The growing dependence on technology has made software products an essential aspect for business enterprises. SMEs and start-ups are investing in the latest software tools to gain an edge over the competitors.
An efficient software is cost-effective, and fulfils multiple tasks in less time. It saves time and money for the organization. Surprisingly 59% of firms outsource IT needs to save costs, while nearly 50% do so to focus on the core business aspects.
However, what kind of software development services should you go for? While looking for a software solution, a firm has two options. Namely off-the-shelf or ready-made products, and the other is customised software solutions.
Tailoring software that resonates with your business enterprise’s workflows has multiple advantages over choosing a regular off-the-shelf product. Furthermore, an off the shelf product is hardly reliable, owing to its generic design and limited functionalities.
Customised software development services account for the enterprise processes and critical areas that require innovative solutions. Fulfilling the long-term goals of the business enterprise, it acts as a boon to business growth.
To better understand how customised software accelerates business growth, let’s cover the following points.
- What is a customised development?
- Custom development v/s off the shelf products.
- Driving growth via customised software.
Let’s begin with the first point.
What is meant by customised software development services?
A skilled team of developers designs and develops software to perform one or multiple tasks in a user-friendly and intuitive manner is called customised software. For example, various companies prefer customised software for customer relationship management of the firm.
While an off-the-shelf product gets developed to suit multiple stores and businesses, it requires little to massive customizations to effectively suit an enterprise. It comes with much lesser investment but has limited functions that aren’t sufficient for the enterprise’s long-term goals.
For a better analysis, let’s compare them.
Custom Software v/s Off the Shelf Products
When you hire a software developer for customised services, you will enjoy multiple benefits that are not available with ready-made solutions. However, ready-made solutions also have pros that prove significant at times. Let’s look at the pros and cons of the two options.
Pros of customised Software
- Smoothly resolves the key issues or performs the crucial function the final product is intended for.
- An intuitive design and flow are feasible after researching the essential features of the software.
- It has a future scope as the final product can be modified and upgraded depending upon the business demands.
- The software enhances the business enterprise’s reliability and smooth functioning as it becomes an ideal part of the organization.
Cons of customised Software
- It requires more time as the development phase starts from research, followed by design and coding, and ends in testing. The final software pays off to the enterprise, but it may not be preferred for some when the firm is looking for an instant solution.
- The firm opting for customised development requires a significant amount of initial investment.
Pros of Ready-Made Software
- The initial investment is low as it gets produced for a large scale audience.
- It requires less time to complete the project as the designing and coding phase is either eliminated or minimized to significant extent.
- Acts like an instant solution for your software needs.
Cons of Ready-Made Software
- As developed for the masses, the software may fail to meet the firm’s necessary features.
- It usually lacks future scope, and with growing demands, the business needs to look for alternatives.
- Personalization may require multiple plugins that add to the final cost of the software.
- Fails to give you the much-needed competitive edge in the market.
Overall, the cons of ready-made solutions make it risky for business enterprises. In contrast, customised software is a more practical option to consider for software development.
Here are the top 5 ways in which customised Software drives Business Growth
1. Highly Cost-Effective
Upgrading to new technology gives you an edge in the competition. Having access to new technology makes it attractive for the users browsing the software. It also makes the content more engaging in nature as users enjoy playing with the latest technology.
An intuitive design and smooth working software enhance the overall performance of the software. According to the developer’s stats, nearly 60% of users prefer to read elegant content over plain and boring ones.
Investing in customised software is linked to business growth and expansion. By resolving the business issues effectively, the customised software proves cost-effective for investing firms.
An off the shelf solution lacks personalization and has limited features to offer. A firm needs to add multiple plugins to ensure the ready-made solutions perform effectively. Thus, the final costs increase significantly.
2. Greater Compatibility with the Enterprise
Several organizations have multiple teams that work in coordination to achieve common business goals. Different groups deal with diverse technologies. A smooth channel of communication is a must for them to work without hindrance.
An off-the-shelf solution lacks the necessary features to ensure the smooth flow of data from one end to another. It leads to disruption and miscommunication between the employees. Overall, the chances of conflicts also rise considerably with it.
Customised software realizes the value of a smooth communication channel for different employees working in the organization. Streamlining the flow of data from one end to another reduces the conflicts to a significant extent.
Relying on customised software promotes healthy work culture and optimum levels of compatibility with the technology.
3. High Security
Unfortunately, hackers can attack 9 out of 10 web applications. A more significant issue of using off the shelf software is that they are prone to attacks from hackers owing to their large-scale use by start-ups with small budgets.
However, customised software gets ensured with greater security by providing SSL certifications. Sensitive data of business and clients are stored and used in the software. You can also opt for blockchain technology when privacy/secrecy is a prime factor for the developing software.
A top software company ensures an optimum security level in the developed products to offer safe and secure transactions on the software. Keeping the software secured from attacks allows the business to actively flourish.
4. Secured Future Scope
A business organization must ensure future expansion before investing in any technology. With the growth in business and technology, new upgraded features must be integrated into the software to cope with the industry’s dynamic changes.
Off-the-shelf software may or may not offer such changes in the future. In comparison, customised software can get easily upgraded to incorporate new features. Thus, a future scope gets more secured with customised software.
The ultimate owner of customised software is the investing firm. So, the firm can easily carry out modifications that involve integration or deletion of the features.
5. Convenient Brand Building
A regular off-the-shelf product fails to consider the business model and other such aspects of the concerned organization. In contrast, customised software comes with well-researched features and designs.
Building a brand involves multiple aspects, and one of them is using quality products for the firm. Relying on customised software ensures the better building of the brand by offering exclusive features to the users.
Simple things like colour compatibility of the software and researched logo in a suitable position showcasing business ethical values to the users.
Final Words
customised software is a practical tool for benefitting a business organization’s growth. Getting a customised software ensures greater productivity driving business growth for the firm.
A software development company in India can be relied upon for software customization to fulfil your business dreams at an affordable development rate.
