Technology brings innovation, and to stay competitive in the market, every business needs to remain innovative. It’s a similar experience with software development, as there are instances where standard software might not be able to cater to all your needs. Just like a pair of trousers you buy off the internet might not be the exact fit and instead need modification, there will be situations where you need to choose the path of custom software development. So, in this article, we go over 5 reasons why you should take this approach.
Why Choose Custom Software Development?
Innovation is key to success, and there are many examples of this. For instance, a few years back, most IT departments maintained their own physical servers to handle customer data. However, these servers were of a definite size, making it impossible to scale up when user demand quickly exceeded capacity. This was the case until the Cloud appeared, and with it, businesses could get all the IT resources they needed, only paying for the resources they used, and scaling became much easier. The first companies to adopt this technology had an advantage over their competition.
Evidently, software development brings us many handy innovations, but sometimes generic solutions are not enough. When this is the case, custom software would be a great solution. Here are 5 reasons why you should consider custom design when it comes to software development:
- Personalization
- Security
- Cost-Effectiveness
- Long-Term Continuous Support
- Easy Integration
1. Personalization
The process of custom software development involves a lot of thinking and planning. So, when the eventual go-ahead is given, the software created would have been made to meet specific business needs. Also, through the custom software approach, you can share your exact goals, needs and expectations with the developer. This will make it easier to incorporate the requested changes and ensure that you will get software personalized to your business needs.
2. Security
Standard software is great when it comes to ease, but one drawback is that if there’s a data leak on the creator’s side, this could make the software you use less secure or even a liability. Many high-profile hacks have leveraged third-party software to gain access to sensitive data. However, with custom software development, while you aren’t 100% secure, you have less chance of being hacked. Additionally, you must take steps to secure your data through firewalls and VPNs.
3. Cost-Effectiveness
Some public software offers very low costs upfront, but your monthly and yearly subscription fees will increase over the years. Also, after a while, an updated version of the software you use is released, and in order to stay updated, you would need to purchase it. Building custom software isn’t cheap, but it’ll save you money in the long run. First, you would need to get a developer or team of developers to build the software you need, and depending on your unique requirements, this can cost you up to a few thousand dollars. However, after that, you would own the code without paying any subscription fee.
4. Long-Term Continuous Support
When you buy software, maintaining it rests with the company that designs it. Often, a newer version of the software might be released after a few years, with the one your company uses being discontinued. If key company infrastructure relies on the software you use, updating to the next available one might be difficult and expensive. However, by custom-designing your software solutions, you don’t need to worry about support.
5. Easy Integration
Standard public software is designed to meet users' general needs without addressing the specifics. For example, let’s say you need sales data for your business in CSV format, but you can only get it in PDF for some reason. With custom software design, you can include all your business requirements in the development process. This will make the final product easier to integrate with your other solutions.
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In Conclusion
In order to say competitive, it’s important to ensure you can operate at your best. At times, this can involve developing custom software. While this can involve additional costs, the long-term benefits, which include personalization, security, continuous support, and easier integration, make it worth it.