Types of customized software Archives - RSI Concepts - Top IT Solution Provider Company in Dubai, UAE

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.

Check out this: What is CXM (Customer Experience Management)?

March 15, 2022

How to Develop Customized Software and Business Tools

For any business the digital assets and infrastructure is very crucial for success and profitability. Businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE have a very deeply integrated IT and digital infrastructure. No matter how big or small a business is it must be using some kind of software solution and business tools, to maximize the efficiency and quality of work for various business processes and functions. In the modern age of digitalization and modernization, the entire country is rapidly adopting to innovative digital technologies. Whether you are a B2B business model or a B2C, your customers would be very familiar with the use of digital channels, hence the digital customer experience can provide you an added advantage over your competitors. Moreover, the business tools and software offers innovation and automation, which help businesses significantly improving efficiency of their resources and also help them minimize the consumption of the resources as well. This have great effect on profitability and growth.

That is why businesses implement various types of software solutions and business tools to improve their production, product development, services, customer relations, supply chain, HR department and each and every business process. The digital integration, software and business tools provide management more grip, easy control and in-depth monitoring of each and every moving part which allow them to improve the business strategies, plans and methodologies. Hence software and business tools plays a crucial role in business’s success. When it comes to acquiring software, business tools and IT services for your business, the first thing that came to mind is whether you should chose an off-the-shelf solution or a tailor-made customized software tool? In this blog we will discuss why the customized software and business tools development is better and how a business should develop those tools and software.

Off-the-shelf Solution VS Customized Software and Business Tools Development

Whenever a need arises for a software or business tool the businesses thinks of two possibilities, one is off-the-shelf solution which is quick, easy to commission, not much efforts are needed, and the consultant or the service provider usually suggest an appropriate solution. However, when a business thinks about going for a tailor-made customized software or business tool the very first thing that came to their mind is why should they go through all this hustle to acquiring a software development company in Dubai or UAE and then intensive requirement gathering, production and testing cycles. Well, here is the answer why the customized software development is much better than the off-the-shelf software solution or a ready-made business tool:

Why Off-the-shelf Software and Business Tools?

It is quicker to deploy, usually it take only a day or two to get the system up and running.
The upfront cost is lower, the business can have an operation software or business tool very quickly at a lower commissioning cost.
Off-the-shelf software and business tools already have all the standard options, features and tools necessary to cater average needs of your industry.
The system management and maintenance is the responsibility of the service provider, hence no hustle or additional resource needed for the management of the tool.

Why Not Off-the-shelf Software and Business Tools?

The user interface, structure of the software and the work flow is very rigid and is hard or expensive to customize.
The off-the-shelf solution could not help you with your very unique or specific needs.
Its rigid structure might require you to make adjustments to your existing business processes and methods. Which makes them hard to use for the employees and could have counterproductive effects on them.
The operational or running and upgrading cost is too high. The maintenance is also expensive.
Integration with existing or other software and business tools is very difficult and problematic. If a business already have an ecosystem of corporate software and business tools, the full level of integration is very hard to achieve and in some cases it is impossible.
Scalability is expensive and difficult, the evolution is very slow and unpredicted.
The features and tools of the software came as a bundle, you will have to pay for all of them no matter you use them all or you utilize just a few.
Sometimes the support and problem solving is difficult too.

Why Customized Software and Business Tools?

The customized software and business tools are intuitive and tailor-made for your needs, hence the UI and the structure is very friendly.
Customization allow you to build solutions for your very specific and unique needs.
You only pay for the features and tools that you actually need. No unwanted tools or features are bundled with the customized software and business tools.
The customized software and business tools are designed to magnify the efficiency of your existing business processes and methods, hence they don’t push anything and are completely aligned with your existing internal work flows and management policies.
The business can have proprietary rights which allow them full access to the source code and the core of the software and makes it a lot easier to further scale, customize or manage the software.
Customized solutions can be molded as per the needs and requirements, which makes them ideal for the integration and data synchronization with existing and other software and tools.
The future scalability, upgrade and further customization is relatively easier, cheaper and convenient.
The operational or running cost is very low and the maintenance is also very cost-effective.
There is no dependency on a single service provider, hence getting support or making iterations is more convenient and cost-effective.
The software lifecycle is relatively extended than the off-the-shelf solutions, hence it provides better ROIs in the long term.

Why Not Customized Software and Business Tools?

