Custom software development is a tailored piece of software that is made especially as per the business’s needs to measure the process. In simple terms, custom software is flexible and can meet your specifications, which means it’s easy to use and can be used throughout your organization. Instead of settling for a ready-made software program or application with custom software, you can be sure that what you get is fit for your purpose. Custom software can also be associated with significant financial benefits, although purchasing it costs a little more than a shelf package. Software applications created for you do not charge a license fee, so you can distribute them throughout your organization at no extra charge.
In the current times, there is hardly any industry or business that does not have custom software that caters to their needs. It has become the basic need for businesses with bigger goals to achieve. There is a huge difference between any shelf-bought software and any software tailored to your needs. You can ask your custom software development company to insert the features and technologies as per the needs of your business. From a budget point of view, it can be quite feasible than you think. The market is becoming more competitive every day, and staying ahead of the competition, you have to do things differently. Let’s start with getting to know more about custom software development.
What is Custom Software Development?
Custom enterprise software development may have different definitions depending on the genre and the sector. In simple terms, it is software that is designed with a business’s needs in mind and perfectly fits with the overall requirements of the business. It takes care of all the processes, applications, and millions of other things that happen in any business or industry.
It enhances the business’s visibility, gives an edge over the customers, and reduces operational costs. You may find it hard to believe, but various giants of the industries use custom software to enhance their productivity and streamline their processes. When you develop a custom software with the help of a software development company, it delivers you feasibility, optimum growth, reduces cost, and much more.
However, the development methodologies of various software development agencies are different, and they have different sets of aftermaths for you. But it totally depends on your business requirements and the overall market standards. Matellio follows a detailed development process that takes care of every small detail that is important to your business growth.
Major Difference Between Custom Software Development and Off the Shelf Software
The market is full of off-the-shelf software, and it’s easy to buy and use them. You just have to compare your needs to the software details, and you are good to go. But the real question is, would it be the best choice for your business? The answer is a simple no. It may fulfill some of the needs of the business, but it will boost up the operational cost. On the other hand, a custom software development company will assure you of the scalability of the software and the maintenance as required. Here are some of the major benefits between custom software and off-the-shelf software.
Methodologies Followed in Development
Software puchased from the store is intended for the general public. They may target a single business segment, but they will never be able to meet the requirements of any particular organization. An organization needs the help of a software development company to make changes to the software and make it good enough to implement. Custom software development offers great time benefits in this section. The customized solution is built exactly to the customer’s requirements, so it is fully compatible and suitable for their organizational processes. Even employees who have to work with this software get used to them easily in a few days.
Overall Cost to the End-users
The most superficial and striking difference between the two solutions is their price. Ready-made software is usually cheaper than custom solutions. This is due to the fact that shelf software is mass-produced, and its cost is shared among several buyers, while the software development company develops customized enterprise solutions according to the specific needs of the customer. Its costs are fully borne by one buyer. The choice may seem quite obvious when both options are available to the customer.
Various Software Updates
Another problem with shelf software is that organizations have to pay for updates every time the software is changed. In addition, they may not even release updates for a long time that makes the software old and outdated. It harms the organization more than it helps. On the other hand, custom software can be updated whenever the customer knows it. Their scope can be decided according to the client’s needs and budget.
Advantages of Custom Software Development for Businesses
Everything has something positive to deliver, but when it comes to custom-made software, the list becomes way too big. It offers a ton of benefits as compared to any off-the-shelf software. Somehow these benefits give you an edge over the competition and help you prosper in an ergonomic way. Let’s take a look at the benefits that a software specifically tailored to your needs delivers.
Customize as much you want: You have the freedom to customize the software as the way you want. It’s not like off-the-shelf software that delivers you limited customize options. You are in charge of custom software development; it’s always your call, what you want to change, how you want to change.
Extremely Scalable: In any industry, challenges are there; some are hard, some are minor, but you have to face them at every stage. These challenges might slow your business growth and force you to change the way you operate. At this stage, custom software delivers you the scalability that your business needs; it consists of the more advanced tools which will easily boost the performance of the business at any given stage.
Enhanced Security: There are a ton of ready-made software packages available to businesses and organizations today that are certainly much more secure than those developed in previous years, but they cannot be compared to the security level of custom software. The reason being; custom software is designed for your business; it can only be used by individuals in your business.
When you purchase custom software, you are given administrator rights to the software, ensuring that you can change and change user profiles and passwords to comply with your internal privacy policies. Custom software avails you a top-notch level of security as these things are tough to budge as compared to regular, off-the-shelf software. You can be always sure that a reputable custom software company is working hard enough to keep your software and the data it contains secure to the maximum possible level.
Save You Money: When you buy off-the-shelf software, it surely gives a sense of money-saving move, but in reality, it does not save any money. Instead, you end up spending more than the budget just to get the updates, extensions, and much more. However, with custom software development, you save a ton of money, you don’t have to pay license fees as you own the software, it requires less maintenance, it can expand as per your business needs without creating any hassle.
