5 Business cases where custom software is the better choice

Answering the age old questions

When choosing software for your business, you will often find yourself asking the question:
Should I go with commercial off-the-shelf software or should I go with custom software? A lot
of professionals will suggest packaged or off-the-shelf software as a better choice over
custom software. In a lot of cases, packaged software might fulfill a business’s requirements.
However due to the nature of packaged software, it might not meet your business
requirements if your business has a unique requirement.

Since all businesses tend to be unique, there are times where custom software is the best
solution to meet all your requirements. Generic software doesn’t necessarily account for
businesses that are scaling. There are limitations in commercial off-the-shelf software that
custom software doesn’t have, for example - custom software tend to have longer shelf lives
than generic software.

Here are five business cases where custom software is the better choice:

1. When you want a personalized approach with customers.

Businesses that are B2C will prefer software with great user experience and options for
personalization. If you treat your customer as a unique individual, you are more likely to build
trust with that customer. Off-the-shelf software are very limited in this regard. Custom
software for customer-facing organizations can ensure that the user journey is completely
unique and different from whatever is available in the market. This also gives you a
competitive advantage that you can use to define your brand.

2. Preserving workflow and business processes.

Your business is probably flourishing because of the unique decisions and workflows that
are being adopted in your organization. Don’t let packaged software dictate how you should
approach a problem. Unfortunately, off-the-shelf software can be very limiting in this regard
because they must cater to a wide variety of businesses. Popular workflows adopted by
businesses around the world might be considered in generic software. But popular need not
mean efficient for your organization. However, custom software is designed for your
business, its processes and workflows. With custom software you don’t have to worry about
adopting new generic processes and forcing it on your staff. You can continue growing with
the best workflows for your business needs.

3. When you need to adapt quickly to market trends.

Custom software can be important in cases where your biggest customers or vendors are
making a software change or adopting a new data protocol that your business has no choice
but to follow. This usually happens if your business is part of an integrated supply chain.
Off-the-shelf software can sometimes be slow to adapt or change to meet industry
standards. In this case, custom software will allow you to quickly add the new functionalities
with minimal or no interruptions.
4. When you need to scale your business.
When you buy off-the-shelf solutions for your business, you will find a host of features that
not relevant to your business. This is because off-the-shelf software must cater to a wide
audience. However, if you find yourself in a situation where your organization is growing and
requires a few additional features, that are either going to cost a lot or aren’t available, you
will be in trouble. As your business grows, adding features and planning for additional
features is highly feasible in the case of customer software development. This means you
have a robust software that is tailored to suit your immediate and growing needs. And youwill
not have to spend on licensing fee for additional features later on.

5. When you want to reduce total cost of ownership.

The price wars between commercial software and custom software can be tricky. If you find
yourself in a situation where you need a software that does the job, but doesn’t require too
much investment in the future, then commercial software is the way to go. However, with
custom software, the total cost of ownership of the software may be more economical than
commercial software in the long run. Delays in upgrades, licensing fees, maintenance and
support charges will bog down commercial software over a longer period of time. The cost of
licensing is eliminated in the case of custom software, as the business will own the software.
Maintenance would also be cheaper as you will be involved in the development of the
software. You have far more control in the case of custom software. There are simply too
many variables in commercial software that can put your business at risk.