Thanks to recent advancements in technology, businesses now almost entirely rely on software to smoothly run their operations. While most businesses opt for off-the-shelf software, the popularity of custom software is rapidly increasing and rightly so. Custom software provides a host of benefits to enterprises which are unavailable in off-the-shelf software thereby providing business owners with a competitive advantage in their market.
In order to make an informed decision between choosing off-the-shelf software and custom software, business owners should evaluate their business, their current and future plans, as well as their budget. While off-the-shelf software can cater for most of the business needs, a custom software development company can tailor the custom software to meet specific business processes that will enable your business to wrap up more sales, improve efficiency and enhance business performance.
Off-the-shelf software might be cheaper compared to custom software. However, it does not address specific business needs. Moreover, it comes with a host of features which only act to clog the system as most businesses never use these features. On the other hand, the custom software enables enterprises to focus on their unique needs that improve their operations thereby proving very effective for businesses.
There are several advantages that custom software hold as seen below:
Benefits of Custom Software
1. Active support
With custom software, you can expect highly personalized support from the custom software developers. The team that was involved in the developmental stage of your custom software will form part of the support team to address your needs. This situation is ideal as you will get ready help from a team that fully understands your business operations and software as opposed to ready-made software which is made for mass usage.
2. Bolsters business security
Off-the-shelf software is the same for every company. This similarity reduces business competitive advantage as well as privacy in operations. Moreover, it is easier for hackers to hack enterprises that use the ready-made software as the codes are the same. However, this risk is significantly reduced when it comes to custom software since the software is only available to limited users. It also gives your business a competitive advantage since competitors can’t figure out how your company operates.
3. Enhanced user-friendliness
Custom software is often easier to use and learn as it has been tailored to meet your business needs according to your specifications. Additionally, minimal effort will be spent on training to learn the software as most of the processes are made per your business operations. Furthermore, the software will be tweaked to suit the different departments in your enterprise, thereby giving your team a clue on how it works.
4. It performs according to your needs
During the developmental stage of custom software, your team sits down with the custom software developers, and you specify all the areas you would like the software to address. The end result is a custom software product that meets all your needs and works in a manner that suits your business operations. The custom software will only include features that you need and which you can fully explore.
In conclusion, it is important to get custom software for your business whether large or small. Custom software holds unique benefits that are unavailable in off-the-shelf software such as improved functionality, enhanced user-friendliness, improved security and active support whenever you run into problems. Additionally, custom software will address your specific business needs and enable you to improve those business operations that matter most to your enterprise.