Custom Software Development Process
Every business is unique in its own way; similarly, every custom development is unique in various ways. When you are starting the process of custom software development, there must be a plan that marks all the important milestones of the process. Make sure the plan you make is error-free and allows smooth workflow, as a simple mistake can take the development process off track. This process requires complete dedication and extreme focus to fetch the desired results. Let’s dig into the process.
Market Analysis
The first step of the development process starts with market surveying. It is an important step of the process as it determines the valuation of the sector, future scopes, and the overall market stats. You can play it in two ways, either you hire a market research company that will do the whole work for you or transfer the task to the in-house team.
The problem with the in-house team is, they are generally not much aware of the market as a marketing agency would be. Whatever option you choose to go with, the report should contain, list of competitors of your business, what custom software they are using, what purpose their custom software is solving, business strategies, best development companies in the market, features of the software, and much more. Once you have gathered all the important data sets, move towards the planning process.
Planning or Mapping Milestones
With all the data points gathered together, move towards the planning process. Develop a road map with all the important milestones to be covered. It will give you a rough idea of everything, the time, cost, resources, and much more.
Remember to plan everything that is a crucial part of the development process, such as tech stack, budget, marketing plan, etc., all things in chronological order. The data sets of the market research will surely help you in crafting a perfect roadmap of the development process. The most important part of the process is a reliable software development company.
In this case, you have got two choices either you go with in-house development or hire a reputable custom software development agency. The difference between these two choices is a lot in terms of resources, final product, etc. You can also hire a freelance team and save cost, but the quality of the end product will not serve its purpose, as seen in most cases. The points you should keep in mind while choosing a reputable and reliable software development company are as follows:
- Should work on modern technologies
- Follow industry standards
- Have a full-fledged team
- offer various engagement models
- Offer after delivery support
These are some of the points that you must look at in any development partner. Let’s move towards the next important part of the custom software; tech stack.
Tech stack to be Considered
Any software development relies on its tech stack for flawless performance. There are a ton of technologies available out there that are used for various purposes; make sure to integrate the relevant ones in your software. Here are some of the technologies that are most commonly used in any custom software development of any genre.
In case you want a custom web app, you should consider using ReactJS, Angular, Vue.js. For the front end and JavaEE, Spring, NodeJS, Express, NestJS, Loopback, microservices for the back end. A database is mandatory in any web app; hence you can consider MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, MongoDB, Elasticsearch, Cassandra.
For the purpose of a mobile app, you should definitely consider Java, Kotlin (Android), Swift, Objective-C (iOS) for native apps. Ionic Framework with Angular, ReactJS, Vue.js Capacitor, or Cordova, ReactNative for the purpose of hybrid apps. These apps also require a sturdy backend; hence, you can use Firebase, AWS Mobile Hub, etc.
Since various industries work on desktops, here are some of the best technologies that are used in curating flawless software C#, .NET Framework, UWP, WPF, or Windows Forms, QT Framework, .NET Core, ElectronJS. NW.js., C, C++, Solidity, Truffle, Web3, and much more.
Design and Testing
After putting every puzzle piece into place, move towards the final phase of development which is design and testing. Remember, this software is meant to enhance your productivity and overall workflow of the business; hence, make sure to keep the design as ergonomic as possible. It should not be much complicated, but it should also not be too basic. Ask your software developers to make it simple but powerful. For instance, Google has the simplest design you will ever see, but it serves its purpose and fetches results. You can do something similar with your software too.
The next step involves the coding and development part that is mostly handled by the development team, which consists of highly qualifies professionals. An average team consists of a project manager, developers, designers, QA, testing engineers, and business analysts. After you have surpassed the development process, it is time to test.
Remember, it is better to fix your flaws in the production phase rather than deploying the software into the field and get an error that can cost both money and time. The testing should be done iteratively; you should not leave any chance of error or bugs in the process. In case of any error, fix it and rerun the tests. A series of tests will only serve you better in the future in terms of cost, performance, and many other factors. After the testing phase is completed, it is time to deploy the software and again test the overall efficiency and other parameters.
Get started with Matellio
The software development sector has immensely progressed over the years as businesses have come to realize its benefits and market prospects. Various businesses are interested in developing a software that enhances their productivity and reduces the cost of operation. With custom software, you get full ownership which means you don’t have to pay any license fees or renewal fees. Apart from the benefits and perks, it delivers you an edge over the competitors, which ultimately translates to more revenue.
The right development process will take things to a whole new level in terms of quality, feasibility, and much more. Matellio follows a feasible development process that delivers flawlessly engineered software and applications. Our process ensures optimum quality and precise data transfer. Our team of proficient developers and engineers enlists every single thing related to the demand and expectations of the clients to get a clear picture of the final product. Further, we indulge in an ultra-modern development approach that helps us in delivering the product that fits like a glove with our client’s needs and business needs. Our development process includes:
- Software requirements specification (SRS)
- Design
- API
- UI
- Development
- QA
- PM
- R&D
We have delivered several custom software which has received extraordinary feedbacks and fabulous ratings from our clients and their users. We are referred to as the most reliable Custom Software Development Company in the market. We offer a range of hiring models that will fit perfectly with the financial requirement of your project. Book a 30-min free consultation call with our experts, and we can get started right away with your project!
