No two businesses are alike 一 their strategies, operational management, target audience, and USPs that underpin their marketing plans to gain a competitive advantage 一 vary.
Likewise, their requirements to meet the business goals differ.
Off the solutions, with their one size fits all underpinnings, can provide needed solutions to the business.
But, to meet the requirements better, tailored solutions developed with a purpose-driven approach, can give businesses the requisite edge. The expertise of a top custom software development company and a thorough analysis of the requirements 一 results in solutions that meet the desired objectives better, along with other benefits.
In this blog, read how custom software development can achieve the desired outcome better.
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Advantages Custom Software Bring to The Table
The need for a tailored solution can be identified by first considering the advantages. Listed below, are key benefits of custom solutions:
Meets unique requirements
Custom software can be developed to meet the exact requirements of a company, in a way off the shelf solutions can not.
Get a competitive edge
If you provide customers with similar features, as provided by the competitors, it will be difficult to define the USP for your business. This might hold true, even if your services or products hold a unique edge.
Customer requirements can be better met by offering user-specific functionalities. Moreover, the UI and UX of the software can be customized to give businesses an edge over the competition.
Etsy, an eCommerce marketplace for sellers of unique products and handicrafts, tailored its platform to provide functionalities not available with competitors like eBay. It could build success by giving customers a compelling reason to use their platform.
Enhance operational efficiency
Every business operates with a specific workflow that suits the products and services they focus to provide. The workflow also varies depending upon the company’s ethos.
Custom software can enhance operational efficiency by providing the following benefits:
- Fostering greater collaboration between teams.
- Providing custom tools that make management easier. A data-driven workflow will further make the management of tasks easier.
- Enhance productivity and ease of business by automating the workflow, repetitive tasks, and business processes.
- Custom software can be better integrated with the existing setup of the company.
These are some of the many ways in which custom software can transform the business internally.
Drive greater ROI
By meeting the business objectives better, custom software can provide a business with greater ROI, especially in the long run.
As discussed, the benefits of custom software like: increased productivity within the organization, better opportunities for the sales team, or gaining traction with the customers 一 amplify the chance of increased revenue and lessening of the working capital.
This can help businesses achieve higher ROI from the custom software.
Increased security
Cybersecurity is one of the biggest challenges of the modern world. Malicious intents and increased use of advanced technologies by hackers make security a primary concern for businesses.
Financial transactions and user data on the software further make security a considerations that off-the-shelf solutions may fail to resolve.
Custom software development can be built to incorporate higher security features. Moreover, custom software is developed using a separate code structure. This makes them less prone to cyber-attacks.
MVP-first development
Any software is built using a hypothesis, which further is based on assumptions. Those assumptions may be formed after conducting a user survey, still until the assumptions are validated
A Minimum Viable Product or MVP is the version of the product with minimum features that enables you to deploy the software and make it available to the end-users or stakeholders. This way you can validate the assumptions, and customize the software based on validated user needs, increasing the chances of its success.
Another benefit of MVP is the option to pivot at any stage if the need arises.
Custom software development can include MVP development services as a part of the development process as well.
After-Sales support
A customer software can also be offered with after-sales support from the same company that helped develop it. This is crucial since the support will be provided by a company that understands the software more than anyone else.
With Off-the-shelf solutions, you may not get this option. Or there would be a compulsion to avail services from the company, irrespective of the quality or price of the after-sales services the company offers.
Scenarios where custom software development benefits most
Although custom software development can be beneficial to any business 一 still, discussed below are scenarios wherein it can prove to be quintessential to get the desired results.:
Businesses that are regulated
Government regulations and compliance mandates may make it imperative for businesses to turn to custom software development, as it can tailor the solution to meet current regulations and furthermore, make it easier for them to customize the software in case of a change in those regulations.
Businesses with existing software
Companies that run existing software may need integration of the additional software with the existing one(s). With custom software, this will be far easier. Seamless integration will allow companies to run legacy software with new additions sans hassles. In this case, custom software will facilitate faster implementation and adoption within the organization.
Companies considering omnichannel operations
Omnichannel sales are gaining traction owing to the benefits and the shift towards the internet and eCommerce, across industries. For similar reasons as stated above, custom software can offer seamless integration across sales channels to allow streamlined teamwork within the sales department.
Businesses considering redetermining their value propositions
In a competitive space, businesses would want to minimize overheads, to make sure their offering(s) retains its value proposition to the buyers. This task can be best achieved by automating repetitive tasks within the operational workflow.
Additionally, automation can eliminate any manual errors, streamlining and potentially increasing end-user experience and satisfaction.
Companies considering to reduce costs
Another way of reducing overheads is to identify legacy software with unwanted costs, especially those that can be lessened.
Custom software development companies can help you identify such areas, help improve upon existing legacy software or help develop alternatives with less running costs.
Startups
For startups, defining the value proposition to the end customer is imperative to drive success over the existing solutions in the market. This can be best achieved by offering a tailored solution to the customer, based on the identified requirements.
Moreover, startups enter a market based on a hypothesis. Custom software development teams can understand the requirements and build robust software by implementing an MVP first strategy, identifying risk in the assumptions, and course-correct if needed.
A similar but significant advantage is scalability. Startups can start with plausible features within the software, and scale up as the business grows.
Custom software development methodologies
Custom software can be developed with multiple development methodologies, each with distinct advantages and ideal scenarios where they apply. Listed below are popular ones adopted by custom software development companies:
Agile practices: An iterative, and incremental approach to software development that breaks down the task into iterations, each achieved with sprints that last 2 or 3 weeks. Agile prioritizes collaboration, both within the organization and client involvement throughout the product development cycle.
DevOps: This is an amalgamation of development (Dev) and operations (Ops). It fosters collaboration between the teams and the processes within the workflow to drive better results. By adopting DevOps, teams respond better to client requirements.
Rapid Application development: RAD is another form of Agile development. In RAD, the priority is the release of prototypes rapidly. This helps to develop quality software.
Top considerations and do’s in software development
If the need for software development has been identified, go through some considerations before contacting a software development company partner. Listed below are some things to consider:
Pricing: The number one consideration will of course be pricing of the services. Identify the need and discuss the same with shortlisted companies.
The prices for the services will vary depending upon the company, the time available to develop the software, and the extent of services availed. For instance, companies can provide dedicated development teams while they can also work on the project at their own end. The costs will vary accordingly.
The long-term value the software adds to the business may supersede the initial investment. All these factors need to be considered before deciding on a solution.
Note: If companies available locally are beyond the scope of the resources to be allocated to the project, a good option can be outsourcing the need to a custom software development company offshore. Companies based in countries like India, Ukraine, Poland, Vietnam, and others can provide quality services at fraction of cost.
Time: The window of time available for the project, plays a huge role in deciding what course of action to take. Opportunity delayed is an opportunity lost. This is another reason to opt for an MVP first in the software to cash in on the opportunity at the earliest.
Initial planning: Work towards identifying the requirements accurately. The long-term objectives will be met by planning meticulously at the start. Requirements identified accurately will make communication with the software development company easier.
After-sales support system: A new software will need assistance initially, and may need maintenance thereafter. Identify and plan accordingly. The costs of these services add up to the software cost and moreover, the efficiency of these services will impact the performance and future viability of the software.
To Sum It Up
Custom software development can offer multiple benefits that can help increase the value proposition of the product or service, reduce costs, increase operational efficiency, enhance competitiveness, and others.
Considering the benefits, you can consider consulting a leading custom software development company and discuss your requirements. They can help guide you through the solution, and what specific advantages they can provide via the custom solution vis-a-vis commercial software.
