Custom Software Development Dubai Archives - Page 3 of 3 - RSI Concepts - Top IT Solution Provider Company in Dubai, UAE

February 10, 2023

Why the Custom Software Development is Good for Your Business?

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.

Check out this: A Complete Guide to High-Converting Web Development

October 13, 2022

Advantages of Hybrid Mobile Applications

Mobile applications are very common these days. Especially since the past few years we have witnessed a huge rise in smartphone apps. The smartphones and mobile devices are becoming more powerful day by day, the technology itself is improving a lot and the people are spending more time on their mobile phones than ever before. All these factors along with the changing customer behavior and market trend have compelled businesses to offer mobile applications to their customers. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the 99% of the population have access to high-speed internet and almost the same percentage of population owns a mobile phone. This means the mobile apps can offer a great brand visibility. Businesses can offer more personalized customer experience via mobile applications which help them increase customer engagement too. The mobile apps are also a great source of valuable business intelligence data which help businesses gathering deeper insight to customers’ minds.

The mobile apps are not just helpful in enhancing customer experience, but they can also support a business in generating more revenue. Businesses can utilize mobile applications to offer e-Commerce features to allow their customers to make purchases directly from the smartphone apps. Businesses who are not selling online, or can’t sell online, can offer a variety of services via mobile applications. That not only help businesses gain customer loyalty but also help them to improve their internal processes and operational capabilities. The digital services or mobile applications help businesses digitalize several internal processes and the digitalization drives autonomy and efficiency. That is why mobile applications are extremely crucial for a businesses.

What is Hybrid Mobile Application Development?

Hybrid mobile application development is building a single application which can run on multiple platforms/OS such as Android, Apple iOS, and Windows. The native mobile application development is building a tailor-made application only for a specific platform/OS. If a native app is developed for Android it won’t be able to run on Windows or iOS and vice versa. The hybrid apps are developed using web-based technologies such as JavaScript, HTML and CSS then the application is integrated or wrapped in a framework such as React, Xamarin or Iconic which makes it a hybrid mobile application. The application developer will have to write a single code, which works in all supportive platforms or operating systems. The hybrid mobile applications utilizes the embedded browser of each platform instead of the regular web browser, which enables users to install them on any supportive platform, same like the native mobile applications. The hybrid mobile applications can offer great functionalities and user experience by leveraging the advantages of web apps and the native apps.

The hybrid mobile applications can also utilize the device’s hardware such as camera, GPS, storage or any other available/compatible hardware component. The application developers can also use the framework to build the native UIs to further enhance the user experience. This means that the hybrid mobile applications can have the appearance and look and feel of a native application. Differentiating between hybrid mobile application and the native mobile apps is very difficult for a common user, so mostly they won’t notice it at all. Only in a certain cases when the business wants to utilize the very unique hardware and software features of a platform, they tend to build native apps such as Google Maps, Tesla, Spotify, WhatsApp, etc. Most of the time businesses prefer building hybrid mobile apps. The hybrid mobile applications can also be submitted to native application stores such as Google App Store or Apple App Store. From a user’s perspective there is no noticeable difference between the native apps and hybrid mobile applications.

Advantages of Hybrid Mobile Applications

The ability to combine the features of web apps with the native apps’ features offers a multitude of advantages. The native application development is slowly fading away, sooner the hybrid mobile applications will dominate the mobile apps market. The gap between the native apps and hybrid apps is squeezing day by day and the technology is also evolving on a very rapid pace. Which means sooner or later we might not need native applications at all, or even if we need that would be for a very limited scope. Here are some key advantages of the hybrid mobile applications:

Hybrid Mobile Applications offer a Great UI/UX

The hybrid mobile applications are good at offering intuitive user interfaces (UI) and exceptional user experience (UX).The hybrid mobile applications can leverage the features from both native apps and web apps which provide them this superiority. Another great advantage of hybrid mobile applications is that they offer universal UI and UX on all supportive platforms. No matter if the user switch the platform the experience and interface will remain consistent. The hybrid mobile application can also easily adopt different screen sizes and offer a smooth experience at all supported devices. The usage of web based technologies make UI light and super-fast to load which is another great advantage of hybrid mobile applications.

Hybrid Mobile Applications Work Offline

One of the greatest problem with the mobile apps is the capability to work offline. The hybrid mobile applications provide offline support. It means that the app data is stored on the local device, all the necessary resources are also stored in the local device. This allow the users to access the app data while offline. The businesses who offer services in ruler areas or with the limited connectivity must require this feature. Almost 70% of the users ditch an application if it showed glitches or limit their access due to limited connectivity. The capability to offer accessibility offline help businesses overcome this problem and ensures the users will get a smooth uninterrupted experience even when they are offline.

Hybrid Mobile Applications offer Wider Audience Reach

Since the hybrid mobile applications can be launched on multiple platforms, they can offer a wider audience reach. Some of your customers might be using Google Android or some might be using Apple iOS based smartphones and mobile devices. Once a hybrid mobile application is built for a platform, let say, iOS it is easier to import it to other platforms such as Android and Windows. It is also a lot easier to publish your hybrid mobile applications at the Google and Apple app stores. This provide a great advantage and enable businesses to reaching out to a larger audience across various platforms.

Hybrid Mobile Applications are Easy and Quick to Develop

For the hybrid mobile application development the software developers will have to write only one codebase which works on all required platforms. However, for the native mobile apps the developers will have to write separate codes for all required platforms. Each platform also require coding in a particular (supportive) programming language which make it more time consuming. But with the hybrid mobile application development the businesses can even utilize their existing web tools, to build the mobile application on them. For example, a website CMS can be used to publish the content on the hybrid mobile application which makes the development process way too shorter than the native app building.

