Bespoke software advantages and disadvantages

By making a decision to go forward with a bespoke software solution for your business, you can be giving your company a platform to grow, develop, and expand. However, many companies don’t invest in custom-made software, tailored for their specific needs and instead settle for off-the-shelf products.

Let’s find out whether or not they are the making the right decision.

In our experience, there are two main reasons that companies don’t always choose a custom software solution:

1) Initial Costs

The up-front cost is usually the biggest disadvantage associated with custom-tailored programs. Bespoke software projects often cost more than off-the-shelf solutions, due to the amount of time and effort needed to create masterpieces. Eventually, however, the benefits such software gives you can bring you much more money than you spend on it.

2) Waiting Time

Since bespoke software is created from scratch, you will need to wait some time for your developers to build it. However, as it is the perfect fit for your business, it is (in our opinion) worth the wait.

There are, on the other hand, numerous advantages of having your own bespoke software developed.

At Make IT Simple, our software developers have created programs that solve business problems, that improve efficiency and productivity, that improve business intelligence and performance measurement, and that help get a competitive edge. In many cases, the software we have developed has become the product for our clients, which is simply not possible with an off-the-shelf solution.

Here’s why many businesses choose to go with this option:

1) Individually Crafted Solution

Bespoke software is similar to a custom-tailored suit. It fits your parameters perfectly. Meanwhile, the suit you buy at a discount shop usually needs some adjustments to look good. The same is true for off-the-shelf products. They are an all-purpose solution, which can be used by many companies, and often you end up trying to change your business to fit the technology rather than fitting the technology to your business.

2) Return On Investment

While bespoke software development involves investment, you can often start experiencing financial benefits almost immediately. When it is well planned and well built, the time/human resource savings can quickly pay for themselves, as can the competitive edge you can gain from developing better systems than your rivals. Bespoke software also forms part of your company’s IP and can add value to the business.

3) Better Security

Common off-the-shelf products have one huge disadvantage: Hackers know all the ins and outs of such programs and often take advantage of the weaknesses. That’s why you can’t feel 100% secure when using such software. Meanwhile, custom-made programs are only exploited by your business, cutting the chances of hacks and break-ins to a minimum. It also reduces the incentive for hacking – with an off-the-shelf product, if you are successful in hacking one system you can potentially access thousands more.

4) Scalability

If your company grows or expands to cover other market sectors, the off-the-shelf solution may not cope – and you have little or no input in the way the system develops over time. Bespoke software can develop and grow together with your business. Make IT Simple offers lifetime product support to help you change the program whenever needed.

5) Time-Saving 

Jim Rohn once said “Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money but you can’t get more time.” We create products that save you an impressive amount of time on software integration and employee training as well as automating and speeding up critical business processes.

Source: https://www.makeitsimple.co.uk/blog/7-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-bespoke-software/