21 Dec 11 Reasons Your Business Needs Custom Software
Custom software and off-the-shelf software both have their advantages and disadvantages. When it comes to performing simple, generic tasks, off-the-shelf often offers cost effective solutions. For more complicated tasks and for businesses interested in growth and efficiency, custom software becomes the clear choice. Here are 10 reasons your business might look to make the switch to custom made software.
Increased business efficiency
Increasing business efficiency is a top reason that many software buyers are looking to replace their current off-the-shelf solution. In fact, 21% of buyers looking to make the switch are doing so because their current systems are inefficient. Custom software is designed from the ground up to solve specific problems that your business encounters everyday. Couple with that with an increased emphasis on employee collaboration and you’ve got a more efficient platform.
Scalability
When your custom solution is designed, it can be created with a plan for growth in mind. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by establishing cloud integration early. Without the cloud, any kind of business expansion is going to require a huge budget be placed towards physical hardware and IT expansion. With a cloud-based custom solution, though, you can use hardware when you need it and cut it when you don’t- experience a 23% cost savings.
Security
The single biggest security advantage that custom software has over shelf software is the lack of experience outsiders will have with your organization. If your company is using the same software as millions of other individuals or thousands of other companies, that means your business processes are going to be very familiar to potentially dangerous outsiders. A unique solution built with security in mind will make it much harder for threats to get a good idea of what’s happening within your company and for them to crack it.
Integration
Without a custom solution, your business and its employees are likely wasting time performing repetitive tasks as a result of using many different kinds of software. This can be extra steps in the form of data entry or navigating through overgrown spreadsheets only to stumble across human errors that need to be fixed. Why use a whole bunch of programs when you can just use one? Your custom software can be built to handle all of your daily tasks- and if it can’t, it can still integrate within your current software situation.
Greater ROI
At first glance, it might appear that retail software has a lower cost- especially initially. However, there are many factors that need to be taken into account. For instance, the monthly fees and hardware costs of an off-the-shelf solution will end up being higher than using cloud based hardware and software with a custom solution. On top of that, what are the losses that retail software are costing you in the long run? A custom solution can help you devote less working hours to daily tasks, increase efficiency, and even drive more sales in the case of CRM.
Competitive advantage
Custom software solutions are designed for your business, and only your business. Other options are designed to appeal to the masses. The goal of off-the-shelf software is to work within as many different industries as possible- it is intended to be a jack of all trades and a master of none. This lack of depth will leave your company moving at a slower pace. If, however, you acquire custom software that makes your company more efficient and better at your job, you will have an advantage over the rest of your competitors stuck using something out of the box.
Direct relationship with developer
If your business is having problems using a big box software solution, you will be hard pressed to get an answer as to what you should be doing differently from the developer. With a custom software developer, though, their job is to improve your company. The relationship only works if you both succeed.
Support
The same goes for receiving technical customer support. The waiting queues for help from major corporations can literally take hours. If they only accept email tickets, it can take days to resolve an issue. With a smaller custom software developer, though, the ability to get through and get a problem solved is there, and will happen much quicker.
Automation
From the get go, your custom software solution can be set up to automate many tasks for you. This will ensure greater accuracy as the vast majority of mistakes in a company are due to human error. By eliminating double and triple data entry of the same documents into multiple formats, you can cut out the missed numbers that will cost your company money. On top of that, you can even get your software to automatically identify and fill in data for you from specific forms.
It’s custom
Yes, the word “custom” is in the title. It’s also the single largest advantage custom software has over its retail counterparts, and the factor that unifies all the other advantages. Custom software is designed specifically to help you and your company. It’s your specific needs that custom solutions aim to solve, and for this reason it will have the best chance at solving them.