Hybrid Mobile Applications are Easy to Maintain

As the hybrid mobile applications are built using web-based technologies, so it is a lot easier to maintain and update them. There is only one codebase which is working on all platforms which makes it easier for the businesses to retain less resources to maintain it. For the native apps usually there are separate teams maintaining the separate platforms. The hybrid mobile applications are as easier to update as a website, there is no versioning involved, and most of the updates are controlled from the backend or a CMS software. Which makes it even more convenient for the businesses to maintain them. This also reduce the need of the technical staff or outsourcing to manage and maintain the hybrid mobile applications.

Hybrid Mobile Applications are Cost-effective

The cost of a mobile application depends on multiple factors, however, if we assume that we need a certain number and nature of features we can easily compare it with the native app development. As for the native app development the business will have to have separate teams and experts for each platform, hence the cost arises a lot. Furthermore there is a lot of back and forth in approvals from Google and Apple which take time and a lot of amendments in the code. However, for the hybrid mobile application development the business only needs one team who can program the app once and then optimize it according to each supported platform.

The hybrid mobile applications are also built on open-source platforms which reduce the amount of coding that is required to build a certain functionality in the app. It is a lot easier to publish a hybrid mobile application on Google and Apple stores than the native app. Hence the overall cost is way too low than the native mobile apps. For example, if a native mobile app costs you around AED 100,000/- the hybrid mobile app with similar features and user experience would cost you around AED 25,000/- only. That is why the hybrid application development is very cost-effective.

Hybrid Mobile Applications can Offer Better Performance

Traditionally the native apps are considered to be faster than the hybrid mobile applications. However, this barrier is fading away. By leveraging the web components and advanced frameworks, mostly the hybrid mobile applications match the performance of a native app, and sometimes even surpass it. The hybrid mobile applications are much faster than the progressive web apps and the responsive apps. On top of that they hybrid mobile applications also support offline operation which also make them faster. If we consider the numbers of users the hybrid mobile applications tend to perform much better with huge amount of users comparing to the native mobile apps.

Hybrid Mobile Applications are the Future

The markets are getting very competitive. The user experience is one of the most impactful factor in the present day. The hybrid mobile application development is a much faster, efficient and less expensive approach to develop mobile applications and they also have much lower maintenance and operational cost. The upgrade and scalability is also much more convenient and cost-efficient. Large-scale retail businesses such as Amazon, Nike, Etsy and Target are using hybrid mobile applications with exceptional performance and great user experience. Due to the rapid advancements in the frameworks and platforms used to build hybrid mobile applications the gap between the hybrid and native apps is quickly fading away.

The SMEs and startups are more inclined towards the hybrid mobile applications due to their cost-effectiveness. Large-scale businesses adopt them to avoid managing separate infrastructures for their websites/web apps and the mobile apps. Since the hybrid mobile applications are largely using web components, so the developers and coders are easily available which also impact the cost and help bringing innovation and stability to the project. The scalability, upgrades and the performance is also excellent. All these advantages make hybrid mobile applications more future ready then the native mobile apps. The rapid adaptation all around the world is an evidence that the hybrid mobile applications will soon dominate the mobile app market.

Conclusion

The mobile apps have become a completely new frontier for the businesses. Whether you are a startup or SME or a large-scale enterprise, you must have to offer a great customer experience. The mobile apps are a great tool to offer a personalized and pleasing experience to your customers. Here in UAE the governments are also offering a variety of e-services through the smartphone applications. It makes it much easier to interact with the customers. When it comes to develop a mobile app the question arises whether you should go for native apps or hybrid mobile applications. The native apps require much more time, efforts along with higher expenses and cost. However, the hybrid mobile applications are considerably cost-efficient, require much less resources to build and maintain. Furthermore the hybrid mobile applications now a days can offer almost all the features that any native mobile app can offer. Which also make them a better choice.

The hybrid mobile applications offer more consistent and exceptional user experience on all supportive platforms and also tend to perform well under heavy user load as well. The hybrid mobile applications will cost you even less than the 1/3 of the native app and can be completed in less than half of the time required to build a native mobile app. Which make them superior from the native mobile apps. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want us to help you build a bespoke cost-effective hybrid mobile app, 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.

Check out this: How Custom Software can Help Digital Transformation in Educational Sector

October 12, 2022

How Custom Software can Help Digital Transformation in Educational Sector

The Emirate of Dubai and in fact the entire UAE as a country is among the pioneers of the digital transformation in the region. It is the foresighting of the UAE Government who enabled the entire country to embrace digital transformation and technology. Thanks to the vision of the great leaders of the nation, the country has completely transformed in past decade. With innovation and service satisfaction at center, the Government is not only adopting technology to itself, but also made excellent policies which enables the private sector too to easily adopt technology and digitalization. The education sector is no exception. In fact the UAE government is investing huge in education sector as they know the key to success is education for the next generations. The education ministries all around the country are also helping education sector to transform and improve their outcome by leveraging technology and digital solutions. On top of that the government is also making very flexible and supportive policies to support service sector, manufacturing, financial and educational sector to be able to adopt modern technologies and practices. Which is supporting transformation across a multitude of business sectors in the country.

The educational sector is more traditional in nature, it is harder to implement innovation and transformation in the educational sector all around the world. However, things have drastically changed in UAE since past decade. The UAE is leading the entire region in the digital transformation in educational sector. Now a days’ the children, teenagers and young adults are very different from the previous era. The newer generations have born in the midst of technological revolution. Now a days, every child or young adult have access to the internet. I was with my nephew yesterday, he is 3 years old but he know how to operate a smartphone and he can play his favorite cartoon program on it. That was something no one have ever imagined before. Especially the entire Gen. Z is much more advanced when it comes to the technology. On top of that the smartphones, easy internet access, e-learning and after the post-pandemic effects have also helped boosting digital transformation in the educational sectors.

