Custom Software Development: Pros and Cons

A lot of companies from different fields nowadays want to establish their own software solutions that are able to fulfill particular requirements. In this case, it’s possible to hire different developers and organize their work or to hire a dedicated development team and pay them for the needed software creation. Do you agree that the second option seems better? First of all, it’s much cheaper and there is no need to be confused about what to do with the developers after the project is completed. These are two of the most obvious advantages of custom software development. Let’s take a look if there are any other pros and cons to such an approach for a business.

What Is Custom Software Development?

Before digging deeper and speaking about the good and bad sides of custom software development, it’s high time to explain once more the meaning of this term. The best description of this set of services was given by IBM here:

“Custom software development is the process of designing, creating, deploying and maintaining software for a specific set of users, functions or organizations. In contrast to commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS), custom software development aims at a narrowly defined set of requirements. COTS targets a broad set of requirements, allowing it to be packaged and commercially marketed and distributed.”

In general, custom software development companies offer to create original apps that are suitable for the needs of a certain company when it’s not possible to use the box solutions already performed on the market. Such solutions are in high demand nowadays almost in all business spheres. Among the simplest examples is software for Internet banking, pizza ordering, good manufacturing, etc.

Custom-built software is created to solve all the operational company’s needs, reduce costs, automatize the pull of tasks, or improve the customer experience. So the main goal is to make both the company and its clients satisfied.

Custom software development services may be offered in-house (or inside the company) but more widespread nowadays is to entrust these tasks to the third companies that work directly on such types of projects. The most interesting fact is that such companies are usually located in other countries far away from the customer and his location.

Custom Software Development Advantages

It’s obvious that custom software development is, first of all, cheaper than hiring developers within the company.  Of course, it’s better to pay for a certain task and have it done than to pay the salary of permanent employees. For example, in the case of custom software development, a client pays only for hours when developers work on their project. The price of one hour varies from country to country. In the Eastern European and Baltic countries, it can be just around $35-75. At the same time, in-house development means, at the very least, salary, equipment, and software costs.

Moreover, there is a limited amount of risks in such a collaboration – companies should not take care of the needed amount of developers, seek leaves, deadlines, equipment. It’s only crucial to find a reliable contractor, sign a contract, and wait for the result.

One more advantage of signing a contract with a custom software development company – it works directly for the customer and includes all the needed features in the final product. There is no need to search for something else or pay extra money. All the functionality that was ordered will be included in the software.

Another big plus – custom software development firms usually provide support for the created solutions after they were already implemented into the company’s business processes. So in case, any changes will be needed, custom software is quite easy to extend, scale, and improve.

Custom-built software belongs only to the company that paid for its creation. And it’s quite reliable. You don’t have to pay any fees, think about subscription renewals, or other possible issues. The scheme is simple: the company orders a solution pays for it and uses it whenever and wherever, without any restrictions.

And one more point that certainly speaks for custom software development: security. Hackers are often interested in hacking mass software solutions that can bring them access to the personal data of hundreds and thousands of users. But if the software was created for a unique company and its needs, the possibility that such an app will be hacked is quite low.

And What About Disadvantages. Are There Any?

Yes, of course. It would be wrong not to mention any cons of custom software development. Here are the top two of them:

Costs

It’s at the same time an advantage and disadvantage of so-called bespoke custom solutions. The bill for the development may be quite high and some companies, being afraid of spending such an amount of money, turn to on-shelf mass solutions. But they often forget that regular subscription price and additional costs connected with the lack of the required functionality can cause even higher costs.

Time

Taking into account the quite high demand and the fact that bespoke apps have to be built from complete zero, custom business software development companies normally ask their clients to wait a bit until their projects will be ready for implementation. This waiting period can last from a couple of months to a year or even more (average time is 4-9 months) depending on the size and possibilities of the future solution. But in the end, the client’s company will get the tool that will substantially improve its work.

Top Custom Software Development Companies

The worldwide custom software development market is quite large and is estimated to be valued at billions of dollars. It’s already predicted that by 2025 the market size will grow to more than $650 billion and the number of developers in the world will rise up to 45 million.

But in all this variety of companies and market players, there are some leaders that are the best ones in custom software development nowadays. The top 10 of them are:

Custom Software Development Directions

Custom software development is widespread in a lot of businesses. The most popular custom-build are dedicated to:

• Content Management Systems (CMS)
• Custom Relationships Management systems (CRM)
• Business processes automation systems
• Invoicing (automated)
• Company-facing web-portals
• E-commerce software solutions
• Bug-tracking software

The popularity of bespoke IT solutions in big data, UI/UX design, and healthcare is also rising. The custom healthcare software development market will rise up to $19.8 billion by 2025, according to Prognoses. Custom healthcare software development companies work on making medical services more accessible from anywhere in the world. With the help of such apps, it’s not just possible to get an appointment in the clinic or look through the receipt. Patients may also get diagnosed, communicate with the doctor, constantly measure the most important parameters of their body, and record this information, etc.

Let’s Repeat One More Time

We would like to once more answer two of the most popular and significant questions about custom software development.

What Is Custom-Built Software?

It’s a business approach when the customer organizes the creation of the needed software solution outside of the company due to various reasons but orders it in the other company. Afterward, the client’s company implements a new app to the working routine.

Why Is Custom Software Development so Important?

First of all, it helps companies, mostly middle and large-sized ones, to get their own personalized solutions that will allow them to work faster, be more productive, and last but not least, lower costs. Also, custom software development stands at the very beginning of modern IT innovations. Companies that work in this market create and implement dozens of unique solutions that can lead to getting more outstanding ideas.