Many businesses need specific software solutions to successfully serve their customers. Custom software development creates applications specifically designed to meet the specific requirements of these organizations and users. For example, banking uses highly specialized customer software that provides easy access to customers while protecting sensitive data with industry-leading security features. As previously reported, 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized solutions, and 76% are frustrated when they don’t.
About 17.7% of companies said that ongoing performance management and stress testing is one of the top challenges facing the development team. Let’s take a quick look at the differences between custom and off-the-shelf software. We will then discuss other benefits that custom software provides to every industry and organization.
What is custom software development?
Custom software development is the process of designing, developing, deploying, and maintaining software based on the requirements of specific businesses, business functions, or users. While it uses much the same SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) as off-the-shelf software, custom software development focuses on a narrowly defined set of requirements for a specific user group. Common software, on the other hand, meets general business needs—such as Microsoft Office for office productivity and Sitebuilder.com for website creation.
Why customized software?
Bespoke software enables businesses to provide unique solutions to their customers. But do all unique solutions require proprietary software?
Many off-the-shelf software solutions include APIs for customization or integration with other applications. In this way, certain business applications can appear unique even though they are powered by common applications.
If you’re looking to develop software for your business but aren’t sure whether custom or off-the-shelf software is the solution, you need to be clear about the benefits you want to get and the costs you’re willing to pay. Fortunately, there is enough information below to help you decide which one you should choose.
7 Benefits of custom software development
Understanding the benefits of custom software development for both businesses and customers will help you make the right decisions for you and your business.
1) A unique solution that belongs only to your company:
The biggest reason for developing your own software is that your company wants to own the solution. Businesses can handle software functions, and data, develop methodologies, etc. With customized software, businesses can make changes whenever they want, add important information, and implement customer feedback.
2) Personalized solution:
Every customer or user wants to feel that their interaction with the company is personal. Feeling that you are treated as an individual is a significant factor in customer satisfaction. When a company provides a more personalized solution, it adds value to the business/customer relationship. Such added value creates customer loyalty and extends customer retention.
3) Customer satisfaction:
Mckinsey statistics say that 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized solutions and 76% are frustrated when businesses don’t. Knowing the impact of a personalized user experience, custom software development is really important for customer satisfaction.
4) Security:
Common software is generally easier to hack because most use open-source code. Hackers and attackers are already aware of the vulnerabilities of such software, while custom-built software is a closed-source project and is only used by your team. The chances of intrusions are thus minimized.
5) Integration:
With developers employed or retained, integrating custom software with your existing enterprise software should be easy. In addition, custom software can implement existing processes without having to follow the constraints of any API.
6) Flexibility and scalability:
Businesses can make changes to the customized software at any time according to the needs of the business. And if you’re smart, scalability will be one feature marked as essential in your initial project scope. On the other hand, normal applications cannot be manipulated at will. And if you change anything, you’ll likely violate your license agreement with the off-the-shelf software providers, making it impossible to continue maintaining and using the application.
7) Reliability:
Application reliability is critical for all businesses. Using your own solution is safer and more reliable because you own all the rights and dictate how it is modified and maintained. Custom software developers usually use the highest quality tools and top security standards because the end application reflects on them personally. So you can always count on top performance and reliability.
Tip: In addition to implementing custom software, some business owners design mobile apps for their businesses to help customers shop and keep track of company events.
Conclusion
You know the needs of your customers better than anyone else, and the customer is everything to your business. Identify target customer trends and develop application software that addresses these trends whenever possible. More personalized customer experiences create higher customer satisfaction for your business. Whenever your budget and your business can afford it, use custom software development to better reach your customers and gain more loyalty. For more information regarding custom software solutions please contact us at Coding Brains.
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