Now the question is what exactly is the digital transformation for the educational sector? Well! The educational sector is not so different from other regular businesses and organizations. The management have to manage the employees, they have to develop strategies and plans to improve internal processes and to maximize the experience of the students, parents, teachers and also their staff. Like any other business entity, the educational sector also require technological solutions to optimize internal processes and to maximize their efficiency. The management needs supportive systems to improve their capabilities, the staff needs solutions to perform their daily tasks more efficiently, the students need better and convenient access, the parents want better interaction and experience, etc. All this can only be achieved when the school, collage, university or educational institute have proper systems and solutions in place. The software is the brain of any system or solution. In fact most of the enterprise tools are just a software only.

There are two types of software, the COTS or commercial off-the-shelf software and the customized software development. The customized software provide a tailor-made solution for the business needs however, the COTS are generic solutions. That is why the custom software development is much superior to the COTS. In this blog we will discuss how custom software can help digital transformation in the educational sector.

A Custom Software based Learning Management System

A custom software based learning management system at a school can digitalize a lot of internal processes. Mostly in schools and other educational institutions the basic operations is all done on paper and mostly it is manual. Which requires a lot of human resource and consume time. Another big disadvantage of a paper based system is that there is a lot of space for human errors, the discrepancies and errors are quit common in the paper-based systems. The amount and complexity of the data that schools and other educational institutes handle also result in poor performing internal processes and slower work flow. In order to avoid all that, a custom software based learning management system can be a great help for the students, administration and also for the management. The students can access information online, they can apply for courses, check their mark sheets, status, etc. The registration and enrollment can also be done through online channels using a smart custom software based learning management system.

The administration can avoid a lot of time consuming paperwork which not only save time but also resources too. The custom software solution also help administrative staff to access and analyze data online within a few clicks. The intuitive user interface allow schools and educational institutes to easily train their staff to work on the digital system. The ability to host on cloud also make management easier, and help optimizing the cost too. Here are some major areas where a custom software based learning management system can help the schools and other educational institutions:

Student Enrollment and Registration Process
Providing Information via Online and Remote Channels (such as schedules, announcements, timetables, and any other relevant information)
The students can get passes, signup for various programs, register for extra curriculum activities via online student portals
Efficient and faster document processing tools for the administrative staff
Cloud-based student data enable the management to easily analyze the stats and monitor KPIs
HR tools help taking HR tasks online
Accounting tools minimize the paperwork and provide crucial data and stats via online dashboards
Student & parents relationship tools help improving their experience
Improved, easier and effective management

The custom software based learning management systems are a great companion for the modern schools in Dubai and all around the UAE. Acquiring all above mentioned digital features can help maximizing the student outcomes as well as the overall efficiency and performance of the school or any other educational institution.

Custom eLearning and Smart Classrooms Software Solution

Each school or educational institute is different from the other, however, most of the times the similar academic programs might be following the same course outline, but every institute have a different culture and different approach and methods of learning. Some are more conventional, some are innovative, some are somewhere in between. Whatever the case is a customized eLearning software can significantly improve their learning methods and practices. The eLearning is not a new term. Since 2020 the world realized that remote learning or eLearning can be extremely beneficial. However, most of the schools and educational institutions are not fully equipped for an efficient eLearning program. A custom eLearning software can not only enable the schools and educational institution to make their eLearning programs more effective and efficient but it can also help them improve their in-class experience.

The custom eLearning software can be linked with smart class room platforms, which includes, smart white boards, online lectures and online course materials that can help students in their regular day to day tasks and assignments. The schools and educational institutes can live stream lectures, post recorded lectures, supported content and materials along with any other relevant information that can improve the students’ learning experience. The custom eLearning software also provides a student dashboard where all of the lectures, relevant materials, assignments, home works, notes, quizzes, tests and anything can be published in a well-organized manner. This can help both students and parents to quickly go through the class work and home work of the students and it can significantly improve their experience. Moreover for the teenagers or young adults who mostly wants flexible schedules can leverage the system to maximize their learning as everything can be made available all the times.

The virtual class rooms not only publish lectures and course materials, but they are also used to deliver an actual class like experience. While students are participating in an online class, the teacher and students both can communicate efficiently so much so that the experience is equal to a physical class room and in some cases it can even be improved too. All the students can have more focus on the lecture, board or whatever the teacher is showing to them which increase their engagement and interest. The custom eLearning software and virtual class room platforms are a great tool to maximize the outcomes of the students. Such tools help teachers and students too. For children these tools can provide a better experience for the parents or guardians who will be helping them with their home works, etc. For youngsters and young adults these tools can provide them more flexibility and freedom. Ultimately the learning can become more effective and efficient which tend to produce better outcomes.

Customized Smartphone Apps Integration

A customized learning management system can also be integrated with the smartphone apps. It can not only help offering various services to the parents and the students, but it can also help rolling out innovative educational and learning programs. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE almost everyone have access to the internet and everyone also owns a smartphone. This make smartphones more convenient channel to communicate with parents and students. The smartphone apps can offer services, information and learning materials. The schools and educational institutions can also integrate online payment mechanisms to offer quick fee or any other payment via smartphones. Which is more convenient for the parents and students. Traditionally the parents or students will have to go to the bank or accounts of the school to make the payments, however, with the customized smartphone apps the same can be done by a few taps on the mobile screen.

Students can browse through notes, lectures, information and educational materials from their smartphones. The very common functions such as enrollment, registration, schedules, and even appointments with the admin staff or teachers can be done through smartphones. The schools and educational institutions can also publish full audio-video lectures on the apps along with tests and quizzes or homework details. Furthermore the smartphone apps can also provide a quick communication channel between the parents and the teachers. The learning itself can be done through smartphone apps, that is quite a modern concepts and is also known as the mLearning. The main idea behind it is to meet the Gen. Z’s needs. Usually the children and youngsters prefer to consume information in a bit-sized portion. The smartphone apps enables teachers and trainers to prepare learning materials which is exclusively designed for the smartphone apps. The students can chose when to learn and how much they want to learn at a specific time.

