The software, information technology and digital tools have become an integral part of a modern day workplace. These days’ businesses can’t function without the help of modern technology. Think of a smartphone, before them everything was going fine, but now a days, one can’t even imagine their life without their mobile phone. The same happens with the businesses as well, the modern marketplaces are very competitive. Especially in Dubai and all around the UAE where the customers are very demanding and they have tons of choices, the businesses had to compete a lot in order to stay out of the crowd. Businesses need software solutions to deliver their services to the customers, to improve their internal processed for production and supply chain management, for customer relationship management, for internal processes management and for almost each and every task the employee perform on day-to-day bases. That is why without software solutions and information technology is the lifeblood of the present day workplace.
There are two major classifications of the software solutions, one is the commercial off-the-shelf software solutions or COTS and the other is bespoke or custom software solutions. The COTS are designed for masses and hundreds or even thousands of businesses can use the same software solution. This means that the software is a generic application designed as per the industry standards and popular trends. When a business decide to acquire a commercial off-the-shelf software solutions they prefer a software which satisfy their maximum needs, usually it is 80/20 ratio where 80% of needs are met the software is considered to be a good choice. There are two drawbacks, one the software can never meet the 100% of the needs and its structure, workflow and mechanisms are usually less customizable, hence businesses will have to adjust their operation, processes and workflows to integrate the software. The second disadvantage is that most of the time the chances are your competitors would also be using the same application hence you will get no competitive advantage. However the custom software development solve all these problems and it fully aligns with your need and offer a great competitive advantage.
What is Custom Software Development?
The custom software development is a process of developing an exclusive software for a particular business or set of users. This means that the custom software development offers a 100% compliance with business’s needs. The businesses who are designing the custom software doesn’t have to make any changes in their existing processes or business practices as the custom software will offer great flexibility and control over the application you are developing. Hence businesses can have a software which not only meet their 100% needs, but also help them boost the efficiency of the relevant processes and the employees. Businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE usually outsource custom software development project to a vendor who starts the process with an intense requirement gathering phase, which helps them align the software with the business needs. As the software is designed according to the needs, hence the business doesn’t have to make changes in their processes or practices, and business get the full ownership rights to the application, hence there is no recurring or rental cost.
Why Custom Software Development is Better than COTS?
The COTS or commercial off-the-shelf software solutions are better in many ways, but have many drawbacks, the biggest problem is that they will never be able to meet your 100% requirements you will always have to make compromises over price or features. The scalability and operational cost is also high with several recurring fees and charges, the customization is limited and expensive. Moreover the adoption is difficult and integration is also limited. All these problems might not seem much at the start but as time passes, eventually businesses will have to switch to the customized software solutions. Every business is unique, over the time this uniqueness grows, and it is this uniqueness that help businesses establish a brand identity in the market. A custom software development provides more flexibility and easy scalability which help businesses support their growth and enhance their uniqueness. There are several benefits of custom software development which makes it superior from COTS, in this blog we will list the key advantages of the custom software development which are crucial for performance and growth.
Custom Software Development Advantages: 1. Exclusivity
One of the biggest advantage of the custom software development is the 100% fulfillment of your business needs. The COTS solutions are designed for the masses, they are designed to be generic and according to the popular industry trends. However, each business is unique and different form the other, even if they operate in the same industry sector and doing the same stuff, their internal culture and environment would be developed differently. This is what makes a business unique and give them a much needed competitive advantage. However, the commercial off-the-shelf software solutions deprive a business from it. The custom software development on the other hand allow businesses to retain their uniqueness and it help them to further drive innovation to enhance their performance, productivity and unique business identity. The custom software development offers exclusivity, complete ownership rights and it fully complieswith your unique needs which increase your business’s strength and support your growth.
Custom Software Development Advantages: 2. Personalization
Personalization is something that is always associated with good outcome, whether you offer a personalized experience to your customers or employees you will always get a positive outcome. The commercial off-the-shelf software solutions doesn’t offer any personalization at all. In case if you want some personalization you will have to pay additional cost for that and even then the level and scope of personalization would be very limited. However, the custom software development is very flexible and offers full personalization. Whether it is the features of the software you want to design in your own way, whether the workflows, or even the UI (user interface), you can personalize each and every bit of the software application with the custom software development process. You can personalize even the minute level of functions and even the title or color of the buttons on your customized software. Furthermore you can define the software behavior and align it according to your internal processes, business practices and the ways your employees are familiar with. The personalization make adoption and integration more convenient and it maximizes the efficiency of the customized software.
