Posted On : 27 November 2019
Need of Custom Software for Business
Nobody can today deny the need for software for business. It is the only way to speed up your tasks and ensure better efficiency. It is the way to reduce depends on the human workforce and frees you valuable workers for more creative jobs. Instead of wasting manpower on repetitive tasks the software helps to do these tasks themselves and that too without any errors. But the doubt remains in most companies today whether they should go for custom software development or purchase a readymade software.
Factors To Consider For The Decision
There are certain factors the company must consider when they decide on software. The first thing is to know where you will be using the software. More specifically you should know what problems will be solved by the software. You must check the cost for both custom software and off-the-shelf software. This will certainly be one of the deciding factors because you must be sure that the money you invest will give you that much benefit.
You must study the product and see what it offers. The next thing is to know more about the vendor that sells the product. Whether you are buying an off-the-shelf product or getting it built by a custom software development company you must make sure you know the company well enough. You must also check the security that you will need and whether the product offers the same. The most important thing is to see that the product offers all the solutions that you need.
What Are The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Readymade Software?
Advantages
The main advantage of off-the-shelf products is that they are far less expensive than custom software. As these products have been in the market, many people will have used it and there is no need for any special training for your staff. There are also many user communities for the readymade software that can come to your aid when there is a problem. They can also be trusted better because the products are tested and all the problems have been removed from them.
Disadvantages
The main disadvantage of the off-the-shelf products is that you must spend much time and money to customize it to your requirements. Often the software is not updated with the latest requirements of the industry. There are many features in the readymade software that are not useful to you. in fact, they may sometimes interfere with your smooth working.
All readymade software packages are created with a wide base of customers in mind. This means that you may have to change your systems to make use of the software. Security is another big issue with off-the-shelf software as they are already in use and the hackers might know the weaknesses of the software. It makes them easy for penetration.
Pluses And Minuses Of Custom Software
Pluses
Readymade software is usually made for specific tasks and you may have to purchase different ones for different tasks in your company. when you get a software development company in Singapore to create custom software for you, they can create one single software for all the tasks in your company. This will improve the efficiency to a great level. It also helps to save a lot of time which you can use for more useful tasks.
Custom software can largely help with company's growth. When the number of transactions increases, the custom software can accommodate them. Most off-the-shelf software comes with a limit of usage. After that, you may have to go for upgrades. You can program custom software to work for any number of users that you want. You can make provisions for adding users later. Custom software is also good when you want to include multiple locations.
One of the misconceptions of many people is that custom software is costly. Considering the biggest advantage that it gives of making your work more efficient, custom software does give you a better ROI on your investment. When you can free your employees you automatically use them for work that will earn you money. This is another way custom software helps you earn a better return on what you pay for it.
When you use custom software, you don’t have to make any changes to your working style. This will also help in making the work more efficient because your employees don’t have to learn anything new. Most custom software development companies include training your employees at their cost. You also don't have to do any customization later with custom software. You can get increased security with custom software because the hackers don’t know the software.
Minuses
The main disadvantage of custom software is the cost. If yours is a small company with very limited transactions the cost may not be justified. The time taken to develop the software is another drawback of custom software. It can take a long time to develop depending on the features that you want to be included in it and the company that develops the software for you. One way to tackle this is to develop the software in stages.
There is always the risk that your choice of the developer is wrong. If you choose the wrong software company you could end up spending more money and wasting a lot of time. Another thing is that this software is not tested. There could be inherent problems with the software that will be known only when you start working with it. If the software company doesn't offer you the proper support you will have a huge problem.
More Resources on Custom Software Development
