamlining solution that can also maintain a stronghold in the market. A customized solution means a future-proof solution so that companies can integrate new processes and technologies into the existing software.
When the company wants a particular software that can be changed or customized as per the need of the company, is the time when you need a custom software development solution. Additionally, as well as, most importantly, the solution designed and developed by your dedicated software development team must assure security for both B2B and B2C data exchange. Though white-label security protocols can be expensive to bear, custom software gives you the leverage to choose only necessary data security protocols, which are ideal for your business’s safety and integrity.
Though the benefits of custom software are numerous, in this article, we reveal the key ones:
When dealing with business processes and software design, it is impossible to build a one-size-fits-all product. Despite the fact that a variety of high-quality ready-to-use software is available on the market, the probability that it will fit smoothly into your company is extremely low. Adjusting several built-in characteristics of your packaged software might cover a number of needs but it can’t compare to software developed from scratch only for your business.
Custom software development guarantees that your software will be able to cope with all your day-to-day tasks. Tailored software can be as difficult or intuitive as you want, and this feature makes it the perfect option for big companies, small businesses, and startups. If you possess software that is built to perform what you expect it to do, it will help make your life at work simpler.
As your small business or startup increases, so do your requirements. Buying an off-the-shelf application will be a problem once it is not capable of assisting your business or it gets too costly to license.
Ready-to-use applications may become a brilliant variant for tiny enterprises in their initial phase of the business cycle. When business operations are not yet steady, the accent is on creating the enterprise viable.
Designing an app that is able to scale and grow your business processes is a rational decision. Nobody desires their possibility for growth to be limited by software. If your small business or startup can afford the investment, it will be recouped by all those super-efficient functions custom software usually delivers.
Even if an off-the-shelf software solution looks like a simpler idea, it is essential to note that — with a ready-to-use application — businesses don’t truly own the product they are implementing.
All you do is pay regular invoices to utilize somebody’s product, making your business stick to their functionalities, features, regulations, policies, rules, updates, and so on.
Moreover, in case you ever make up your mind to get rid of someone else’s software, you don’t preserve anything because in this case, the software license just stops functioning.
However, if you decide to spend the money you would otherwise invest in licensing on custom software design instead, your business will receive and enjoy a solution or software that is entirely yours (which means you supervise this product completely). In other words, you will never get surprises from the software development firm because they simply generate the software, you own it.
For instance, think about leasing vs. owning an apartment. Many people opt for renting and that is a reasonable decision if the budget is restricted or your business is in the phase where you don’t require owning such a solution.
It frequently occurs that your business just demands the software for a one-time implementation. Why pay a license for the thing you don’t intend to multiple use?
Nevertheless, in case the solution is something you are going to use permanently, why not pay for your own custom software?
Businesses of all types know that with any software, security is a great challenge. Particularly, when it comes to the thing that gathers and stores info regarding your business, staff, or clients.
Data threats are numerous and the harm they can bring to the business’s budget and reputation are frequently impossible to revitalize.
Does this mean that ready-to-use software at its core is less secure than custom software? The answer is “no”, but it is usually a simpler goal for hackers/cyber-criminals firstly for the fact that here, a true “ownership” is absent.
As far as off-the-shelf software (like Microsoft Office) is, as a rule, commonly used and frequently used by hundreds of various companies, hackers will attack it more and more.
Well, hackers will go for custom software as well but in the only case where they are to specifically target a certain business.
Custom software is more secure than ready-to-use one because hackers can get more familiar with the latter and, as a result, will already know potential vulnerabilities.
Unbeatable security techniques usually solve that problem, but the point is they cope with the more obvious threats, and even in this case hackers always try to reveal a method to discover another vulnerability they exploit.
It looks like a never-ending battle between cyber-security specialists and cyber-criminals where the commercial software is the war zone.
Businesses that count on ready-to-use software that often does not deliver 100% of the characteristics and capabilities the company requires for its operations usually face more disruptions on the contrary to businesses that integrate custom software.
Using designed software that entirely satisfies the unique needs of a certain business supports teams in performing their duties more effectively and work with bigger confidence.
In most cases, employees are more driven to execute their responsibilities at a high level when businesses provide them with the relevant software to assist their job needs.
When employees get more driven and productive, they get more work completed in a shorter period which is beneficial to the business’s revenue.
It is natural that there may be several other applications that your business may be practicing.
When things go like that, chances rise that you will wish that all the software interacts with each other. You may require creating specific interfaces which simplify the process of transferring data from one app to another one.
Those features are challenging to get in a ready-to-use tool. However, such compatibility can be designed and fully represented in custom software. Off-the-shelf software may possess several options to unite with other applications but this may occur not too smoothly as you may desire it to happen.
The way various departments in business work and communicate together will 99% establish the success of the business.
For instance, manufacturing will possess its own operations, which entirely differ from marketing, and the last, in turn, performs its own thing in relation to the HR department.
In a sense, every department functions in some kind of isolation. However, to set up effective communication, if one department is implementing a certain app, the last requires it to be integrated with other departments.
For instance, accounting and HR are to work together to calculate employee salaries.
The clue to such smooth integration consists in partnership and data exchange and this is exactly what excellent-developed custom software ensures.
Now, you are aware of all the benefits custom software development delivers to the business. In case you have received enough inspiration to build your own custom software and are ready to start searching for a talented engineering team to implement the project, you should consider several nuances to make sure that your software will be well-designed:
Well, defining requirements is held as a matter of course. However, at this phase, it’s important to ensure you are precise in communicating what you want so it can’t be interpreted wrong a little further down the line.
Design a strategy for the development cycle of custom software. Such a plan will accentuate the main parts of your project, for example, initiatives, roles, responsibilities, deliverables, value, and cost.
Frequent testing usually guarantees that everything functions in an appropriate order. But note that this should possess not only a tech accent, but your product engineering services provider should pay attention to how the user experience is as well.
Documenting the process is considered a universal best practice when it comes to developing any type of solution in any field. Each phase of the development should be described in detail from the testing stage and beyond.
Even in case you possess a talented and experienced team of in-house engineers, it’s essential that your developers possess the knowledge and skills necessary to design potentially complex custom software. If it is not your story, you could risk the integrity of the solution as well as your business. So, it is a brilliant idea to search for an IT professional services provider outside your own team.