Custom Software Development Advantages: 3. Cost-Effective
The commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) solutions have less initial cost, they can be deployed very quickly, in fact within days, however, they have recurring cost, rental or subscription charges, then there is scalability, customization and integration cost which is separate from all that. All these different expenses make the commercial off-the-shelf software solutions much more expensive in the long run and above all the business doesn’t even have the ownership rights, in case if the vendor doesn’t allow them, they can’t even migrate their data to other applications, and there are several other drawbacks. However, the custom software development might seem expensive and more time taking at first, but it is mostly a one-time cost, the business completely owns the software application and they don’t have any dependency on the vendor. Since the software is fully owned by the business it is designed for, so the customization, integration and scalability is also not a problem. Business can customize the software whenever they want, same is application for the upgrades, updates and up-scaling. This is what makes custom software development much more cost-effective than COTS.
Custom Software Development Advantages: 4. Security and Privacy
The data security and privacy protection is not a technical matter, in fact we have witnessed in past years that a well-established business can go bankrupt within months after a data breach or security problem. Customers are very concerned about their data privacy and protection. Businesses who failed to secure the data of their customers and for the matter of fact their internal data will loss reputation and public’s trust on them. The commercial off-the-shelf software are always owned by the vendor or service provider and your data is stored on the servers which are not managed or maintained by you. This is what make it’s a bigger security risk. Furthermore the structure of the COTS is very familiar to the internet pirates, as they are globally available for millions of users. However, the custom software development on the contrary can offer the best security measures. Your data is hosted with you, and your trusted team have full control over the data server and the security of the environment. Furthermore you can also make your customized software aligned with your existing digital ecosystem which makes it more secure and offer great reliability.
Custom Software Development Advantages: 5. Scalability
Scalability is one of the most overlooked aspect of software development. Businesses usually doesn’t consider it a big issue at first. This is the case with the commercial off-the-shelf software solutions, they can align with your present day needs, but you don’t know in future whether they will still remain compatible or not. A business keep evolving and growing which means its needs keep changing and growing, and on top of that the IT technology and digital world is subjected to rapid changes unexpected situations. The custom software development is the solution to all those problems. During the custom software development process, businesses and vendor does intensive research and they also consider multiple expected scenarios during the prototyping stage. This will make them more ready for future and scalability. Furthermore the customized software are fully owned by the businesses hence adding new features or upgrading them or adding more users is not a problem. In fact most of the time there is very less or literally no cost associated with up-scaling. That is why the custom software development is more flexible towards scalability and increase the future readiness of your applications.
Custom Software Development Advantages: 5. Adoptability
The adaptation and integration are some of the most crucial aspects of implementing a new software solution. The commercial off-the-shelf software solutions have already established UI (user interface), internal information structure, workflows and development framework. Which limits their ability to harmonize with your existing digital ecosystem and also with the employees who will be using the application. Most of the time the integration cause serious troubles and the businesses also have to arrange training programs for their employees to make them able to efficiently use the new application. A business always have to rely on multiple enterprise tools and software solutions and system. In order to maximize the efficiency the information sharing and integration is a necessity. The custom software development ensures that the software will be fully compatible with the existing digital ecosystem. It offer more flexibility and control which maximizes its ability to integrate with other software, tools and databases. Moreover the UI (user interface) and workflows are fully personalized as per the users’ requirements, hence the adoptability is quicker and convenient.
Conclusion
Any modern business in Dubai or anywhere else in UAE knows the importance of IT, digital tools and software solutions. No business in the present time can properly function without adopting to various different types of business tools and software solutions. In order to compete in the market and establish a unique brand identity a business needs excellent quality information network and digital ecosystem. That is why the software needs keep coming and business are on a continuous quest to achieve higher efficiency in their internal and external endeavors. When it comes to implement a new software solution a manager or business leader can easily get confused and overwhelmed due to sheer number and multitude of software solutions available in the market. That is why we discussed custom software development in this blog and listed some key advantages of customized software solution which will help our audience to choose the best solution for their needs. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to design and develop a highly cost-effective customized software solution for your business, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.
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