The process of designing, building, deploying, and supporting software specifically for a group of users, tasks, or organisations is known as custom software development. The alternative to a custom software solution would be utilising a software product that is available ‘off-the-shelf’ which is already built and ready to use. ‘Off the shelf’ software is accessible to everyone, has a one size fits all approach and typically requires a licence fee. There are a number of advantages to using a software product but there are are also some very strong business cases for undertaking bespoke software development. In this blog we will cover some of the reasons why you should consider custom software solutions.
Targeted Solution
You may create a solution that specifically fits your demands by investing in custom software development, which is likely the most significant benefit. Businesses frequently select a software product only to find out later that it is not the best fit for them or won’t accommodate future growth plans.
Since every company is different, it might be challenging to locate software that matches all of particular company’s requirements. Working with customised items not only gives you a lot of room and opportunity to develop, but it also shows that you are committed to the expansion and success of your business.
Every user or customer wants to experience a personal level of service from a company. The degree to which you feel treated like an individual affects your level of customer satisfaction. A business adds value to the customer/business relationship when it offers more personalised solutions. This extra value increases customer retention and fosters customer loyalty. With a custom software development project you can develop the system to interact in exactly the way you want. A specific mobile application to present push offers to customers or track customer loyalty might be why you might custom develop to offer exactly the services a customer may want.
Moreover, according to Mckinsey research, 71% of customers demand customised service from firms, and 76% are dissatisfied when they don’t get it. The creation of specialised software may be crucial for ensuring customer satisfaction given the importance of a customised user experience.
Uniqueness
The primary motivation for creating custom software is your business’s desire to control the solution. Businesses can use the software’s features, data, and development processes, among other things. Businesses may add crucial information, make adjustments whenever they want, and use client feedback when using customised software. If your business opts to use off-the-shelf software it is likely there will be countless others operating the same system. If a large part of your business offering is digitally delivered then where is your differentiator?
Unlike using software products, no one will have a site like yours. This will allow you to have an edge over the competition and stand-out. When planning custom software development it is important to do thorough research into your competitors to learn what they are doing and think about how you can do it better. In doing so, you should ask yourself many questions. What are they doing well? What aren’t they doing well? Is there any additional features you would want to add to your site that they don’t have?
Due to the pandemic, business operating in the digital space has accelerated. As a result, organizations must seize every edge they can to remain competitive and stand out in this aggressive digital business environment.
When developing custom software in order to get your site exactly how you want it, it’s important to define the requirements properly. Our new product Requiment, will take you through the process step-by-step to determine a full and detailed requirement specification, and project scope, based on desired outcomes. The software will ask you questions about specifications of the website you may otherwise not have thought of, again adding to the uniqueness and personalisation of your site.
Scalability and Flexibility
Your needs expand along with your business. Off-the-shelf software cannot always serve your company’s exact needs and it can become prohibitively expensive to licence. For small businesses in the start-up stage of the business cycle, when operations are not yet established and the emphasis is on making the company sustainable, off-the-shelf solutions may be a better fit.
However, if you don’t want to be constrained by software and want to grow at your own pace, it will make more sense to develop a solution that can scale and evolve with your business operations. When the time comes to scale, even though it takes more time for development and investment in the beginning, it will save you time and money.
The business operations will become more complicated as your company expands. This is not a problem, though, with custom software creation because you can scale or increase the flexibility of your programme appropriately. As a result, you will avoid having to pay for additional licencing or subscriptions for further functionality.
According to their needs, businesses can alter custom software at any time. And if you’re wise, scalability and flexibility will be the features that you identified as essential in your project’s first scope. On the other side, commercial software cannot be changed at will. Furthermore, if you make any changes, you’ll probably break the terms of your licence with the makers of your commercial software, which will prevent the application from being maintained and made usable in the future.
Independence From the Developer
When buying a software product, you are reliant on the company that created it, on the pricing it establishes, on the terms and conditions of use, and on the future of the company. You can find yourself in the uncomfortable situation of needing to switch your software supplier in a short amount of time, which can cost you money and stress.
You can use custom software for whenever long and in whatever manner you like. Of course, it occasionally needs maintenance, but on a broader scale, the advantages outweigh the expenses.
Simply engaging with the software vendor causes many lags. By using custom software development services, you can save a significant amount of time that can be put to better use. You no longer need to be concerned about licence costs increasing while purchasing packaged software. When working with a custom software development company the process is significantly more collaborative.
Increase the Value of Your Business
According to the article posted by Forbes innovation technologies can play a supporting role in any business and on top of that they can drive the business value drastically. Software development can unquestionably benefit your company. Therefore, if you ever decide to sell your firm, broaden your company’s scope, or pursue new growth prospects, the software might become your key competitive edge, enabling you to draw in quality investors or possible buyers.
Moreover, The American Enterprise Institute conducted research comparing top 500 company lists from Fortune. The top businesses of 1995 and 2017 were compared. Only 60 out of 500 companies were actually mentioned in both lists. This can be put down to the fact that 440 businesses did not take advantage of their potential for innovation to compete and dropped out of the list. New technologies have been entering the market year after year, and businesses that ignored this development or stayed with antiquated practises have fallen behind.
Wrapping up your processes and your competitive advantage in a custom developed piece of software can make your company unique. Owning that Intellectual Property (IP) can be attractive to investors. An example of this is with Amazon where you can choose a default set of billing and shipping options with “1-Click” and instruct Amazon to utilise those options each time you order a physical item that needs to be shipped. You no longer have to pick or input these parameters manually if you frequently use the same ones. This custom feature results in more sales and is unique to Amazon. It drives value for the company and thus it’s stock market valuation.
Conclusion
With the world and business becoming increasingly digital, custom software development is a sensible strategy used by companies to innovate, grow and find more immediate solutions to issues. Despite being expensive, it can nonetheless be a very worthwhile undertaking for the reasons outlined above.
Learn more about the digital transformation solutions provided at Pulsion. Our team has extensive experience in cloud migration, custom software development, mobile app development and artificial intelligence solutions. This ensures we are perfectly placed to understand your project and offer the most appropriate solution. Partnerships with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft ensures we are able to offer the best technology solution for your needs.
We would be happy to discuss your digital needs with you, it’s what we do, so get in touch!
