Custom Software Development
Handling The Challenges of Custom Software Development
Launching a custom software development project can be a key way to give your company a competitive advantage in the marketplace, but is also no small endeavor and requires great planning. Taking your time to identify both your true needs and expectations as well as the right partner who can deliver on them will truly pay off in the end. The most successful projects apply the ethic of “measure twice, cut once” as they go about kicking things off. We’ve outlined the larger concerns below:
Establishing End Goals
Getting buy-in from all key decision makers is crucial. In ‘agile’-type environments, continuous close coordination with customers/end-users is necessary to ensure that changing/emerging requirements are understood.
Open Dialog
The enemy of any custom software project is a lack of communication. With so many moving parts, everything must be discussed and evaluated, preferably as you go. Promoting teamwork and cooperation as much as possible is key; use prototypes and/or continuous communication with end-users if possible to clarify expectations.
Realistic Timelines
This is where the majority of failed custom software projects meet their demise. Excessive optimism and a lack of realism can lead to dashed expectations for both sides. Make generous accommodations for all variables, such as planning, design, testing, bug removals, re-testing, iterations, and step-by-step documentation, in order to set expectations.
Proper Testing
With any custom app development, testing throughout is essential for eliminating errors, tweaking functionality and fixing bugs. A variety of testing processes should be applied throughout, such as static code analysis/testing, test-first development, unit testing by developers, built-in testing and even diagnostic capability assessment. By checking at every stage, small problems can be fixed before they become big ones.
Managing Scope Changes
Throughout any custom software design process, changes are often inevitable, and often necessary. But as soon as it becomes apparent they’re needed, it’s important to rope in your partner and assess how this change of scope will affect cost and timeline, if at all. All scheduling changes should be noted and if possible, try to work closely with customers/end-users to manage expectations. Employing “agile” development processes can be highly beneficial in these situations.
Process Priorities:
What to Focus on When
It’s absolutely crucial that the project lead and the developer partner share the same vision of what the project needs to accomplish. A partner that can not only build what you want, but help shape your vision, is the one who will best develop your product.
This fits into the “easier said than done” category. Many developers will promise this, but not all have the experience and history of success with fully database-driven software with over millions of active users. Vet your partners wisely.
We provide a consultation with a software architect that is free of charge. We go over the entire custom software, have internal meetings, and come up with an estimate for free. You want to know what you are getting into.
Making different systems and technologies that all play nicely together is a goal that might take more time and energy upfront, but will pay massive dividends down the road. With awareness of change, we plan ahead.
Be on the lookout for:
Lack of proper expertise among In-House Developers
Lack of proper testing procedures
Short term business objectives:
They force development to be rushed, patch oriented, and encourage the wrong sacrifices for small gains now rather than bigger gains later.
Costing out any custom software development project requires a thorough inventory of all the goals and variables. But truly collaborative web application developing companies work diligently to outline them all at the project’s onset for maximum transparency. The project’s full costs will include the development of the software and implementing it within your company. Other variables include:
Complexity
If your custom software development goals involve complex functionality and advanced coding, the more personnel and development time will, of course, be required.
Maintenance
Reaching MVP (minimum viable product) is often just the first phase. Updates in business processes, regulations, and requests for new features usually require future development services and content management help.
Scale
Every business has different scalability requirements that need to be identified and scoped for. For example, are you building custom business enterprise software to serve the needs of 10 users or 10 million? Does your data need to be available and responsive across the globe?
Infrastructure
Building custom software solutions are, of course, only part of the job. Housing is another. The modern solution is to host it in the cloud. While these custom development services costs vary, it’s usually to your financial advantage, but we can provide cost analysis comparisons for different solutions.
Implementation
Costs vary immensely depending on the time developers need to write code for each screen. If a social development needs 4-5 screens, but a business development requires 20-30 with complex user interactions, those two projects would generally have very different budgets and timelines.
One of our key differentiators is this: We never use offshore resources. This allows us to maximize quality control while still offering premium services at competitive rates. We get the job done right the first time, so costly rewrites aren’t necessary. As an agile mid-sized custom app and software company, we’re staffed with an efficient team of highly trained and effective engineers.
