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Custom Software Development. To Buy or To Build?

As businesses develop and integrate new digital technologies, an array of software tools plays a decisive role in the process management effectiveness.

The cost of development and business processes, interconnectivity between departments, integration with external services depends on how effective the IT solution is.

Corporate users have access to off-the-shelf solutions with the ability to adapt to the needs of the buyer and custom software, which is developed from scratch according to the customer's specifications. Both options have their pros and cons that clients need to understand.

One of the stages of digital transformation process is automation of the company's production and business processes, the selection of a methodology, tools and a team that will help make the transition. At this stage, the question arises - what is more profitable, custom software development or off-the-shelf solution? Of course, without knowing the details of the project, it is impossible to answer this question unequivocally: the choice will depend on many factors, including the industry of the enterprise, current business tasks, implemented processes, and company goals.

Evolution of the IT market

In the 90s, custom software development dominated the market. Software products were developed only individually, since there were not enough ready-made options to meet the needs of the corporate sector. Companies often developed software themselves by hiring third-party companies or used their own in-staff developers. Some of the IT tools created at that period are still being used today.

The beginning of the 2000s, gave birth to the off-the-shelf products. From custom individual solutions small and large companies have moved to standard content management systems (CMS), customer relationship management tools (CRM), accounting software, engineering applications (CAD).

Today when choosing software development for enterprises companies identify such criteria:

- Ease of use

- Integration into existing IT infrastructure

- Ability to meet individual needs,

- Ease and low cost of maintenance & upgrade

- Scalability as the business grows

- Ability to make changes and improvements according to company’s own plan

Custom solutions

The development of corporate software for individual orders allows you to fully meet the requirements of the client, regardless of its complexity. This method of obtaining the necessary software is used by large financial organizations, telecom operators, retail.

The alternative in the form of boxed software does not provide the necessary flexibility, since in a highly competitive environment you can only gain an advantage with the help of personalized software. They provide new opportunities for interacting with customers, expanding sales funnels, optimizing interaction between contractors and customers.

There are many benefits to bespoke software solutions with the right vendor selection and development approach:

- A thorough approach to architectural design. Even at the initial stage, it is necessary to choose solutions and technologies that will not become a bottleneck in the development of software in the future. This requires qualified IT architects.

- The right choice of hardware. Software must have reliable code portability, testing capabilities, and the ability to dynamically allocate hardware capacity for existing tasks.

- When choosing custom development, at design and implementation stage of the project, it is adapted to a specific customer. Therefore, the implementation itself will take a minimum of time and can be carried out in parallel with the refinement of the system and the expansion of its functions.

- Proper process management. When developing complex corporate software, it is necessary to apply a flexible approach and take into account the presence of legacy systems that need to be integrated with a new product.

Off-the-shelf capabilities

Ready-made digital solutions offer ready-to-use standard products with a specific set of features and business process automation scenarios.

This approach has its advantages:

- boxed products are ready to use and do not require development time

- standard software has a unified interface familiar to most users

- the cost of a ready-made solution is lower

However, ready-made software solutions have a number of disadvantages as well:

- The time to integrate into the IT infrastructure can be too long due to the need to adapt to the needs of a particular client.

- Only limited customization is possible within the limits set by the developer, which is long and expensive. If you need to make major changes, you have to almost completely redo the code of the "box". In the case of custom development, the application code is immediately made taking into account the needs of the customer. Therefore, it will not be necessary to redo it in the future, and extensions and improvements will take a minimum of time.

- The existing critical IT architecture of financial institutions and large corporate customers often cannot be integrated with off-the-shelf solutions due to the lack of necessary modules.

- For the operation of the boxed version, you need to pay a monthly or annual subscription fee, which may increase due to inflation. When choosing custom development, payment is made only for the services of creating the application. Then you can support it with your own IT department, without paying the developer royalties.

Summary

Following the rapid development of technology, the priorities in choosing an IT service provider are changing. In all industries, products are becoming more complex and specific, and mass boxed solutions are becoming obsolete, especially for enterprises.

Traditional models of universal service providers and mass boxed solutions are now fading away, giving way to a model with more personalized services and tools. Edsson expertise is unique, and this is what helps us create one-of-a-kind innovative products for our clients.