Choosing between custom software development and ready-made software integration is a common challenge for many businesses.
SaaS software commonly offers the same advantages, like saving development time and resources and offering a ready-made solution. At the same time, custom software is a more tricky model with many pitfalls worth considering. Therefore, let’s examine the most common and vital custom software advantages and disadvantages to choose the best development approach for the future.
Advantages of Custom Software Development for Businesses
There are many advantages of custom software, starting with improved performance and personalized software solutions and ending with meeting a complete set of customer expectations and demands.
Still, the list of the most essential benefits of custom software development includes:
- Tailored features and functionality
- Cost efficiency in a long perspective
- Seamless integration and scaling
- Better software flexibility and adaptability
Tailored Features and Functionality That Fit Your Business Needs
First of all, custom made software is business-oriented.
Long story short, one of the main advantages of custom software development model is its unique and highly personalized approach. As a result, the custom software development process aims to gather all business needs and expectations to fulfill them.
For instance, most Software-as-a-Service solutions are conventional and general applications that offer a predetermined set of features and functionality defined and developed by an IT vendor. Unfortunately, this makes most conventional applications less flexible regarding provided features and services.
Frankly, most companies that use SaaS solutions have faced functional limitations at some point. These can be minor imperfections, like not supporting certain file types or metrics, or deal-breaking drawbacks, such as lacking crucial software features for successful business operations.
Alternatively, such inconveniences are almost impossible in customized application software. Yet, even if you face some limitations, the custom software development method gives you complete control over code units. So you can quickly redesign features or easily implement new services.
Once again, when your software engineers develop custom software, it includes all your desires and expectations, as well as business needs and requirements, making it almost impossible to forget the must-have functionality and services.
Long-Term Cost Efficiency
Development costs belong to both custom software advantages and disadvantages.
To simplify, any custom software development project requires a starting budget. Creating software from scratch is not cheap. Therefore, many businesses choose SaaS, which requires much smaller starting capital and mainly works on a subscription basis. However, this cost-efficiency is justified only in the short run.
Eventually, in a few years, the expenses for provided services can be compared to the cost of custom software development. We also should remind you that building software takes time, while SaaS can be integrated into business in no time.
However, long-term cost efficiency is one of the least apparent advantages of custom software. To sum up, custom software development requires a lot of time and resources yet provides businesses with a tailored and unique software solution designed to meet their demands and requirements.
Besides, many custom software development methodologies aim to cut development time and costs – for instance, Minimum Viable Product development or simply MVP. This method prioritizes creating the most crucial features and services, leaving “extras” for later.
As a result, businesses can get a cheap and fast custom software solution that provides the core functionality, decreasing the cost difference between custom apps and SaaS.
Seamless Integration with Existing Business Systems
The custom software development benefits list would be incomplete without the integration capabilities.
Almost all SaaS or other business-oriented solutions integrate with third-party systems and utilize most third-party APIs to connect various systems directly.
However, custom projects take a step forward, giving you many more integration options, even when certain software apps have no API or other integration method, allowing you to enable it on the code level.
Moreover, such integrations with existing business systems are seamless and more efficient.
Greater Flexibility and Adaptability to Market Changes
Finally, custom applications are much more flexible and adapt quickly to market changes and demands.
First, you will have complete control over the software code, making it easier and faster to implement significant upgrades and scale the software’s functionality. Additionally, such an advantage allows companies to take their time and implement changes gradually, even in terms of development team extension services, i.e., by engaging a limited number of dedicated developers.
The benefits of custom software development are an excellent argument for considering this model as a leading development approach. Still, to be fair, we also have to discuss the disadvantages of customized software.
Disadvantages of Customized Software
Bespoke software advantages and disadvantages seem balanced: they complement each other.
On the one hand, the benefits of custom software development drive you to consider bespoke development. On the flip side, the disadvantages of customization are reasoning business owners not to rush with the decision.
High Initial Development Costs
As we mentioned before, custom development requires initial development capital. Mostly, high development cost consists of:
- Developers’ salaries
- Expenses on technologies
- Spending on IT infrastructure
- No operations during development
So, businesses must weigh all the pros and cons, especially their finances, before maintaining such development. Still, one of the most common approaches is utilizing SaaS solutions to keep business working while maintaining a slow and gradual software development with no strict deadlines.
Longer Development Timelines Compared to Ready-Made Software
Once again, custom development takes much more time than ready-made software integration:
While custom development will demand at least a few months, ready-made SaaS integration will take a maximum of one month, mainly spending time on adjustments and team training on using all of its features.
One of the most unbeatable disadvantages of customization software is the long development timeline. Even the simplest and most basic MVP development will require a few months.
Ongoing Maintenance and Updates
When choosing custom development, you must also understand that it requires post-launch maintenance and upgrades. SaaS and other ready-made solutions cover support and maintenance on their side.
At the same time, owning a software app also requires time and effort to sustain it. This includes bug hunting and fixing, ensuring software performance, planning and implementing new features, etc.
Requires Specialized Technical Expertise
Eventually, building a custom software application requires a specific set of skills and level of tech experience.
To cut a long story short, you will require a team of in-house software engineers who are familiar with the project and your business industry and capable of developing and maintaining your software app.
Conclusion
As a business owner interested in creating an app, you must consider bespoke software advantages and disadvantages, before making a final choice.
Truthfully, we are convinced that custom software is an ideal solution for most businesses. It offers significant and unique advantages, while most of the drawbacks of the custom approach can be covered in multiple ways.
Nevertheless, business owners are still the ones who decide which solution best suits them.