If you have average needs that can be easily full-filed by any off-the-shelf solution.
If you don’t have time to go through the customized software development process and need an urgent solution.
The long term ROI of customized software and business tools is excellent but the initial/commissioning cost is high.
Initially a lot of time investment is required from the business and its relevant stakeholders.

Here is how you can Develop Customized Software and Business Tools

Now that it is very clear that the customized software and business tool development is much superior in terms of long-term ROI, operational efficiency and effectiveness of the solution as comparing to any off-the-shelf solution. Let us discuss how a business can and should develop a completely customized software and business tools to maximize their operational efficiency, employee performance and profitability in the long terms.

Discovery Phase – Identify Challenges& Set Objectives

The very common reason why most software projects failed is due to inadequate requirement gathering and problem identification process. This is very important that you are absolutely sure that you need a customized software and a business tool. The very first step is to observe the performance of the employees and the managers who are working in the relevant area or for whom the software is intended to support. For example if you need a new supply chain management tool or a full-on production management software, the very first step is to monitor the performance of those sections, then consult with the relevant managers and ask them to identify the problems within the existing system or methods that are being utilized by those departments. Then ask the employees and try to understand their point of view and identify the challenges that they are facing and how their efficiency can be improved.

This will provide you a complete blue print of your customized software or business tool. There is no programing or source code or any such frightening thing involved in this phase, all you need is to observe and then discuss the problems with the beneficiaries of the software or business tool that you are planning to develop. Then enlist all the objectives of the customized software or business tool development project and also enlist all the challenges that you want to eliminate from your business process to make your employee’s life easier and to boost their efficiency. At this point also consider the impact of the new software or business tool on the expenses and cost of the relevant business process and set goals and targets to achieve by the implementation of the new tool or software.

See More: What are the Key Features of an Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP)?

Acquire the Services of a Software Development Team/Company (In-house/Outsource)

Some large businesses do have in-house software development teams and IT resources who can support them with a certain level of expertise and software needs. However, that is very rare and only large enterprises and multinational businesses can manage such teams in-house. In most cases the businesses acquires the services of a professional software development company. Here are a few steps that will help you selecting a good software development company for your customized software or business tools development project:

Step 1: Prepare a comprehensive RFP (Request for Proposal) or business requirements document. The document should have all basic ingredients such as:
1. Your business’s introduction
2. Project Introduction
3. Your Goals and Objectives
4. All challenges that you are currently facing
5. Technical and Financial limitations and Expectations
6. Your future plans for this Software or Business Tool
Step 2: Short list at least 10 software development companies in Dubai, UAE (avoid off-shore service providers) and ask them to Sign the NDAs (Non-disclosure Agreements)
Step 3: Share the RFP with the service providers and ask them to submit their proposals
Step 4:Analyze the proposals carefully and short list at least 5 best of them all
Step 5: Evaluate the software development company by analyzing its portfolio, testimonials, customer references, overall profile and experience in the relevant projects
Step 6: Schedule meetings with short listed software development companies and help open discussions, ask them for their inputs and recommendation on the solution
Step 7: Finalize at least 3 who you determined as the best among the others and ask them for their support matrices and their project execution methods
Step 8:Discuss your financial and time limitations and see which one would be able to comply
Step 9:Held interactive sessions and requirement gathering meetings with relevant staff and the vendor/service provider
Step 10:Finalize the agreements and do the project sign-off with the finalized service provider

Obviously that is just a general guideline to select a better software development company in Dubai or anywhere in UAE where the market is full of such service providers and it is hard to identify the best service provider who can deliver as per your expectations. Businesses always have their own methods, techniques and policies to outsource a project. The point here is to make sure that the software development company you are selecting should be able to deliver the project as per the expectations.

See More: How to Develop Customized Supply Chain Software?

Held Requirement Gathering Meetings and Formulate the Scope of Work (SOW)

Before kick starting the project it is crucial to held interactive sessions with the software development service provider’s team and your team. Involve all key employees in the requirement gathering sessions and let the service provider gather the requirements in more details. This will help them to formulate a technical scope of work document which is also called SOW. This document will be the road map of the software that you will going to get. Make sure that the SOW document is also analyzed and agreed by all relevant managers, stakeholders and key employees. The SOW document makes the project execution a lot easier and prevent a lot of unwanted problems and disputes during and even after the software development phase. The SOW document enlists all the technical details, features, software development technologies and prerequisites and it provides you a crystal clear picture of what to expect from the project.