The customized smartphone apps equipped with mLearning features can significantly improve productivity, especially for teenagers and young adults. It also enable the teachers and planners to gain a detailed insight to the students learning patterns, behavior and it also provide analytical data which help the educators to design more effective and efficient learning programs for the students. The mLearning is not just a digital transformation, but in fact it is a completely new education system. The informal education systems can help educators design more personalized student experience which tend to produce better outcomes. Furthermore the smartphone apps and the customized learning management software help schools and educational institutes to maximize the accessibility of their learning programs, such as ability to choose the color schemes, text size, and on top of everything the text-to-speech enabled platforms are a great tool to take a leap forward to more informal and more impactful education systems.

Custom ERP, Intranet or CRM Software for Internal Processes & Management

The custom ERP, Intranet or CRM are very useful tool to improve several internal processes. However, they all are different, the ERP is an enterprise resource planning software. The Intranet is usually a website or web-based app that is used to facilitate communication and collaboration among the employees within the organization. And the CRM is a customer relationship management software. All these have different application. However, the beauty of custom software development is that the businesses can get all the features they want only. ERPs are usually a large-scale software which requires a lot of research and is usually very expensive. The intranet software were designed to be available for the employees of an organization only when they are physically within the organization. However with time the Intranets also evolved and now a days an intranet is just like a website, but still it is only accessible for the employees of a particular organization. The CRM is a customer relationship management tool with a customer centric approach and help businesses deliver better services.

For schools and educational institutions investing huge amount of money and resources in all three solutions is a bit difficult. That is where the custom software development comes to the rescue. The schools and educational intuitions can leverage the custom software development to create a customized software with all the required features borrowed from the above mentioned three systems. For schools and educational institutes there are a lot of internal processes that are crucial. The customized software allow them to develop tools and features for all these functions and processes. For example, for the administration there could be an entirely different sets of tools and features are required comparing to teachers and examination departments. Same is the case with the HR and accounts, every department needs different tools and features. However, at some point or another one business function will have to collaborate with another one.

A custom software development enables businesses to maintain a centralized information center where all the data is stored and all departments can access to the required data through their dedicated portals and dashboards. A document processing system help improving the internal work flow. The custom software allow schools and educational institutions to develop a single software application that can meet all the needs of all the departments. Another great advantage of custom software development is that the schools and educational institutions can start only with the most needed features to optimize the cost of the project, and then on later stages they can add more features to finally digitalize all internal processes which will enable them to boost the performance and profitability. Such tools and features make management easier and more effective and provide valuable business intelligence data that can help schools and educational institutes to improve their strategies and plans for future.

Digital Transformation Help Reducing the Cost and Increase Revenue & Growth

A custom software development drives productivity and efficiency, which in itself result in improved products/services and better customer service. In case of educational institutions the digital transformation helps everyone, whether it is students, parents, teachers, administration and the management. The digital transformation help improving learning process and improve the outcomes of the students. Which in return help building a good reputation and attracts more students. Furthermore the dedicated parent portals, and smartphone apps significantly enhance parent’s experience too. Other digital tools help improving the in-premises experience of both students and parents. Integration allow several business functions to collaborate and communicate better which help improving the efficiency. The digital transformation also help automating several internal processes which reduce the need of human resource and help HR optimize the expenses.

The intelligent AI (artificial intelligence) based analytical tools collects valuable business intelligence data which help the management to make better and more informed decision and let them improve their strategies and planning over the time. All these features help schools and educational institutes improve efficiency & productivity, enable them optimize the cost and expenses and result in more profitability which lead to consistent and stable growth. The modern day businesses are heavily relying on data, it is crucial to establish a centralized information center for the business which help all business functions to perform efficiently and effectively. Furthermore the schools and educational institutes can also gather valuable students’ and teachers’ statistical and analytical data which help them evaluate the performance and enable the management to develop more advanced and effective learning programs. As per several studies and surveys the digital transformation can double the profits and revenue of a business if done effectively.

See More: Step-by-step Guide to Develop Custom Enterprise Software

Conclusion

The digital transformation is a modern day’s need for all industry sector and businesses. The educational sector is no exception, the educational sector is usually the one following more traditional approach. However, with the help of digital transformation the schools and educational institutes can significantly improve their learning programs and the outcomes. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the schools and educational institutes are intensively using digital solutions and various software to facilitate their day-to-day tasks and operations. However, a more centralized approach can help bridging the gap between the strategy and execution. The modern day educational sector is rapidly evolving as the technology and innovation is integrating rapidly to our daily lives whether at all levels. The educational sector is the one that lags behind. There are two different approaches to bring digital transformation to any business. One is to deploy commercial off-the-shelf solutions or COTS and the second is to go for custom software development. In general the market is rapidly adopting customized solutions because of their superiority, flexibility, adoptability and cost-efficiency.

The biggest advantage of a custom software solution is that it help businesses design a tailor-made solution for their very specific needs. On top of that, the businesses can start with the most important of high priority needs and later on they can keep adding more features to obtain a full digital transformation. This approach is more cost-friendly and can also help schools and other educational institutes to gradually implement digital transformation. RSI Concepts is a leading custom software development company in Dubai, UAE. If you are a school, collage, university or any other educational institute, we can help you achieve your long term goals with our digital transformation solutions. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want us to help you bringing digital transformation to your educational institution, 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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October 7, 2022October 7, 2022

Step-by-step Guide to Develop Custom Enterprise Software

Managing large scale enterprises or local/small businesses is not an easy task. Whether you are a manager or business owner you will have to deal with the software solutions and digital infrastructure for your business or enterprise. The present day markets are heavily data driven, the information technology have penetrated far deeper into our professional and personal lives than we can ever imagine. Now a days’ an ordinary employee can’t efficiently fulfill their duties and daily tasks without relying on technology. Managing a business or an enterprise require monitoring, control and efficiency in too many moving parts. Think of it like a car engine, there are too many gears, motors, electronics and technology. An engine will only run if all those moving parts move in harmony and proper synchronization. Same is the case with the businesses and enterprises. They can only function well if all of the internal business processes and employees works in a proper synchronization, harmony and supportive manner. That is too much to manage, one wrong move and everything could collapse. That is why business and enterprises needs software solutions and IT infrastructure.

