Custom software development covers a broad scope of services. A company might want to validate and develop an idea for a new product that will give them a competitive advantage in the market or introduce automation into their working processes. By choosing custom software development, organisations can be confident that their software solutions meet their unique needs and, therefore, deliver the best results.
So, what are the benefits of custom software development? How do custom solutions differ from out-of-the-box software? To use a very basic analogy, custom software can be thought of like a tailored suit—it's designed to your precise measurements and, thus, fits you perfectly—whereas a suit bought off the peg is unlikely to have the same bespoke quality. In this article, we take you through what you get with custom software solutions and what the benefits are compared with pre-packaged software.
What does custom software development involve?
Where out-of-the-box software can help businesses handle specific standard processes, custom software development covers a vast swathe of digital projects and is ultimately geared towards assisting companies to meet some of their more targeted requirements. The list of IT services that you can use to build your custom product is extensive and each service works towards delivering the product that best fits your unique business needs. For example, developing mobile apps built to offer a responsive design which, currently, off-the-shelf software doesn't fully support.
Where packaged software is essentially ready to go once it's installed and configured, without the need for a specialised IT department, there are several steps to delivering a successful custom software solution. But if you have the time and a little more give in your initial budget, the benefits of custom software development, generally speaking, far outweigh any upfront outlay.
Here at ELEKS, the custom application development lifecycle typically starts with idea validation and technical feasibility study. Our advice is to always start from an in-depth analysis of your business goals, market trends and technological possibilities. At this point, you can bring on board a team of software experts with R&D and product design skills to help you perform the analysis and build a product prototype based on your requirements and needs. From our experience, PoC development is a proven, cost-effective way of testing business concepts before taking them to market.
Having tested your prototype with end-users, you can refine your product functionality for the best consumer response and get valuable insights to inform your next steps. You'll be able to define possible bottlenecks and tweak your solution architecture before proceeding with the full-scale development. Armed with the knowledge and feedback, you can scale your development efforts quickly, without repeat issues.
A skilled software team can help you navigate the deployment of your software product and ensure easy uptake of technologies and processes. Check out this blog post and learn how to hire an effective software development team.
What are the benefits of custom software development?
1. It enables you to flex and scale more easily
By matching your solution to your requirements, a custom software development company can easily integrate it with your business processes, making it much easier to scale up as your organisation grows.
You'll also have the added benefit of being in direct communication with your chosen software developer, meaning that you can share your forecasted goals and requirements, which will enable your custom solution to be built to accommodate your roadmap.
2. It's more cost-effective in the long run
Though the initial costs of going down the custom software development route are higher than if you were to buy your solution off the shelf, you'll typically find that companies selling software for a low upfront fee have ongoing costs, be it monthly or annual subscription fees, built into their business model.
So, if you're looking for a long-term solution to support the development and growth of your organisation, you may well end up paying much more in monthly/yearly bills in the long run. Plus, tailor-made software solutions are almost certainly going to get you a bigger return on your investment as time goes on. So, cost-effectiveness is among the most substantial benefits of custom software development.
3. It enables long-term continuous support
When you buy off-the-shelf software, you aren't purchasing the software itself but, rather, the rental agreement for it. This means the responsibility for maintaining the software sits solely with the firm that developed it. And, should they choose to stop making that specific product or cease to provide updates that keep it running at optimal performance, you'll inevitably end up with a piece of software that's outdated and no longer fit for purpose.
One of the benefits of custom software development, on the other hand, is that you have a direct link to the software development company, which means that they can provide updates and fixes for you as and when requested.
When we work with clients on custom software solutions, we set up a continuous integration/delivery process that enables them to check and deliver code changes seamlessly across multiple platforms while using reporting to proactively look out for areas that need improvement.
4. It's more secure against external threats
For most business executives, security concerns are among the most pressing issue they face today. And, naturally, where there's data stored in any digital location, there's a risk. Off-the-shelf software is familiar to hackers as it's widely used, and security patches and updates provided by the company that owns it will typically only cover the more obvious threats, leaving you vulnerable to sophisticated attacks.
Two-thirds of UK business leaders expect cyber security threats to increase over the next 12 months, according to PwC. But with custom software development, that risk is reduced. A good software development company should take responsibility for maintaining your software to a high security standard, which should help to keep your solution safer. Regular security updates ensure that your software remains as resilient against cyberattacks as possible.
5. It offers seamless integration with your business processes
The size and fragmented nature of many businesses, particularly enterprise-sized organisations, means that departments often operate in isolation from one another. And this can make the integration of new software fairly complex. Certain departmental workflows and processes will need to overlap, and this means that if one of those teams is using a new piece of software, the other teams need to be able to use it too. This is where custom software development can really come into its own.
By developing a software solution that's specifically tailored to your unique business requirements, you can ensure that any necessary integrations are built in as part of the project scope. Custom software development also enables a more streamlined implementation and rollout process, making it simpler for all users within your company to adopt the new solution. From automotive software engineering to fintech, healthtech and advanced products for retail, different sectors can benefit from custom solutions at scale. But are there any drawbacks?
Any disadvantages to custom software solutions?
For most businesses, the main drawback to custom software development will be the upfront costs associated with it. And, yes, it's true that the initial setup fees will be higher than buying your software package off the shelf. But, as we've already highlighted, a custom software solution will most likely end up costing you less in the long run as there are no ongoing monthly or annual fees to pay. Plus, you're more likely to get a far greater ROI when you work with a custom software development company.
The only other disadvantage to choosing a custom software solution is that it takes a little longer to implement. But, in our opinion, when the end result is something that works perfectly according to your unique business requirements, any added wait time is more than worth it.
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