Custom application development focuses on developing an application according to the exact needs and specifications of the customer instead of providing a packaged, one-size-fits-all solution. Companies that are particular about using software that has features specific to their business environment opt for this form of application development.
However, alongside the benefits of having their requirements catered by using a custom solution they also have to face the drawback of heavy costs. On the development side, a custom software development company has to face slow time-to-market for such solutions. These problems have resulted in a slowdown in custom development application.
Custom Application Development
What Makes Pre-packaged, Off-the-Shelf Solutions So Attractive?
Packaged solutions bring down costs, reduce the risks associated with building and deploying a new solution and can be quickly implemented. You need to tweak them just a little bit to have them working according to your specific requirements.
In situations where a business doesn’t really know what it needs from an application, ‘off-the-shelf-solutions’ may be the best option. By finding industry-dominating software providing solutions to specific industry problems, such business can automate day-to-day processes and increase productivity.
Mostly, packages software solutions or products are most suitable for small to medium scale organizations who want an immediate solution that works well and which does not cost much. However, even with such off-the-shelf solutions, a little customization is needed frequently.
Are OTS Solutions Killing Custom Application Development?
No. Custom web application development is widely prevalent, now more so than before, despite the huge costs and challenges that it poses in ROI. According To Forrester Research Survey, the spending on custom application development is going to rise in the future and currently stands at 25.6% of IT investment expenditure. Now, the question that arises is why would companies go in for an expensive custom application when they can now easily get a packaged solution at lower cost?
The Truth about Custom Application Development
One foremost reason in opting for custom applications is competitive advantage. For growing business and for enterprises, it is almost impossible to find a software that can be a perfect fit for their complex and individual business processes. For such companies, it is impossible to deploy a pre-packed software.
Through custom development, such businesses can build an application that streamlines business processes in the best possible way, the result is a smart solution that works, and which helps save time and money in the long run. This brings higher accuracy in work results and increases productivity manifold.
Yes, custom applications do cost more than packaged solutions at first but in the long run they provide lots of cost benefits. How?
If you look at packaged solutions they will have a lot of features that you will never really use. You might spend time and resources in finding more out about their features, some of which are useful but many others, which you will never need. The result is enormous expenses in testing and maintenance of software with such features.
On the other hand, custom developed software will have only those features that cater to your specific business processes. You can start working with it right away instead of spending time to explore its features. Another cost factor is the license fee. When you get a packaged solution you have to purchase its license. If your company has limits on licensed software purchase, you can extend the benefit of the solution to only a couple of areas in the organization and not everywhere. Custom applications do not pose this solution and hence they are more cost effective to implement.
One of the main reasons why people prefer packaged solutions to their custom counterparts is because custom solutions used to take a lot of time to develop. But, by customizing existing software solutions to fit one’s needs, it is possible to get the best of both worlds.
This has completely changed the custom development environment and turned it into a dynamic one where customers as well as developers benefit in different ways. All these factors show that custom application development is going to stay – packaged software will have its value, but it can’t remove the need for customization.