Now when it comes to software there are two major categories to choose from. First is the commercial off-the-shelf solution or also known as COTS and the second is customized software development. The COTS were a great success in the market and still widely used, however, things have changing since past few years, and especially since 2012 to 14 the customized software market have expanded a lot. This is because the markets are moving at a rapid pace, the customer demands are skyrocketing, and the competition is getting tougher day by day. The COTS or commercial off-the-shelf software solutions are unable to keep up with the pace. On top of that the COTS are general purpose tools, they are designed for mass users. Hence lack personalized experience which is required to meet some very specific needs. Every organizations or enterprise have a unique environment which means the business practices and internal business processes are also not the same. This is what can’t be full filed with COTS and a customized tailor-made software solution is required which can fulfill such exclusive and unique needs.

However, custom software development is also not an easy feat, it requires intensive research, adequate technical knowledge and more expense. The custom software development initially looked expensive comparing to the COTS, however, in the long term the custom software development have proven to be more beneficial and businesses can yield higher ROIs over a long period of time. In this blog we will enlist all steps that are necessary in order to produce a high quality product from a custom software development project.

Step 1. Custom Enterprise Software: Discovery Phase

For any project whether it is customer enterprise software or any other project the discovery phase is the most important part of the project. It help businesses understand what their requirements are and what they need to fulfill those requirements. Usually the custom enterprise software development project’s discovery phase is a series of open-ended discussions, formal meetings, presentations, etc. To kick start the discovery phase the first step is to appoint a project manager or a team who will be responsible for outlining the project requirements and will take part in the project execution phases. The project manager should conduct these discussion, meetings and presentations. The participants should be the end users, the department or team who have requested for the software, the stakeholders, technical experts, and any other relevant person who can give inputs on the subject. The best way is to enlist all the problems and challenges the users are facing for which they need a customer enterprise software.

Divide these challenges into three groups, critical, high priority, normal and low priority. Discuss all these points with everyone and take their opinion and also request them to suggest an appropriate solution. Dividing all needs/features in three groups will help you on later stages. For any custom enterprise software development project the cost is one of the most important factor. Whenever a demand is raised by a department, team or group of employees for a new software solution, the management evaluate the solution in terms of value it will offer against the cost or financial strain it will put on the business. That is why having three different priority level will help you optimize the budget and technical needs on the bases of importance of the features that are needed. By now the project manager would have already gathered all the required information. Now it is time to formulate a charter document or requirements document.

Step 2. Custom Enterprise Software: Software Requirements Specifications (SRS)

The software requirements specifications (SRS) document is the most important document for custom enterprise software development. The software requirements specifications document provides a full roadmap to all the parties involved in the custom enterprise software development, mainly for the software developers and programmers. The verbal communication or information shared in chunks can be disastrous for the custom software development project. Such practice leads to a very incoherent communication which results in a lot of problems during the implementation of the software. A typical SRS or software requirements specifications document includes:

The goals and objectives of the custom enterprise software
A detailed description of the software from the user’s perspective
What problems should be solved by the custom enterprise software
Features and functionalities of the custom enterprise software
The performance and efficiency of the custom software in terms of workload, users, etc.
The roadmap for the integration and data sharing, if required
The limitations and liabilities of the custom enterprise software
The administrative work flow, data protection and access policy
Detailed Definitions, descriptions, assumptions and dependencies of the software and the limitations of the production/live environment
Functional and non-functional requirements and user’s needs
Details and design needs of user interfaces, user dashboards, administrative control panels, etc.
Complete details about the system users and what value it will add to the existing or new business processes for those users

The important thing to understand is that the software requirements specifications would serve as the agreement between you and the development team whether in-house or outsourced. The final outcome would be exactly like the SRS document. It is also crucial to describe each and everything in a language the software developers can understand, that is why adding descriptions, glossaries, definitions, references, etc. is important.

The SRS document also includes all of the user cases. A user case is what defines how the end-user will interact with the software and how the software should respond. There would be a set of users who will be performing different tasks on the intended custom enterprise software. Each user or user group would be needing different sets of functions. Even if there is only a highly focused group of users and they all need to perform same tasks, there would be a lot of tasks that can be performed. In any case all the tasks and different users will define the use cases. A use case is how the user will interact with the system for example, if they upload a file, what should happen next, if they input some data where it should go and what the software should return, etc. These all includes in a use case. Here is how to define each use case:

Chose a set of users or a single user who will be performing certain task
Define that tasks in full details and try to add goals if necessary
Now enlist all use cases of that user or user group
Define all the user interactions and what response is required from the software
Include all alternative actions and their corresponding responses too
Repeat the same processes for all of the users or user groups

The use cases are aimed to define the custom enterprise software and its features from a user’s perspective. This provides the software developers a to-the-point visualization of the features and functionalities of the custom enterprise software and it also serves as a guideline for different stakeholders. That is why it is extremely important to write a detailed software requirements specifications document before starting the custom enterprise software development project.

