What is The Real Purpose & Power of Customer Software. What You Need to Know Before Developing One

What if a company decides that certain processes and moments should be automated, processed, or registered in a very precise manner? And what when it’s efficiency-oriented and wants to utilize the most effective digital solutions to solve its specific needs? Various options of ready-made and custom software are there to cover those needs and much more. 

At first glance, a ready solution seems attractive. Why spend time and allocate budget to work out a complicated solution, find in-house web developers, or a software development company? Each business is unique, even if you consider the same industry and market, and thus requires a unique approach. 

Unique offers make businesses stand out and get their unique audience (brand community is the power!). So is it possible to have a solution that is pre-made for everybody? It depends on the format of your business and the issues you need to cover. A small business may benefit from out-of-a-box solutions, but if it’s a start-up or a growing venture, then it usually understands the value of custom software. Meeting the client’s needs is the core idea behind a successful business. Can you imagine Uber without its app? Without an attractive design and user experience efficiency? 

Why Custom Software Development is Important

• Unique functions

You can’t approach a ready-made solution developer and say, “My organization doesn’t work without this and this feature. Can you please install it?” No, that’s impossible. So the software may fail, or it will take quite a time and effort to integrate a new feature that has not been envisaged in the software architecture. Everybody heard of Netflix as one of the most successful apps. The market capitalization of the application today is 203 billion dollars, and it’s continuously growing. The key to success is the unique application that reflects the unique offer. 

• Cost-effectiveness

It may seem that premade software solutions are cheaper, but what about a long-term view? They often require additional expenses for quality support, which diminishes the pricing advantage. Usually, problems come when the company starts to scale up. Then it starts trying to integrate new features into their software and finally, having typically spent a fortune comes up to the conclusion that creating one from scratch is the only option. 

• Flexibility and scalability

The nature of the market is unpredictable, business never stops evolving. It means you have to be flexible and scalable with each aspect of your business, including the digital solutions you use. This rule is especially relevant for startups that are by default created to develop.  

• Mobile application integration

According to StatCounter, over 60% of the users prefer to use a mobile app to a desktop. And when talking about eCommerce more than 70% of all conversions (purchases) are usually made from mobile devices. That’s why designing & developing your own web or mobile application is a more wise decision than experimenting with one-fits-it-all solutions. The latter might not be worth the potential risk to your financial prospects.  

• Competitive advantage

Using custom software automatically gives an advantage over the competitors, who are using off-the-shelf ones. With the help of bespoke software, organizations gain more exclusivity, it covers the needs of clients more completely, and the company becomes more adaptive and ready to scale up. It is competition that you win a become more preferable. 

Types and Examples of Software

How Bespoke Software Development Resolves Complex Needs of Business

Those who concentrate on the development and refinement of their custom software solutions usually notice a good tendency in their sales growth. When examining the examples of software like Uber, Netflix, and Shopify, bespoke software is the major cause of the success. 

Transformational and business challenges that can be solved with custom software are numerous!

1. Precision in addressing specific business needs

Every business performs better with a structured application not tailored to their needs but developed to solve specific tasks. Typical off-the-shelf software is not able to provide those solutions, as it is not familiar with your very business – only with the industry in general. 

2. Extended integration 

When companies are already using particular systems, they will further need to be integrated into their custom software. So the key challenge lies in the construction of the program that will be able to integrate additional applications like CRMs, accounting, or supply chain solutions. 

3. Direct client feedback implementation

Collect feedback – integrate feedback. This is the principle of customization when it comes to business optimization. For this reason, many companies are always asking for client feedback integration into the software. 

Bespoke solutions play a critical role in resolving the complex needs of businesses. It not only addresses operational challenges but also positions the business for future growth.

The First Step to Creating Own Software

If you are thinking about getting a custom IT solution for your business, then you may be interested in how to do this as quickly and as effectively as possible. The first step is to develop a plan. You can do it before or after you have chosen the software development partner. Having an experienced one with relevant custom software case studies helps you save time by assisting you in creating this plan and providing the necessary security to both your project and the product being developed: if a company has already completed this kind of project it will quickly identify, structure, and put down your needs together with a precise technical plan on how to solve them. 

Address the web development project as a construction one. When you are trying to build a house you need to settle countless issues like buying a plot, hiring a contractor, and purchasing materials. But firstly, you need to decide what the final goal is and create a plan upon which you are going to rely throughout the project. 

This plan will help to define your needs, envision the result, set the goals, and find a way to resolve the task. If you don’t know how to write this plan, then just answer the following questions:

• Which of your challenges does the tailor-made software resolve? This will be the list of features.
• How will you measure the success? This will help to list KPIs and tailor data display options and filters to them. 
• How can this process be effectively completed? Compare ready-to-run solutions in the market and options that can be created by custom software developers. This way you’ll estimate resources and define tools & terms. 
• How important is security for me? Do you know why most apps ask their users to update them that often? Mainly because of the security issues: leaks, threats, etc. If security is your top priority then pretailored solution is not like to complete that request. 

A well-thought-out plan is what it starts from. It’s the vision – the base. The rest is up to the cooperation between you and your software development team.