Your business is unique. It shouldn’t be changed to fit inside the confines of anything, except your customers. It certainly shouldn’t be changed to fit into the mold of an off-the-shelf software solution. If you’re considering a new software system or looking to upgrade a current business process, consider designing it to work for your business, not what somebody else has decided should be the norm.
Consider Custom Software Development
If you’ve ever thought or heard the following phrases in your office, you may be on the road to needing a custom software application.
- I can’t do this within the system, so I’ve created a spreadsheet.
- This will work for now but won’t in the future or with any business growth.
- I would be able to work faster or more efficiently if this system worked better.
Advantages of Custom Software Development
Custom software development starts with a complete overview of your unique business processes. The best development teams work with you to identify potential pain-points and create solutions to overcome them. Here are 5 great advantages of designing custom software solutions to fit the needs of your business.
- You are in control. As your business needs change and grow, you can quickly implement changes with your development team to adapt. Just as important, you get to prioritize which changes occur and when. There is no waiting on a commercially-owned software’s users priorities or management team’s budget or priorities.
- You own the software. Ensure that your development contract states ownership of source code and identifies the development as “work for hire”. Many software companies do not automatically include this in their contract. Business changes and needs change. By owning the software, you have the complete rights to update, change development teams, or even choose to white-label or sell if opportunities arise.
- You save time on training and implementation. Since custom software solutions are designed to fit the needs of your business, it generally takes less time for employees to learn a custom system compared to a commercial package. Custom software is designed around familiar business practices and utilizes language (including acronyms) that are common in your business setting. There is a tremendous amount of value in retaining company vocabulary and process.
- You can “play nice” with other software systems you utilize. Across departments or teams, you may be utilizing multiple software sources. For example, in a typical office setting, Accounting, Human Resources, Sales, and Marketing may all use different systems. Maybe one customized software solution cannot replace all of those systems, but it can “play nice”. In other words, it can be designed to work well and integrate with the other systems to avoid duplicating work, streamline processes, and boost the activity of your employees who have to navigate between systems daily. The sky is often the limit with integrations.
- You will save money. Yes, the price of an “out-of-the-box” software system often appears to be lower than the custom solution. It’s all those little extras that add up (initially and over time) that can extend the budget quickly and without warning. Implementation fees, training, maintenance, and additional upgrades are commonplace in the commercial software world. Owning a software, eliminates annual maintenance fees, new licenses as your business grows, and pricey upgrades that you didn’t realize wouldn’t be included!
At the end of the day, the best solution depends on your requirements. Not sure if custom software development is in your best interest? We’d be happy to provide a free consultation to help you make your decision!