Step 3. Custom Enterprise Software: Chose a Right Software Development Team

Choosing right vendor in Dubai or anywhere else in UAE is a very difficult task. There are so many custom software development agencies out there. It is important to choose the right vendor for the project. The best approach is to search in the local market and find a reliable company with relevant experience and good portfolio. However, outsourcing to offshore companies is also very common in UAE. Which is not a good practice. The biggest disadvantage of outsourcing to an offshore company is that it is not bound by local UAE laws which provide protection to the both the customers and the vendors. Anyway, as for local custom enterprise software development companies, it is important to verify all the details before getting into an agreement. The best is to analyze multiple vendors, make a list of all vendors that looks good. Then check their portfolio, examine their website, view their complete company profile. After that short list at least five of them and request them to submit their proposal and select one of them. This way you can get a better vendor for your custom enterprise software development project.

For More Details: How to Choose the Right Software Development Vendor for Your Business

Step 4. Custom Enterprise Software: Chose Right Technology Platforms

When it comes to software development there are a lot of technology platforms which can be used to build those apps. The first and foremost important is the compatibility of the technology, for example, if you need a native software app which is usually installed on an operating system such as Windows, Linux, etc. Then whoever will be using that software must first have to install it in their computer. However, if you need a software that can be accessed from a web browser, then the users only need a laptop and a browser. Similarly all other features determine the technology that you might be needing or what platform is compatible with your needs. It is better to engage the vendors at this stage. Vendors usually appoint a business analysts who work side by side during the requirement gathering stages and then help finalizing the scope of the work for the custom enterprise software development project.

However, here are a few popular trends of the modern technologies that enterprises are utilizing all around the world and the signs are those trends will grow in coming years:

Blockchain Technology

The Blockchain is a buzzword all around the world, especially since the BTC (Bitcoin) hit its ATH (all time high price) last year. The electronic media and social platforms start talking about BTC since, even very well reputed media outlets dedicated several shows on the technology. This has built an image of the Blockchain and most people thinks that it is some kind of digital currency that will challenge the fiat. However, that is only partially true, the Blockchain is more than just a currency. It is a technological platform that allow enterprises and individuals to develop software, applications and much more on the Blockchain. It is a great technology to develop software with shared workflows. In the Blockchain the networks are called consortiums, it is a shared network and each connected user can track all transactions. The Blockchain is the most secure and transparent platform and can offer great features.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML)

The Artificial Intelligence or AI and the Machine Learning or ML is very commonly used all over the internet and we daily came into contact of the AI or ML without even realizing it. For example, the Google uses AI and ML to run its several algorithms which are connected to its advertisement platforms. If you are using internet on regular bases, you might have noticed that if you searched for something suddenly it start appearing on several different platforms, such as if you searched for iPhone 14, then you start browsing your Facebook or Instagram and suddenly you start getting ads related to iPhone 14. This is what is being done by AI and ML. The AI and ML are widely used in various enterprise software and solutions such as data analysis, decision making processes, personalization, customer experience management, enterprise performance management and many more. There are endless possibilities of using AI and ML in custom enterprise software to improve their efficiency and user experience.

Big Data

Big Data is not a new technology however, with the increasing levels of digitalization and our reliance on the data the big data is also gaining much rapid adaptation. The big data is a large amount of data coming continuously to a system or enterprise which they need to store and process efficiently. Majorly the data is coming in large volumes and it comes continuously hence the software should be able to handle the large amount of stored data as well as the large volume of continuously coming data. The biggest advantage of using big data technologies is to improve the data processing and analytical processes. The big data is very helpful in understanding and analyzing large volume of data which otherwise is either very difficult or completely impossible for humans to process. Especially B2C enterprises, large organizations and government sector utilizes big data. However, now a days SMEs are also adopting big data technologies to improve their internal processes and capabilities.

Cloud Computing

The main reason behind rapid adaptation of the cloud computing is that it offers great value, low cost, high performance and high availability. The businesses don’t have to manage the very expensive in-house IT infrastructure. The cloud offers great benefits for the system users as well. The custom enterprise software tools can offer better user experience and high availability with the help of the cloud computing. Another most useful feature of the cloud computing based custom enterprise software is that users can access the data from anywhere through the internet. The cloud service provider manages the actual infrastructure and ensures high availability. The cloud is very flexible in terms of cost as well. The business will only have to pay for what resources they used, which can significantly reduce the cost. The system deployment is relatively easier and much faster. The high redundancy, flexible costing, easy access and ability to integrate open-source tools and frameworks make cloud more superior.

These are some of the technological trends of the year and we have witnessed a steady growth in all above mentioned technology platforms. The rapid market adaptations, innovation and highly efficient products are signaling that these trends will go on for a couple of more years.

Step 5. Custom Enterprise Software: Design and Development Phase

The custom enterprise software design and development phase is when the designers form the UI and UX and the developers program them by adding source code to them. The custom enterprise software design should be started with a wireframe so all the necessary changes can be done in time. Then the actual design is formed. Which also should be approved by the end-users and stakeholders. Once the software design is approved, it should be handed over to the development team. Each custom software development company have its own project management methods, some follow agile and sum follow scrum, whatever the project execution method is it is important that the final product should align with the software requirements specifications document. The project manager and business analysts should make sure that he entire development phase is going on track. The updates and progress should be shared with all stakeholders and feedback should be collected if necessary.

Step 6. Custom Enterprise Software: UAT, Launch and Post-launch

Technically as soon as the development phase is completed the project is completed however, there is always a testing phase. There are multiple different ways to test a custom enterprise software however, there are two major testing phases. First one is the QA testing, or quality assurance testing. The QA testing is always done by the technical teams and staff. Businesses can also hire a third part to evaluate the software in terms of security and penetration testing. The quality assurance and the security teams sometimes take a longer time. However, whatever the case is the next step is the UAT or user acceptance test. This test is conducted by providing software to a certain numbers of users. Mostly end users, higher management and a lot others too. After the UAT, there is launch which also consists of two stages, one is beta launch and the final stage is full launch. The post launch activities are majorly related to the user feedback and the performance of the custom enterprise software.

