AS BUSINESS LANDSCAPES BECOME INCREASINGLY COMPETITIVE AND OVERLY SATURATED, IT IS IMPORTANT TO STAY AHEAD OF THE CURVE AND STAND OUT IN YOUR FIELD. ONE WAY TO DO THIS, IS TO EMBRACE NEW, EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND TO TRANSFORM YOUR BUSINESS VIA THE RIGHT DIGITAL STRATEGY.
You might decide to enhance your existing system/s, or you might decide on a complete rebuild. Either way, custom software development is an inevitable consideration for unique components of your solution.
Embarking on a custom software project can be overwhelming – it requires a large investment of time, energy, and money to do it right. The return on investment and benefits felt across the business after implementation however, will make all that effort worthwhile, on the basis it is the right solution for your specific problem and it is implemented correctly.
The more prepared you and your team are in facing different scenarios during the project, the greater your chances are of tackling any challenges that might crop up. This article aims to look at the major roadblocks to overcome in custom software development and how best to mitigate them.
An Unclear Vision
Proper planning and a clear vision are necessary before kicking off your custom software development project. Custom software solutions are there to make your life easier, improve efficiencies, enhance your customer experience and provide increased value to your organisation. If you are not exactly sure what you want from your solution and you enter the process with vague ideas in mind, you might end up with features that do not meet your overall needs and do not help your core business succeed.
That is why it is important to work with a team from the very beginning, who can help translate what you want into a sophisticated system, making recommendations on the correct processes, user experience, how it should look visually, what it should do and what value it can provide.
A Lack of Expertise
No businesses are the same; they all face unique problems that need solving, which custom software aims to do in new and innovative ways. In–house teams might be the first point of call to create a custom solution, however, they might lack the expertise to develop the right solution or see the project all the way through to the end. (This is also sometimes the case for external resources!) It is important to find the right development partner from the beginning, with a proven track record of delivering successful custom software development projects for a wide variety of clients. This way, you will be able to leverage experience and innovation from other industries and domains, as well as adopt best practice.
A Lack of Communication
A custom software development project requires input from numerous people; therefore, excellent communication is essential to its success. Whether the team is made up purely by in-house resources, or whether there are other vendors playing a role, it is important to involve and align all relevant parties at each step in the process. This will ensure progress is heading in the right direction, risks are identified early, and the project is on track in terms of budget and timeframe.
Budget Constraints
Budget constraints (money, time, and resources) are a part of any project, and it is always necessary to have an accurate estimate of expenditures upfront. It is important to have a realistic budget, so your custom solution can bring greater ROI to your organisation and provide a competitive advantage. In custom software projects with a tight budget, quality assurance and testing are sometimes overlooked to cut costs, which can result in an inefficient solution with unidentified bugs being released to production. If other roles are cut, such as the BA or PM, it could result in the wrong solution being built or the project being mis-managed, which would waste time and money.
Lack of Post-Release Support
Your project is complete! You now have an innovative, unique, defect-free solution in production, and you can already see the benefits it is providing! But now what? A successful custom software development project should extend beyond the date of release. Your technology partner should care about the performance, quality, and stability of your solution, and want to continuing improving it and maximising your ROI.
Conclusion
These are just 5 of the main roadblocks in custom software development, but the list is inevitably longer. Custom software development is complex, so it is no surprise there are a mountain of challenges to overcome. However, custom software is also at the core of every organisation’s ability to uniquely improve efficiencies, increase productivity, and make better business decisions. Custom software development has the power to really transform your business and drive it forward.
Chat to us today to see how our expert team can help you with your custom software development project.
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