Should I Go For Custom Application Development? The Merits And Demerits

What do you do when your business requires a specific application? The proprietary software developers will not tweak their existing apps and the present-day apps are not doing it for you. Custom software app development is your best shot to make things work out for you.

What is Custom software application development?

This type of business application development aims to provide tailor-made solutions to fit the needs of a particular business. As opposed to traditional prefabricated solutions, custom software caters to a particular group of users.

While off-the-shelf software offers are made for mass usage, custom software serve a single client only. Custom software development companies aim for businesses with specific requirements. The advantages of such development are numerous such as quicker delivery and better customer support.

Some of the benefits of Custom software include:

• Having your own personalized solution Your business should run the software; instead of software running your business. We cannot stress on this enough! Most companies tweak their processes so that their automation software fits better into the system. They train their employees accordingly too. However, the proprietary software leaves you at the mercy of their developers. The moment the developers decide to stop working on their product, your business comes to a halt. With a custom software for your business, you own the software which meets all your business requirements. Your custom application development company will develop a solution that works around your business by adapting to your business practice. Since you no longer "share" solutions with your competitors, you are already one step ahead of the competition.

• Update and support Another advantage of custom software is – your business growth is not dependent on the product development life cycle of the developers. You can work in sync with the app development team to provide updates and improvements in your custom app as you deem fit. Custom applications have better support too. This is because the development team is aware of individual business requirements. The software better functions with existing hardware. There is no need to update your hardware components for the software to run. Bonus? You do not need additional hosting too. Applications are developed to gel in with existing server requirements.

• Custom software is more secure Since packaged software is used by masses, it has higher chances of getting compromised. In the case of custom software, the app developers provide solutions with added layers of security. Since you can modify or remove software as per your requirements, additional security measures can be introduced to make your solution more secure. All of this is not possible in off-the-shelf software.

• Production in parts This one is particularly beneficial for start-ups and small and middle-level firms. Based on your requirements, you can get a custom software developed in parts. This will give you a chance to test your MVP versions with every new addition. Based on user feedback and test results, you can alter or remove features as suitable.

While custom software is beneficial in so many ways, they might not be your business' calling.

Here's why:

• Custom software development is resource intensive Customized solutions seldom make sense for businesses which are still researching and finalizing their business needs. Since you need to incorporate all features of your business into your app to make it more effective, if you still are in the process of setting up a business, it makes no sense to get a custom application developed. Off-the-shelf solutions work fine in this scenario as they save resources, time and energy. Just buy a license and hire a team who knows its way around the software.

• Higher costs Customized solutions are expensive than their counterparts. Since you would also be requiring support from the development team, you are looking at high upfront and maintenance costs. However, given the features that suit your business needs, the cost is worth investing.

• Fewer Possibilities for Extension Custom software is built to address and cater to specific business requirements. They cannot compete with the feature rich off-the-shelf proprietary software which offers more scope to growing businesses. The readymade solutions are feature rich which is very convenient for smaller teams.

This is all very well. But should I go for custom app development?

If your business has specific requirements which cannot be resolved fully by ready-made solutions, then we say, why not? However, if you are unsure of your business needs, then it is better to opt for an off-the-shelf solution.

We highly recommend businesses to outsource custom software development. Since most businesses are new to technology, it helps in having a technology partner that can guide them to creating effective solutions at reasonable costs. It is better than having an in-house development team. Plus, we get to work with awesome clients and expand our network!

BluEnt offers high-quality custom application development for businesses in USA and Canada. We also offer consultation on MVPs and mobile app development. You can get in touch with us to know more about the services we offer.

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