A long tradition of Success
Originally founded in 2007, Baytech has provided custom application development solutions for companies of all sizes, from small start-ups to Fortune 500 companies across a wide range of industries, totaling more than 100 separate projects.
With a team of more than 15 highly skilled software architects on site, we never rely on offshore developers for our custom software design. Our founders Bryan and Jeff have tackled nearly every challenge imaginable in the industry and have the experience to guide you to the efficient, effective and successful solution you’re looking for from a custom software development company.
Learn more about our history here.
Preventing project failure
Building a robust and effective custom software solution is fraught with potential obstacles. But by taking every conceivable precaution, it’s easier to avoid an unsatisfactory result. Aligning expectations, timelines, and logistics with your custom software development and content management development team is 90% of the battle. To reach your expectations, as a custom software company, we work with our clients to make sure they have the right support team on their end to ensure long-term viability and a pleasant user experience. Be aware of the following factors:
Your custom software business partner needs to know your goals, desired customers, estimated budget, and your approval process up-front to stay on track and avoid development surprises.
With a custom software company that believes in an iterative development process, you’ll get to see multiple iterations of the software as you go, allowing check-ins throughout. Regular deliverables and demos ensure a healthy awareness of development progress and a consistent feedback loop, so there are no surprises.
Suppose your partner feels the proposed timing is unrealistically tight to provide the best custom software development services. In that case, they will likely recommend a different timeline to avoid a disappointing final product.
Building software involves constant back & forth. With your commitment to eliminating lag-time and providing smooth, efficient, timely feedback throughout, we can complete your project on time and within budget.
Updating older technology
As your company evolves, system upgrades to your custom software design are entirely expected–and indeed inevitable. Common reasons for upgrading are:
The diminishing return of paying to maintain and make changes to existing software.
Changing government regulations force you to adapt.
An older system isn't performing well or just looks outdated. But a truly seasoned custom software business has seen them all and will be able to propose a solution.
When to keep your existing solution:
Suppose you’ve invested a lot of money into your custom software services, and it meets your business needs. In that case, there’s probably no reason to upgrade just because something is new and shiny. Even if performance starts to slow down, you can purchase more modern business hardware, archive data sooner, or rewrite a portion of the code and break it out into its own microservice on newer technology.
When to start from scratch:
A smarter Collaboration Process
After nearly 15 years of successful projects in custom software, we’ve learned that the best results begin with us all being on the same page at the start. As one of the many developer companies around, we go out of our way to get to know your goals, end-users, logistics, variables, and timelines as deeply as possible before we begin. The more we know upfront, the less backtracking later required in the development process. Here’s our 5-step action plan:
The first phase is the meeting of the minds. Here’s where we get to know your vision, find out how it aligns with our skills and experience, and truly do our homework as we go about developing custom software. Our founders help oversee every step for quality control.
We kick off each custom development project with an upfront agreement on cost and timing. We’ll offer a plan for custom software solutions that will be truly worth the investment, providing specific details about what you can hold us accountable for at each phase.
Our principal skill set as a software development company resides here. Our team of experience gets to work, using only in-house developers, applying the right tools and strategies to make your project a success, and ensuring a friendly user experience. And our online project management portal provides transparency throughout the process.
Here’s where our custom development architects bring your design vision to reality. We loop in your team, give them the reigns, get real-time feedback, and adjust, making sure you get the most from your new custom developments.
We’ll be right beside you to help bring your solution into the world. This is where the advantages of custom software development truly become clear to both you and your customers. And as your company grows, we can help you make updates to keep things running at peak efficiency.
Case Studies
A quick overview of some of our custom software developments for recent clients:
Broad Industry Experience
We’ve completed custom software development services for the following industries:
Satisfied Clients
Ultimately, as a cloud consulting firm, we only succeed if you do. With each cloud migration solution we’ve delivered on in our long history, we aim to leave each client so satisfied they gladly recommend us to their industry friends. We’re as obsessive about our services as you are about your company’s mission. And since most of our future business comes from satisfied customers, your satisfaction is our number one priority. If you’re happy, we’re happy.
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Software is what you depend on to get things done. Baytech is who you depend on for software.
