When to Consider Custom Software Development

For a trained digital professional, Best Software Development agency in UAE projects are usually easy to spot. During an introductory conversation with a potential client, we usually think about whether this project will be best served using ready-made software or using a custom build. Sometimes customers know this too. However, unfortunately, they could come to a conclusion in various ways. While we base our recommendations on our collective experience and knowledge, often clients find out only after they have already tried a different approach that failed. And even worse, the loss of money, time, and effort was an unfortunate result of this approach.

Based on the foregoing, I would like to highlight some of the common scenarios that are all ideal candidates for an individual approach to development compared to using ready-made solutions. Although the software industry is working hard to implement all possible user scenarios in its products, the reality is that for certain types of projects, individual development will always be required. More on this later. But for now, let’s delve into these sample scenarios.

Integrated Integrations

Building integration between multiple systems is a common software development task that we see today. This is based primarily on the fact that there are so many licensed or off-the-shelf software solutions and have APIs for extensibility. The truth is that today almost every company uses licensed software to some extent. For my business, I use tools such as Harvest for time tracking, Quickbooks for accounting and Trello for project management. Where non-standard software comes in handy, and we used this approach even for ourselves, this is creating intersections between these platforms to perform specific tasks.

As I said, licensed software can be a good choice for your business if you are ready to work within the software. By this, I mean that workflows in off-the-shelf software are usually defined for a user base, which is usually somewhat wider. It never makes sense to create something that you can take from a shelf and fit your list of requirements. Based on the foregoing, the software that you license rarely does everything the way you want in a corporate setting. When using licensed software, it makes sense to find ways to either get it to do what you want, or integrate it into other systems that you already have. Any of these scenarios is a good place for custom software to fill in the blanks.

User Administrative Workflows

Often you will find many ready-made options that are sold and sold just for the problem that you are trying to solve. Magneto may be the most popular way to launch an online store, or WordPress may be the most used content management system for informational websites or publications. However, when you research specific workflows or patterns of using these tools, you realize that you will either have to change your way of doing business or otherwise be forced to radically tweak the software to fit.

One rule is universal for ready-made software: the more you crack it, the less reliable it becomes. What for? Because software designed for the masses is being updated to stay within its band, and the more time and effort you spend setting it up, the greater the likelihood that these future updates will cause problems.

Custom software solves this problem by creating tools and workflows for doing business from scratch. Thus, you do not change anything in the way you conduct business, but optimize your approach using a software solution. And, since you created it from scratch, your risk of software instability when changing it is practically zero.

The difficulty is to find out if your business has customizable workflows that are different from the others, or which existing software packages are created for processing. Unfortunately, most business owners realize that they are incompatible with the software, having already invested in its use. This leads to several unpleasant scenarios – firstly, you spent time and money on a platform that does not perform the tasks you need. And secondly, you put your business at risk by making efforts that did not lead to anything.

This is where planning comes into play. Clients are always well served, attracting specialists independent of technology who can understand the current situation of the client, identify any requirements and find solutions. Warning: software providers are NOT the same! Software vendors sell licenses, not identification solutions. They cannot be impartial.

Unique User Scenarios

While off-the-shelf software promises all kinds of things on the backend, you should also worry about customer experience. This is true, especially if you have some unique scripts that are expected from users. What is a “unique” scenario? Honestly, any number of things. One good litmus test that you can use to determine if you are a candidate for an individual development project asks yourself how unique your proposals are compared to the “norm”. If you are an e-commerce site, what do you do differently than everyone else? If you see that your method of doing business is very different, then this may be an indicator that you will need an individual approach to the development of your project.

Some customers can immediately say that they need to build their projects from scratch. Either they are clearly trying to differ from competitors, or they have already experienced difficulties trying to use a ready-made approach. The best way to know for sure is to go through the discovery process to determine the architecture of what you are trying to achieve. After going through this process, you can use all the possible options to complete the tasks.

Specialized business

This point is very similar to that described above, where we discussed unique user scenarios. But I want to separate this to be completely clear about areas where customization is required. Companies that work in niche industries or sell certain products or services are usually the main candidates for a specialized or individual approach to development. When I look back at our portfolio, almost all of our customers were businesses that are a little non-standard. For example, we have a client who specializes in long-term car rental in Europe, where many variables influence prices and affordability. We have other clients with special requirements for lead generation, where it is necessary to clean, inspect, and then refer the appropriate personnel for subsequent monitoring. Of course, there are many custom CMS projects that have been deployed by our team for companies that have unique content management requirements and workflows.

I want to say that the more specialized your business is and the more you work to differ from your competitors, the more likely you will need an individual approach to development or special software to realize your digital aspirations. Most likely, if you know that your method is unique and can identify differences between you and your competitors, you will encounter limitations of licensed software at one time or another. The best time to implement these restrictions is before you try to get such a script to work before you begin any development.

Completion

On the Internet, I hear a lot of chatter from the so-called “experts” on specific software who make fun of those who specialize in custom software development. In fact, there will always be a place for custom software development. Like the fact that architects will always design new, state-of-the-art buildings, software developers will still need original, bespoke solutions. It’s true that some cases make more sense than others, but hopefully this post will clarify the best path for your project. For more information visit our site Napollo.