Conclusion

In the present day the markets are heavily relying on data and IT. The digital and IT infrastructure could be your much needed competitive advantage. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the businesses and enterprises are adopting to customized software solutions. When it comes to custom software development the biggest concern of the managers and business owners is the time and resources needed for the project. The custom enterprise software development starts with a discovery phase or internal research to understand the audience and their needs. Then on the bases of those needs a tailor-made custom enterprise software can be developed. However, it is not as that simple as it may sounds. The custom software development is not an easy feat. It is a very crucial process and it requires full attentions form the project manager and the relevant stakeholders. That is why in this blog we have discussed the important steps to execute a successful custom enterprise software development project.If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want us to help you with another software develop 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.

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July 2, 2022July 2, 2022

5 Advantages of Custom Software Development

In Dubai or anywhere else in UAE businesses need to offer an excellent experience to its customers and they will have to establish their brand very well. In competitive markets businesses will have to offer something special which makes them unique and genuine. Over the time businesses establish their internal processes, methods and unique approaches to handle things differently, which gives them a great competitive advantage. It is this unique experience that distinguishes them attract more customers. Businesses these days heavily rely on the software and digital solutions. Furthermore the businesses grow over the time and their internal needs for the IT infrastructure and software solutions also grow. The UAE market is very vibrant, the market trends are changing rapidly. This requires businesses to keep up with the market as well as manage scalability and in addition to that they also have to maintain a balanced productivity and efficiency. That is why businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE are always seeking software and solutions to support their journey.

Whenever a business decide to acquire a new tool or software solution, the biggest challenge the management faces is to decide between the commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) and the custom software development. These software and solution can have a huge impact on a business’s performance, growth, productivity and profitability. The commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) might seem fairly reasonable in terms of initial cost, however, in long term they cost more than the customized software. The biggest disadvantage of commercial off-the-shelf solutions is that it is designed for masses hence it is built to be a general purpose tool. That mean it would never fit in as per the expectations. The custom software development on the other hand offers a fully customized and tailor-made solution to your problems. Here are some key advantages of custom software development:

1. Custom Software are Developed Exactly as per the Needs of the Business

The biggest problem with COTS is that they are designed for a mass audience. However, the biggest advantage of the customer software development is that it is exclusively designed as per the requirements, needs and specifications of the business. The solution is designed precisely to address the issues of the business and it is not a general purpose, one fit for all kind of application. The customized software are extremely efficient as they are tailor-made to solve certain problem for a business only. There is no unnecessary or unwanted component, which makes employee’s user experience very pleasant and satisfactory. In fact the user interfaces are also exclusively designed to meet the needs of the users which results in great improvements in the performance and usability of the software.The biggest problem with the commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) is that it is designed for a wide range of audience hence business usually don’t found all the features they need.

Talking about features, it is worth mentioning that the custom software development offer full freedom to include as many and whatever features a business wants and needs. This approach is very supportive for innovation and modernization. Business can gain a great competitive edge by including features which enhances their business process, produce better results and optimize the expenses. Whereas the commercial off-the-shelf software doesn’t provide this freedom. In fact they usually comes in pre-packaged format, different versions or plan type have different sets of features. The upgrading and modernization process is very slow and mostly it costs additional fees and charges. Most of the time it is very difficult to get all the needed features. Businesses always have to make compromises in order to keep the cost under control.

2. Custom Software Development offers Full Ownership Rights to the Business

The commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) are still owned by the vendor or service provider, the business doesn’t have any right or authority over it. The policies and protocols are not managed by the business who uses the COTS. So the business is just paying fees and using a product which is owned and controlled by someone else. Obviously the commercial off-the-shelf software does offer some value and control to their customers but the ultimate control is not in business’s hands. The custom software development on the other hand offers complete ownership rights, the software a business built for themselves is fully owned by them as well. Unlike COTS there is no monthly or rental fees. The business have to pay one-time to build the software and then there is just the running or operational cost. There is no additional cost. On top of that the ownership allow businesses to manage, update and scale the software as per their needs and requirements. Which provides them more freedom and control.

Here I would like to give an analogy of a rental and owned house. The difference between the commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) and the custom software development is the same. Businesses hire a customer software development company in Dubai, UAE who build the software and deliver it to the business. The business is not even dependent on the same software development company for the maintenance, further customization and scalability of the software. Business in Dubai and elsewhere in UAE also kept in-house teams to manage their customized software, which significantly reduces the maintenance cost and allow them to keep updating and upgrading the software without any additional cost. For those who don’t or can’t manage in-house software development teams, they can always hire a third-party or the same vendor to manage and improve their software at a very reasonable cost. The ownership of the custom software also enables businesses to allow their partners, customers, and subsidiaries without any additional licensing or any other cost.

3. Customer Software Development Offers Higher Security

For any business the data protection and security is a matter of life and death. In the modern data driven world the data security and protection is at the at most priority. If a data breach happens, the first thing a business will lose is its reputation and credibility. It will can have a long lasting impact on your customers and reputation. Mostly businesses couldn’t fully recover from such incidents. The data threats are very abundant and there has been millions of attacks at corporate and other sectors each year. The commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) are not inherently insecure or less capable, it is the fact that they are widely available all around the world and their structure and technology is also well-known. The fact that thousands if not millions of people are already using the COTS solution which makes them easy target for these data pirates and internet hackers. These people usually target COTS to gain access to their customers, employees, and financial data which they can use for their own agenda.

However in case of custom software development, someone will only attach it if they want to attach a specific company or business which significantly reduces the threat level. However in case of custom software development, someone will only attach it if they want to attach a specific company or business which significantly reduces the threat level.Mostly the software structure, backend programing and various other technical details are concealed which makes it even more difficult to attack and breach it. On top of that it is only the business who have access to their data, there is vendor, technical team or anyone else can possible access your data. Your data will be stored on the servers of your choice, and only the business and its designated employees can gain access to the data. This makes customer software development more desirable for businesses. Businesses can always higher a cyber-security professional in-house or they can do cyber-security testing and analysis from a third-party company to further improve the security and safety of their precious data.

