What is Custom Software Development?

A good portion of the software solutions in the world fall under the off-the-shelf umbrella. However, there are numerous cases in which a predefined solution that might be flexible to a certain extent cannot address a portion or the totality of a company's requirements. In this case, custom software development is the only solution.

A custom solution must address your unique business requirements, including complex, unique processes, a regulatory environment that limits other solutions, niche processes where standard software doesn't exist, the company's industry, competitor landscape, or even business decisions.

Is Custom Software Development still relevant in today's business?

We can observe more solutions to everyday business problems; however, software off-the-shelf addresses the most common scenarios or specific niches. Flexible off-the-shelf solutions require customization, configuration, and even development on top of the solution. Implementations can take a long time, and in many cases, they come at a high cost. Suppose your business requires filling the gap of a straightforward process with no edge cases. In that case, an off-the-shelf solution will work perfectly.

When to use an off-the-shelf solution

We can easily define a series of items to keep into consideration when choosing an off-the-shelf package or solution:

- Applications that serve large audiences with similar problems and narrow to simple functionalities are typical cases. Examples include HR processes, payroll, Word, Excel, and Email.

- It is easy to access, purchase, and easy to maintain.

- Admits at least a few customizations to adapt it to your company as best as possible.

- Unless it is not for a critical process, the company behind the solution has a proven track record. It is robust enough to maintain the service in the future.

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What are the benefits of Custom Software Development?

As we mentioned previously, there are many software solutions for common problems. However, some companies, organizations, and institutions require particular features and capabilities that off-the-shelf solutions cannot provide.

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- Companies might benefit from customized software development that can provide the best match for their needs. It is not unusual to find processes and requirements that do not fit into any commercial solution in the market.

- Another excellent case to consider when thinking about custom development is market-related. A unique solution can surpass the competition, bringing non-existing capabilities. For example, prediction software applications exist for different purposes. Suppose your company can tailor a prediction custom solution much better than any existing software. In that case, you will have an advantage over competitors.

- Companies might find it challenging to integrate off-the-shelf solutions into their ecosystem. Many systems run on legacy databases, applications, or security, which can make integration difficult. Even most flexible systems have a limited number of potential integrations. The complexity of integrating a commercial off-the-shelf solution into some environments can lead to the decision to build a custom solution.

- Security is also a big topic to discuss when using market solutions. Each company developing off-the-shelf software will apply its vision to the product based on the markets it wants to conquer. Suppose your company market has a strong regulatory framework such as finances, banking, or healthcare. In that case, you must comply with several rules that might not exist in the commercial software or platform you evaluate.

- Scalability must be a key factor for existing software. Most solutions aim at SMBs (Small and Medium-Sized Businesses) and don't scale well over a certain number of users. Also, commercial solutions might not contemplate corporate structures for approval processes, as another example. Interestingly, many current enterprise off-the-shelf solutions started as custom solutions to solve unique problems at scale.

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What are the differences between Custom Software Development vs. Off-the-Shelf Software?

We tackle different angles to make a difference between Custom and Off-the-Shelf software, but we summarized the key differences below:

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- Off-the-shelf software focused on use cases that can serve large audiences with little customization. Custom Software focuses on the unique use cases of a company.

- Off-the-shelf software is easy to access and use almost immediately. For example, SaaS platforms are very popular nowadays, and users can sign up and start working in a few minutes. Custom Software takes time to design and build, often months or years.

- Some off-the-shelf software offers more complex customization, usually requiring consultants to do the work. Generally, custom Software covers many of the company's business cases and doesn't require much customization.

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What types of solutions require Custom Software?

We can affirm that Custom Software Solutions exist in several industries and solve all business requirements. We have seen Custom Software in manufacturing, procurement, logistics, e-commerce, finances, healthcare, and more.

However, processes that require integration with other company systems are large enough to need more than one platform and depend on unique sources, so they tend to be candidates for developing a Custom Solution even when there are dozens of solutions in the market.

Find below a brief list of candidates for Custom Software Development:

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- Data processing and analysis. It is not a coincidence that we pointed this out first. There are many off-the-shelf solutions to process data. Still, most processes are unique to companies and highly depend on internal databases, data sources, and other systems.

- Many large companies have also decided to build custom solutions for e-commerce. Off-the-shelf solutions mostly solve the needs of small businesses or individuals.

- Enterprise Resource Planning, or ERP, is a software category with countless solutions on the market. Custom ERPs are even more popular due to their complexity in managing diverse operations for particular markets.