See More: Key Features of an Enterprise Application Software (EAS)

Have a Detailed Project Plan

Having a project plan is extremely crucial for all types of projects, especially for customized software development projects it is very important to have a proper project plan that enlists all the milestones, such as designing the UI (User Interface) and visuals, Revision Time, Development Phase with all milestones and key points to track the progress, testing, UAT (User Acceptance Test), Soft Launch, Full Launch and post launch steps, etc. These all details are important for a successful and hustle free customized software development project. The project plan is usually designed by the software development company or vendor, but it has to be shared with the client before the actual project execution begins. The project plan not only help businesses to track the on-going progress but also ensures that the project will be completed in the timely manners and within the set budgets.

Wireframes and GUI Designing

The wireframes are the drawings and mockups of the features and functionalities. They used to represent how the actual software or application will look when it will be developed. The wireframe also explains the work flow and various processes which are very hard to understand by textual descriptions or explanations. That is why the software development companies provide wireframes to let the users understand the functionalities and provide them a chance to input their remarks and suggestions to make the final product more desirable and user friendly. Once the wireframes are finalized, then the GUI or graphical user interfaces are designed on the bases of the final wireframes. The UI designs are the actual visual looks of the software tool. Later the actual software or application will look exactly like the GUI or UI designs and the functionality and work flow will be like the wireframes. That is why this is a very important part of the software development and it can prevent a lot of hustle and repetitive work after the project completion or launch.

See More: What is the difference in Software Development and Web Development?

Development Phase

After finalizing the wireframes and the UIs the customized software development projects enters into the development phase, the development phase is the programming phase where the software development team write source code, build algorithms and logics and develop the actual functionalities by creating data base and information structures. Some project plans include various milestones which are used to track the development progress. However, some software development is done on a modular approach where the milestones are used to identify the completion of each module. Whatever the development method or approach is it is important to keep track of each milestone and make sure the project is proceeding as per the project plan. Another reason to track the progress and sharing the developed module with customer is to minimize the risk to revision after the completion. In case if the customer wants to change something, it is easier to do during the development phase rather after completion. Such changes become difficult, time taking and can also effect cost if done after the full completion. That is why the development phase is divided into different milestones.

See More: What is custom software development?

UAT, Soft Launch and Full Launch

The UAT, Soft Launch and the Full Launch are all the stages of a software project launch. The UAT means User Acceptance Test. The UAT is done after the development company, business’s in-house IT team, security testing team or third-party consultant have already finished their testing processes. The UAT is done while the customized software is hosted in a real-life environment but it is still at production servers. It means that only a limited number of people will be able to access the software or business tool. These people are usually the business management, stakeholders, key employees, and the vendor’s team who perform combined or separate testing on the software and check each and everything if it is as per the scope of the work and the project outlines or not. Once the customized software or business tool passed the UAT it is being moved to the live environment or at production server and is finally made available for all of the users and that is called the full launch.

Maintenance and Post Launch Activities

Since the customized software or business tool is exclusively developed for the business and the business owns the ownership rights to the software, they are no longer dependent of the software development company who have developed this software or business tool for them. That is why businesses are free to choose any maintenance policy they want. Businesses who have sufficient IT resources available can also take the matters in their own hands and do the maintenance in-house, absolutely free of any additional charges. Or businesses can also sign the AMC (Annual Maintenance Contract) with the customized software development company which could make it easier and convenient. Furthermore after the launch the businesses should also consider monitoring the effects of the newly deployed customized software or business tool. Businesses can also collect feedbacks and suggestion and measure several KPIs to track and monitor the actual impact of the customized software on their business processes, employee performance, and overall profitability and productivity.

See More: Customized Software Development for the Startups

Conclusion

Businesses need digital solutions, systems software and business tools in order to maximize their operational efficiency, capabilities, productivity and employee performance to be able to compete within the highly competitive market of Dubai, UAE. Whenever a new challenge arises or a problem occurs, businesses try to find a solution that can fix it and also prevent it from happening again in future. When a software need arises, businesses often got confused between the off-the-shelf and customized software solutions. In this blog we have clearly discussed, why customized software and business tool development is superior to the off-the-shelf software solutions. The purpose of this blog was to provide our readers a comparative analysis of both off-the-shelf and customized software development solutions and help them to guide them through the customized software development process. If you need any more help on the subject or want to discuss the requirements of your new software needs, 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 blog: Importance of Custom Software Development in Dubai

January 26, 2022February 26, 2022

What is custom software development?