4. Customer Software Development Offers Flexible Integration with Third-Party Tools

Every business has multiple layers of digital and IT infrastructures. The accounts must be running a financial software, the production must be running their tools, and the marketing department would be using different sets of software and tools, and so on. There is always an ERP or a centralized information center which converges all these tools and software to a single unified data base which is utilized by the decision makers and the senior management. All these tools are linked to each other at some extent. This link is established using integration techniques and technologies. A commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) also provide data synchronization and integration, however, with a very limited scope. Usually it is very difficult and expensive to link the COTS with other systems. As they are built on a pre-defined structure which the business can’t alter and it means the desired or optimum level of integration can rarely be achieved.

Businesses always have to alter other tools too, which add up to the cost and make the integration a very costly and difficult task. Sometimes in order to achieve the optimum level of integration businesses might have to introduce intermediary tools which are commonly known as middleware. These tools took the data from one software or database and make it workable for the other and vice versa. That is also a costly endeavor and even then the desired level of integration is very difficult to achieve. However, with the custom software development businesses have a chance to build the application as per the requirements and limitations of the existing IT infrastructure to achieve the maximum level of integration. Furthermore it is very cost-efficient to modify the custom software and upgrade them to improve their compatibility. This provides businesses with a greater advantage and allow them to introduce innovative features to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of the custom software without worrying about the cost.

5. Custom Software are Easy to Scale with Ability to Extend Lifecycle

The custom software are far superior then the commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) in terms of scalability and longevity. It is all about the ownership of the software. The off-the-shelf software are developed by the service provider and the business have almost no control over it, if the service provider decided to pull the plug, business have no choice but to move on with an alternate. For example, Office 365 is a popular Microsoft tool for businesses, let say in coming 5 years, the Microsoft decided to replace it with a new one and within another couple of years they stopped support for the tool, the businesses who are using it, can’t do anything. They must have to switch. However, in case of custom software development the business owns the software, it have full control and authority over it. If the business wants to modify it or upgrade it they can do it and if they want to use for extended period of time, they can do that too. There is no barrier, limit or restriction.

The commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) offers good scalability but with a very hefty price tag. The custom software doesn’t require any additional cost and offer excellent scalability support. Each business is growing, for example, last year the business had 250 employees and now they reached to 300, they will have to acquire the licenses for the new employees which will cost them a lot. However with the customized software there is no such limitation, businesses can add as many users they want without worrying about additional fees or any such thing. Furthermore the customized software can be used for as long as the business wants. The biggest reason of changing a software is due to its limited features and over the time the usefulness of a tool also decreases. The COTS doesn’t address this issue seriously and eventually businesses will have to make a shift from one solution to another. But the custom software offers great value and businesses can easily upgrade and modernize them by modifying existing features and introducing new features which increase the lifecycle of the software to several more years and save a lot of cost and effort of switching to another software.

Customer Software and COTS Cost Comparison

Apart from advantages and features the custom software have excellent ROI (returns over investments) in the long term. It is a common misperception in Dubai, UAE markets that the custom software are expensive. However, that is not correct. The commercial off-the-shelf software’s initial cost is low and businesses can deploy them very quickly however, in long term the COTS are way too expensive, the scaling is very expensive, the integration is difficult which increase its time and cost. Sometimes intermediary tools or middleware are used to bridge the gap between the commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) and other tools to improve the integration process which is fairly expensive and time taking task. It is very difficult to find all the required features, as the needs grow business will have to upgrade them. In some cases businesses hit the road block where the software can no longer support the needs and eventually they will have to move to another comer off-the-shelf software or customized software solution to meet the needs. This all have additional cost, efforts and even disruption in regular work flow which also tend to cost money and time.

The custom software development is a very flexible solution, it provides full control and allow much higher levels of customization, integration and scalability. Scaling doesn’t require package upgrade or additional licensing fees. The business have full control over the customizations and modifications in the software. The business owns the software, hence it is not dependent on any vendor. The businesses can even manage in-house software management and maintenance team which enables them to unlimited changes and modifications in the custom software. Businesses can also expand the software implementation to their subsidiaries, partners and even customers without any expense. The custom software have longer lifecycle and can be modernized and upgrade to meet the growing needs and changing trends which eliminate the need of migrating to a totally different software solution and save a lot of efforts, resources and money as well. Hence in the long term the custom software is much more reliable, cost efficient and useful comparing to the COTS and that is the reason it yields far better ROIs.

Conclusion

The Dubai and all around the UAE businesses are facing many challenges, one of them is related to their IT needs. The markets are doing well, the overall economy of the country is growing at a smooth pace, which attract more investors. Hence the competition is also getting tough day by day. Businesses need to perform very well in order to stay relevant in the market. The modern day businesses are heavily relying on the IT and digital solution for their regular operations. This is where it could make a huge difference and provide businesses with a great competitive edge which help them stand out among the rest of the competition. Growth and progress is the primary goal of any business. With growth the internal and external needs also grow, businesses have to scale at a much faster rate than that of their growth if they want to sustain a long term success. That is why businesses deploy different types of software and continuously upgrading their digital arsenal in order to boost productivity, performance and profitability. Whenever a new need arose or a business wants to replace an existing old system with a new one to boost the efficiency and to support the modernization and innovation, the biggest challenge for the management is to decide between commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) and the tailor-made custom software solution.

There is no doubt the custom software are far superior then the commercial off-the-shelf software in terms of productivity, adoptability, integration, performance and ROI. In this blog we have mentioned five biggest advantages of the custom software while comparing them with the counterpart COTS software solutions. If you need any more help about the subject or if you want us to help you build your next game changing customized software solution, 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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