Custom Software vs. COTS Software Solutions: Which is better?
In today’s continuously evolving requirements of customers and advancement in technology it has resulted in upgrading businesses along with their systems. To meet customer expectations, it needs businesses to work according to the trends. The constant change in the digital platform has led companies to find ways to transform operations. While software has revolutionized businesses in several ways, custom software development has emerged to become an active solution.
Even when off-the-shelf software solutions are available at much lower prices, addressing the precise requirements of businesses requires choosing a software development company adept in custom development. It helps to actively address the company’s requirements and provide great returns.
Custom solutions are referred to as the game-changing procedure. It fosters industries to easily personalize their solutions by creating software aligned to their requirements. Unlike the other solution, which comes with limitations and requires continuous customisation, the true potential can be leveraged through custom software development. It helps to get a competitive advantage for any business.
Some Statistical Reports:
As global custom software development is continuously increasing, it has been surveyed by many well-known companies. According to Statista, the global market can be expected to grow up to $167 billion by 2023. The annual growth rate can be projected to be 7.04% by 2028, which means the market size will be approximately $234.7 billion by the year 2028.
The process of custom software development requires comprehensive procedures. The process includes planning, proper designing, development and deploying. The deployment requires to be made according to the specific set of users, organizations and functions. For example, when it is about developing a custom banking app which is designed specifically to Meet the requirements of the bank and its customers, it will be completely different from my healthcare app.
Irrespective of the domain, it is possible to create customized software when you choose an experienced software development company. Such software can be beneficial in streamlining operations, improving customer experience, gathering important data, getting a competitive edge, helping to increase the revenue of businesses, and the advantages keep going. However, it requires a company to initially understand the pain points before starting the development. Creating software by predicting future demands would always be beneficial.
Understanding the benefits of custom software development
There are different ways and reasons why custom development becomes beneficial. From boosting productivity to streamlining processes and enhancing customer experience, it helps to meet business objectives. Following are some of the major reasons why choosing a custom solution can be beneficial over off-the-shelf software.
Personalized experience: These days, users are constantly looking forward to making personalized interactions with brands. Hence, customized development that has been designed according to the brand and their customers’ requirements will be able to provide personalized experience. Unlike COTS software solutions that can cater to the broad requirements of a wide range of audiences, custom solutions are specific to brands and their customers. These are created as per the challenges faced by businesses and have features to overcome them. The technology will help businesses to gain a competitive position in today’s competition.
71% of the customers, irrespective of the brand, are looking forward to personalized solutions and 76% of customers get irritated when they are not able to get personalized experience.
Robust solution: Compared to off-the-shelf software solutions available in the market, customized software aims to give strict security. As these are cloud-based projects, there are reduced chances of risks. Additionally, people with wrong intentions can easily start executing attempts to intrude on COTS software solutions, as these solutions typically make use of open-source codes. Therefore, hackers are very knowledgeable regarding the vulnerabilities. This makes COTS software solutions a lot more vulnerable compared to custom software development.
Flexibility and scalability: One of the most amazing benefits of choosing custom solutions is the flexibility it offers to organizations. These software solutions are developed keeping in mind the need for flexibility among organizations. The software can scale according to the business requirements. However, off-the-shelf software applications will be restricted and constantly require customisation or creating solutions from scratch. One of the best aspects of custom software solutions is that these are created and customized according to the specific needs, and hence, it would not violate the agreements or face wrong repercussions.
Conclusion:
These are only a few advantages of custom software development, as there is much more to it. Even when custom software might seem a bit more expensive initially compared to COTS software solutions, in the long run, they are cost-effective, reliable and greatly beneficial for businesses in terms of improving their revenue. As it gives businesses the flexibility to include features and functionalities specific to their businesses and customers, not only has it increased opportunities to improve customer experience, but also ensures a fruitful journey for any business, irrespective of their domain.
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