The custom software development is designing and developing a software to cater the specific needs of a specific business or set of users. The major difference between the custom software solutions and the ready-made off-the-shelf software solutions is that the custom software are specifically designed to address very specific problems, and the custom software solutions are not meant for resell, they are unique and designed according to the unique requirements of a business. For example the Google Chrome or Microsoft Office are available for millions of users all around the world and are ready-to-use off-the-shelf software solutions which are same for everyone. However, if you ask a software development company like RSI Concepts [LINK] to design a document processing tool for your business, that would be unique, and only meant to be used in-house for a single user/business only. That same tool would have been designed to address certain problems and issues that you are facing in your document processing procedure. That is the difference between a ready-made and a customized software.

The problem with off-the-shelf or ready-made software solutions is that they are designed for general usage. It means they are designed to be fit in all kind of environment and requirements. One-fits-all doesn’t always work, when businesses use such tools they will have to adjust with the very limited options and sooner or later they realize that this solutions is not suitable for them or it is not a satisfactory solution. A tailor-made or customize software tool boost efficiency and fix problems. The customize software development offers greater scalability and the future expansion, modifications and changes are also not as that expensive. However, some off-the-shelf ready-made software solutions doesn’t allow more than a certain level of changes and even then those changes and customizations are very expensive comparing to a custom software solution. In this blog we will discuss the key steps of custom software development to provide our audience a better understanding on the subject.

Requirement Gathering and Identifying Challenges

Over the time business processes and operational mechanisms get complicated, it is hard for any business to change those mechanisms over the night just to adjust according to the demands of an off-the-shelf software solution. That is why business chose to develop a custom software that suits their requirements and help them enhance their efficiency by aiding their existing mechanisms and methodologies rather changing them. The best way to gather requirements is to start by enlisting all the challenges you are currently facing. Every business have unique business processes and mechanisms to tackle problems. Still there remains some problems and hurdle which are causing issues for certain processes or for certain group of people/departments, this doesn’t stop the operation but problems cost time and resource which effect overall business efficiency. Any particular business process could also impact others and mostly it does. That is why it is important to highlight such issues and problems and then decide what you need to solve those problems.

Once all the challenges are identified then decide which problems you want to address with this software. Then discuss the same with the management, team leaders and relevant employees and take their feedback. After getting the feedback finalize the idea and enlist the problems that you are aiming to resolve with this custom software development project. This phase is the very first page of custom software development and is also called discovery phase.

Hire a Good Custom Software Development Company

Hiring a good custom software development company is extremely important. A good software development company with enough experience and capabilities can literally transform your business and a low standard software development company can literally make your life extremely difficult. There are certain things that you should consider while looking up for a software development company in Dubai, UAE. First of all make a list of all available software development companies, such as start asking your friends and colleagues, then lookup in yellow pages or other online directories, the last but not least search in the Google. Short list the companies who are suggested by at least two sources. Then go to their websites and analyze the websites, go through their portfolio and look for the client testimonials or ratings. After carefully examining their website you will get an idea of their capabilities. A bad website means a low quality standards or less competence staff and vice versa.

Contact the short listed companies ask them to share their profiles and brochures. Analyze them and then ask them about their software development teams and programmers. If a software development company have off-shore teams then do not proceed with them. It is important that a business must have on-shore software programmers and developers. It is easier to meet and discuss your requirements with the team rather communicating via emails or online meetings. Other important things to consider is the development and project execution methodologies, costing and payment terms. Always ask for an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) to ensure your idea and proprietary rights before sharing the details and idea of your custom software.

Analyze Requirements and Define Scope of Work

At least short list three custom software development firms from the previous phase and then discuss your requirements with all of them. A good software development company will always help you and guide you with your discovery phase and analysis requirements. At this stage since the requirements are discussed, the software development company will ask you too many questions to further understand your requirements. A good company will also suggest you to improve the idea. As the software company have a lot of experience and they can more accurately predict the outcome. Here another thing to consider is to check the software development companies’ behavior. Check which company is more supportive and helpful. The software development company’s representatives will give you suggestion to improve your idea in terms of efficiency and cost as well. Then finalize the scope of the work, get the formal proposals and quotes and compare them on the bases of cost, delivery time, support and maintenance terms and licensing, etc. At this stage the business can easily get into an agreement with a customer software development company to kick start the project.

