There’s been a lot of discussions buzzing around regarding custom software development, it is because more and more businesses are turning to custom software development solutions. Before giving our take on today’s topic of discussion, let’s dust off the concept of custom software development first.
What is Custom Software Development?
Custom software development is the process of designing, crafting, building, deploying and maintaining software on demand and for a specific set of organizations, requirements and users. In custom software building, companies don’t opt for off-the-shelf components for software development.
Custom software development involves a trail of steps that aims at a well-defined set of organizational requirements.
A team of experienced software developers assembles and implements a wide range of requirements in custom-made software development. unlike the commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) which is packaged and commercially marketed and distributed.
Why Organizations Prefer Custom Software Development?
There are an array of reasons why companies prefer custom software development; custom software development helps companies meet the generalized needs of office productivity and website creation.
Let’s simplify the jargon with an easy and straightforward example,
Suppose you need a website or mobile application which should be tailor-made and it should entail all the requirements regarding your business. If you are an accounting business owner, then you need to consult your team and come up with the working flow of your organization and all the services your organization has to offer. These simple initial steps contribute towards being the cornerstones of your company’s custom software.
There is a list of initial things you need to follow before you kick-off to the next step which is development.
Let’s go through the following steps to analyze your business so you can bag the checklist for your own business niche. I am taking an example of accounting/ banking/ fintech business here:
So what your accounting businesses’ custom software should look like;
1. Your custom software should have all the list of services your business is offering currently.
2. How your business is operating and what is the main flow of your company for example how you respond to project queries and how your accounting consultants respond to a particular business situation
3. What kind of services do you hold expertise in.
4. Description of your services and business to convey your message and business vision.
The above-mentioned points are quite significant to proceed with your own customized website.
How Custom Software Development Makes a Meaningful Change?
Custom software development is inclined towards following the SDLC (Software development lifecycle):
1. Requirements Gathering
2. Code Construction
3. Testing
4. Deployment
5. Maintenance
The process of developing custom software is engulfed in methodologies, such as Agile, DevOps, and Rapid Application Development.
Development methodologies to consider in custom software development:
Agile Development:
Based on this methodology, requirements are divided into consumable functions. This methodology is based on delivering incremental results quickly. As functionality is continued to be deployed, feedback loops are useful for finding and fixing defects.
DevOps:
As part of DevOps, operations and development are combined. Software development and IT operations team collaborates on designing, developing, deploying, and supporting the software with this agile development methodology.
An alternate, non-linear method of combining design and development into one dynamic step, rapid application development (RAD).
Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) makes it possible to apply agile methodologies to a global team or an organization at large.
Difference between Custom Software Development and Off-The-Shelf Software?
There’s been quite a debate which methodology of software development is better, whether the custom software development or off-the-shelf software. But the score weighs in favor of custom software development. The following list of facts illustrate the concept better;
1. Efficiency
Comparing both custom software development services and off the shelf software, custom software seems a better option as it is better than a packaged solution.
2. Affordability
Off-the-shelf software seems a cheap solution and looks a perfect thing to start with but in the long run it can cause serious harm to your business including budget overburns and change of scope. In custom application development cost is partially high but it doesn’t involves extra cost which makes custom software development an affordable solution.
3. Modification
Off-the-shelf software is hard to modify because it is a packaged solution, custom software development involves agile methodology which makes it business-friendly solution. You can ask the dedicated team of developers to add, delete or modify features for your software.
4. Growth
Due to the ease of scaling and upgrading custom software applications, they are considered the cornerstone of your business’s growth. In contrast to it, off-the-shelf software does not comply with the growth of your business due to their inherent rigidity.
5. Flexibility
Due to agility methodology in custom software development, there is an increased chance of flexibility and modification. Regarding the flexibility option, off-the-shelf software fails to comply with it.
6. Security
Custom software solutions turn out to be more secure and reliable in comparison with the ready-made off-the-shelf software.As the dedicated team of developers follows the guidelines of secure development, their security is not compromised.
How to Select a Perfect Technology Partner For Your Custom Software Development Project?
There are some simple steps you need to follow to hire a dedicated team of custom software developers:
1. We suggest you to not opting for freelancing sites as the developers there lack experience and they don’t have proper testing team with them. Hiring a dedicated team of developers or outsourcing software development team will expunge your worries and budget-related concerns.
2. Check out different business listings sites like IT rate, TechBehomths etc to see which businesses are available to let you hire your dedicated team of developers.
3. Once you have made a decision, interview the company and their dedicated teams.
4. Consider signing a contract with a company that you feel might be a good match for your project and business.
5. Start monitoring your dedicated teams and track their progress.
The Bottomline
Planning for the software creation for your business seems a daunting task, as many of you might be taking a start and are hesitant to choose a reliable tech company. But on the flip coin, custom business software development can be helpful for your business as in these digital times, the brick and mortar of the business will start to decline as are business are making their transition to online world.