Custom Software Development: All You Need to Know

What is Custom Software Development? This form of software development was formerly known as Bespoke Software Development. To develop this software, user needs and requirements are kept in mind. It follows all the standard software development life cycles: Requirement gathering, Designing, development, launch and then the maintenance of the software.

Our goal in custom software is to fulfill all the requirements specified by the customer. While the customer usually knows what they want. You will be offered expert advice to make your software better.

Cost of Custom Software Development

When we hear the term custom software development and our perspective takes into play. Smaller businesses nowadays think that custom software development is synonymous with high priced software. High budget expectations put them off. It comes as no surprise that custom software development was expensive in the past. There was little to no globalization. Nowadays, the cost has reduced significantly. Myth Buster: Custom Software is not expensive. Here are some of the reasons why the cost has decreased significantly:

Advancement in Software and Hardware

Over time technological advances have taken place both in hardware and software. Software’s capability, size, and usability have become efficient. Therefore the cost has decreased as well. Custom software development has come a long way from the DOS system days. Back then it would have required a six or seven-figure budget.

Architecture; Monolithic and Micro Service

In the past, monolithic architecture was for the development of software. It, in simple words,  means that the software functioned as one entity. The time and effort required for the development were significantly longer. A separate version needed to be built if any changes were required. Today, software is built on microservice architecture. It essentially enables us to present innovative solutions. That too in a significantly less time frame and for a fraction of the cost. Future upgrades cost less as well because of this architecture.

Open Source and Closed Source

Nowadays, open-source software components are used to develop software applications. These components are free to plugin and integrate. Therefore the cost is reduced. Closed source development costs more than this.

Introduction of Frameworks

The introduction of frameworks in the software market has reduced the cost of custom software development as well. Take for example the addition of items into a database. Initially, you needed to write thousands of lines of repetitive code for a simple task. Nowadays a simple framework plugin will do the same job. This will then reduce the lines of code which initially made custom software development expensive.

Things do get dicey when the team does not manage the client properly. The customer’s requirements need to be properly understood by the developers. That is why customer satisfaction should be the top priority so that you ensure that the customer has the software solution they need at their budget estimate.

Custom Software Development Process

The key development processes of custom software development can be categorized into two approaches:

Customizing Commercial off the shelf software (COTS) and modifying them to cater to the customer’s needs. This approach is used most commonly for commercial software like Point of Sales (POS) software. Further upgrades are performed on the product. Support is provided for the user’s individual requirements.

Developing a whole new application from scratch embodying one of the main approaches depending on the nature of the software. Typically, development teams develop prototypes first. They then showcase to the customer to see if they’re satisfied. It takes around two to three iterations to completely satisfy the customer. This approach requires extra effort. Each project is a new approach for the development team as well.

The complete project is then launched in the market. One of the two approaches is followed. The next step towards a productive and successful custom software is application management. Technological advances are upcoming every day. It has made application management necessary. Application management includes installation, updating, and optimization. These steps are based on new-found performance needs. Service desk functions are also key in managing the application. This ensures the customer feels well looked after even after the product launch. To ensure a software keeps up with the market today, regular updates based on key software quality constraints like usability, scalability, interoperability needs to be performed.

Custom Software Development Teams

Development teams are assigned the development of the software. Nowadays, most software houses have both in-house and off-shore teams. These teams develop up to the mark software systems that ensure customer satisfaction every time.

In House Teams

In-house teams are present physically in the software company’s offices onshore. These skilled developers meet the customer. Both in-house and virtual meetings are setup. You can choose however you want to meet the team. You can also choose how often you want to meet the team. The team will gather requirements from you. These are requirements are then assigned within the team.

Off Shore Teams

Off Shore teams comprise of highly skilled teams of developers that are not present onshore. The company hires them as employees. A seamless system of communication is set up with offshore developers. Once your requirements are delivered they start software development.

Conclusion

You can find innovation-driven solutions for your needs. To ensure that businesses have the most scalable software Adaptive development lifecycles are adopted.  We have experts from every domain with a passion for innovation. You can always reach out for help. Custom Software development is a very good option if you want a hundred percent liability-free, cutting edge software solutions.

We hope that most of your confusion and doubts about custom software developments have been cleared. Your ideal solution will not cost you as much as expected, clear your vision and think about the application you want to develop. Have your software custom made as soon as you conclude your idea.