- Mobile applications are typical candidates for Custom Development. Mobile applications are unique in functionality and requirements, and most companies focus on a subset of their current capabilities if they already have a platform serving clients. For example, insurance companies provide similar services, all building custom mobile applications.

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What are the challenges in Custom Software Development?

The most obvious challenge of Custom Software Development is cost. It usually requires a higher investment than any off-the-shelf solution. It consumes time for employees who must commit part of their work to help build a Custom Solution.

A second important factor is the lack of experience building a Custom Solution. Many companies don't build software or have an IT department capable of building software. Even if companies have an IT department with enough capacity to develop a Custom Solution, they don't have the experience of managing a project like this.

We emphasize that cost can be tricky to predict. The scope of Custom Software Solutions is not rigid. Once companies see the value of building a better application, they change the scope, increasing the solution's total cost. Also, unexpected problems in creating or implementing certain features can substantially change the budget.

We always suggest consulting with experts before making a decision. You can schedule a free consultation with us to help you understand if Custom Software Development is your best option.

Lastly, suppose some or all of the company's stakeholders are not actively involved while creating the solution. In that case, the software delivery will not correctly reflect the company's essential needs. Delivering software is not only about technical factors; it is about building what companies require to thrive and survive.

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What are the best practices for building Custom Software Development?

There are hundreds of books about building Custom Software successfully. However, it is easy to enumerate key items to maximize the chance of success.

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- Transparent and Detailed Requirement Gathering​: This is a critical step that requires maximum priority and selecting an adequate group of individuals to take on the task. Companies must assign business-savvy individuals who can work closely with analysts and the technical staff to gather requirements and ensure correct delivery. That group needs to follow the process of building the software, providing feedback, validating requirements, and documenting goals, objectives, business processes, etc.

- Implement an Agile Development Methodology: Of all the different methodologies tried in Software Development, Agile is the one that provides feedback quickly and allows for fast course correction. No matter how much business knowledge the company has accumulated through the years, building software is always a balancing act to translate business requirements into software delivery. It is better to deliver incrementally and validate results quickly.

- Once the project ramps up and the speed of delivery reaches a good pace, implement a robust testing framework. Good testing patterns and practices ensure new features do what they should and that the overall system stability is solid. Introducing new features or correcting bugs can cause previous parts of the system to break. Implementing several testing guards at the development, integration, and user experience levels is fundamental.

- Implement a solid method to deploy and maintain the solution: We have experienced the pain of finishing a new release that takes days to go live due to manual processes, maintenance windows, or a lack of processes to deploy to production several times. A smooth and planned continuous delivery pattern with a continuous integration pipeline ensures end-to-end delivery. It also helps with rollbacks, A/B testing, and hotfixes.

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What are the future trends in Custom Software Development?

Nobody can predict the future, least of all software companies. In the last few years, we have observed trends that have gained steam and delivered a portion of custom solutions.

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- Low-code and No-Code platforms. We mentioned before some application types as promising candidates for Custom Software Development. Also, we've already seen an increase in delivery using Low-Code or No-Code platforms. A great example is the rise of mobile applications created with little code using popular No-Code and Low-Code platforms. We have to take this with a grain of salt; even when those platforms allow fast delivery without deep expertise in software development, they are limited to the set of functionalities the platform decided to build.

- Integrated Artificial Intelligence. We are living in an AI world. The reach of AI must be exaggerated in some cases, but AI is here to stay, no doubt. Most Custom Software Development must consider AI to automate processes, improve data understanding, generate diverse content, and provide client-facing capabilities in customer applications like chatbots.

- Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). Web applications offering app-native experiences are on the rise, and we can affirm that they will keep growing. Users require seamless user experiences across multiple devices, fast loading times, and quick change, which are the core of PWAs.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is custom software development?​

Custom Software development is the process of building a unique solution that covers a set of needs and requirements.

How does custom software development differ from off-the-shelf software?​

Custom Software development tailors the solution to a company. In contrast, off-the-shelf solutions solve broad use cases for large audiences with little or no customization.

What are the benefits of custom software development?​

Custom Software development meets specific company needs, can adapt to more cases, gives a competitive advantage, and tackles security and compliance problems.

What is the process involved in custom software development?​

The process involves all the following stages: gathering requirements, analysis, software architecture and design, development phase, testing, deployment, and maintenance.

How much does custom software development cost?​

The cost depends on several factors: scope, complexity, the company's environment and infrastructure, and even the decision to build in-house or hire a partner company for staff augmentation or project outsourcing.

What is bespoke software development?

Bespoke software development refers to Custom software development. There is no difference; they are synonyms.

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