Wireframe and UI Designs

For any software the main objective is to support the users in their daily routine tasks or in a certain transactions or work. The human users can interact with the software through a UI or user interface. The user interface is a kind of control panel which can present information and take user’s command to run the pre-defined algorithms to produce a result the result might display information or it can further update various other systems and databases that are linked to the software. That is what we called a UI. The UI or user interface of any software tool is the key to its success. The software are used to boost the employee efficiency and to make their work easy. Which can only be achieved if the UI is user friendly and the users can easily perform the required task or function on it. The first step of any software or app development is to prepare the wireframes. The wireframes is a rough work flow or a presentation of the software or app. For a custom software the wireframes are important as it will provide the complete picture about how many steps or screens are involved in a particular functionality. Once the wireframes are finalized then the creating the UI is fairly simple. The graphic designers and UI designers can then design the UI which will be the actual software interface.

Custom Software Development Process

The custom software development process is the phase where the software development company works on the programming and develop algorithms. The development process should be smooth, flawless and efficient to ensure maximum quality and cost-effective product. The custom software development or any other project depends upon the performance and capabilities of the development team. And despite having a well-experienced team if the requirements are not clearly communicated to them they won’t be able to produce a good quality product. The custom software development phase is divided in smaller stages which can be taken as the project milestones. At each milestone the progress should be shared with the customer and any feedback or suggestion should be considered. It is the responsibility of the customer software development team to communicate right information so the customer don’t get confused. Any software development is a very complex process. It should be divided into various steps and the software development team should decide whether the progress should be shared with the customer or not. Once the development phase is complete the software team will do the debugging and the quality assurance team will ensure the flawless operation of the final product.

UAT and Security Testing

The UAT or user acceptance test and the security testing or penetration testing is the final stage of the customer software development project. Normally the security testing and penetration tests are carried out by a third party. But the depending upon the complexity of the software the customer software development company and the customer can decide the mechanism for the security testing. If a customer have in-house IT team with relevant experience they can conduct the security tests. The customer software development company should also do all the basic security testing to ensure the data protection and safety of the software. The UAT or user acceptance test is the pre-launch phase. For UAT the software is deployed in the live environment without making it accessible for the public/users. This is done to check the software’s behavior in the live environment. The UAT tests can include a small number of users from all user groups, the management, IT experts and relevant personals. These users will be the actual users in future that is why their opinion is also important. At this stage different business processes can be tested and the users can also request for some changes or tweaks, which can further improve the efficiency and user-friendliness of the customer software.

Launch

The customer software launch is a pretty much standard launch practice. It starts with a soft launch. During this stage the customer software application or tool is made available for all the users. All the data is transferred to the system and the user training sessions are also conducted at this stage. Once this is complete the final step is full launch or going live. From launch and onwards the staff will be only using the customer software for their relevant regular tasks and operations.

Post-Launch Activities

The post-launch activities are also very important. The most important thing is the maintenance contract and SLAs. The business should have maintenance contract, SLAs and warrantee of the custom software. Another important part of post-launch activity is the user feedback collection which is often neglected by most of the businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE. However, collecting user feedback is very important it help businesses to evaluate and assess the efficiency and productivity of their customer software tool and it also help them identify the areas of improvements. On later stages the business can improve the software and user experience on the bases of the feedback.

Conclusion

Any businesses needs some kind of digital solution. In the modern era of IT and digitalization, businesses are compelled to utilize various different tools and solutions to support their operations. Each business has its own unique way to tackling problems. Most of the time an off-the-shelf solutions or a ready-made software application doesn’t help with very unique and specific requirements. That is why businesses develop custom software tools and applications to fulfill their unique needs and requirements. The biggest advantage of a custom software development is that the business can mold it as per their need and requirement. It means they don’t have to make any change in their current business processes and business practices, as the software is already designed to boost the efficiency of the existing mechanisms and methodologies. This makes it extremely easy for the businesses to integrate a new system without disturbing anything. In this blog we have discussed key points to consider while developing a customized software application or tool.

RSI Concepts is a leading name in the custom software development and app building in Dubai, UAE. If you want our help with a new project or if you want to learn more about the topic, feel free to reach 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 blog: Importance of Custom Software Development in Dubai