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There comes a time when each business owner starts thinking about custom app development. The variety of benefits acquired together with custom software is impressive. From heightened security to new development opportunities, such programs can make a huge difference in the way a company functions.
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What stops some business owners is the price they have to pay for custom app development. However, the investment made in the custom-tailored software has a high return. By making simple calculations, the majority of owners conclude that custom app development is the right decision.
How can you improve productivity and efficiency with custom software? Let’s take a closer look.
The big problem with off-the-shelf software is the limited number of functions it offers. These programs are designed to cater to different needs, but hardly to all that your company requires.
As a result, business owners buy several software products to ensure all the company’s requirements are met.
Employees often struggle with juggling several apps at once, making repetitive actions, entering the same data several times, and the like. Eventually, the efficiency of their work reduces and so does the output.
With custom software, the number of actions taken by employees goes down considerably. By eliminating repetitive and unnecessary work, they can achieve much better results and have time left for other important tasks.
For example, custom software is especially demanded in the healthcare industry. The same program can file insurance claims, schedule appointments, and send reminders. Without a custom app, all three tasks would have to be done by different programs, forcing the employees to enter patient information into the computer three times.
Even though off-the-shelf software manufacturers are often doing an excellent job keeping the level of security high, hackers still manage to find loopholes. Since the software is out in the open, anyone can buy it and spend as much time as necessary looking for weak spots.
The software provider may have an update ready in a short time, but not all customers do updates when necessary. As a result, the company’s security may be compromised.
This is especially harmful to companies, which deal with sensitive customer information. One simple leak could spell disaster, lead to lawsuits, and end with bankruptcy.
Since custom software is available to your employees only, the chances of leaks and hacks go down to a minimum. It’s up to the business owner to set up a security policy, which keeps the system safe. If no internal leaks occur, the custom-tailored software can be 100% protected.
Even the best employees encounter problems while working with the software. When that occurs, they need immediate assistance. According to software development experts at EntranceConsulting, the majority of such problems could be fixed within a minute or two.
However, when it comes to off-the-shelf software, getting help may be tough. Some employees spend hours waiting for advice. Others pay large sums for ongoing support.
With custom software, you don’t have to worry about waiting for support. The development company usually offers high-quality support services for its products round the clock. Your employees get access to specialists immediately to avoid delays and downtime.
Another weak spot of off-the-shelf software support is the possibility that the company may stop providing it. If the developer deems the product outdated or unnecessary, it could stop supporting it altogether.
The majority of custom software developers offer lifetime support.
Preparing reports for analysis is one of the most time-consuming tasks done by employees. Even though some workers report quickly, the overall time it takes is considerable. The process usually distracts them from other work, botching deadlines, and sometimes causing downtime.
Since custom software works with all the data, which the company deals with, it can provide excellent reports in a fraction of the time it would take a human to do it. You don’t have to put together different pieces of information from different departments; the program does it for you.
Simply said, with custom software, you have a single database of information, which can be used for high-quality analysis.
When your company grows, it needs to start changing. As a result, you have to invest in new software to accommodate them. Such an investment is usually costly and time-consuming. Some programs come with a high learning curve. Others take too much time to integrate.
Custom software is initially designed to accommodate the growing needs of the company. The program grows with you. Developers leave room for additions in case the company changes size or direction.
Overall, the number of changes you have to go through when the company grows is much lower.
Custom software usually caters to the communication needs of the company. It allows different employees to access the program at any time and from anywhere. Meanwhile, they can communicate within the app to work on projects remotely while maintaining high-security levels.
By improving real-time updates and communications, you can boost the efficiency of your work tremendously without any extra investments.
No matter how high in quality the off-the-shelf software is, it can’t handle all your company’s needs. Such software is created to cater to a variety of requirements for numerous companies. You can single out the functions you need and ignore the rest. As a result, you keep facing unnecessary features. No matter how well you can ignore them, they slow down the work process.
Custom apps are highly personalized. They don’t contain any unnecessary functions. The program becomes a part of your company’s “body”, extending its abilities and solving the most vital problems.
When you have the right tools to improve the output and increase the revenue, your company gets an excellent opportunity for growth.
Your relationship with customers and clients is the key to the success of your business. How well do you provide customer support using the existing software? Off-the-shelf apps are often designed to cater to the basic customer support needs. For example, if you invest in a generic chatbot, it’s likely to answer only the simplest questions.
Custom-designed apps take your customer relationship to a new level. You can create an assistant to deal with customer requests 24/7. This can increase your output tremendously. Such software is especially helpful for companies that work with clients from different time zones.
Considering all of the above benefits, you can see how far ahead of the competition having such software can put you. As you use custom apps to cut costs, optimize the work process, improve customer relationships and much more, you are bringing yourself to a new level, leaving competitors far behind.
So if you are a loss as to how to gain a competitive advantage by making a smart investment, custom apps are the simplest answer.
Off-the-shelf software you are using is likely to cater to your current needs. But what happens if you change the direction slightly? We aren’t even talking about growth. What if you add a new line of products, which require a different approach to sales and marketing? Do you need to get new software to deal with it separately?
The ability of custom apps to adapt to the changes can reduce expenses, eliminate downtime, and help you get ahead of the competition.
Finally…
Custom app development is the key to improving the company’s efficiency, output, and profits. By heightening security, offering smooth growth opportunities, reducing repetitive actions, and providing excellent analyses, such software can put your business ahead of the competition.
8 Comments
Rupinder
Thanks for sharing, this article is extremely great and helpful it is very useful for developers. Thanks and keep Sharing.