What Is Custom Software Development?
Have your business processes become convoluted over time? Tedious workarounds that require your staff to use two pieces of dissonant software to complete a task? Maybe you remember working somewhere with a needless amount of paperwork or steps involved in keeping the business running, where the mere thought of training a new starter put you off hiring altogether?
Custom software, applied correctly, could be the magic wand you're looking for
Custom software development involves creating a software solution completely tailored to a specific need or specific blend of requirements. What constitutes a specific need? Well, the possibilities are endless. That’s the point of custom software development services. From day-to-day business operational tasks to the needs of a particular user base, custom software can be crafted to meet individual requirements that go beyond what custom off-the-shelf software (COTS) can meet.
An example of when COTS isn’t enough
Say you are a wholesale business and your accounting, ordering and accounting systems ave been digitised via third party platforms but you have experienced significant growth. This growth has presented challenges with the handling of orders, processing, stock management and staffing etc and continued reliance on off the shelf software to handle key functions feels inefficient and vulnerable. To protect customer experience and unlock efficiencies in the system to propel future growth a custom solution that incorporated vital well operating systems through integration is combined with a custom tool by bespoke software developers to tailor the solution to your existing business that will scale with the business.
Suddenly customers are more informed, systems are operating from real time data and strategic decisions can be made from a team with exposure to accurate at a glance information across the business.
Let’s look at the example of a logistics supply chain challenge. You run a logistics supply chain company that has significantly scaled up in recent years. Initially, you elected to use NetSuite for enterprise resource planning requirements thanks to its straightforward implementation in CRM, eCommerce, and bookkeeping features.
As your company grew and became more complex, limitations started to arise with your existing system. Having multiple warehouses across the globe meant handling unique regulations, customs duties, and taxes. Third-party logistics providers and contractors presented their own individual systems. However, your business model promotes a highly personalised service with bespoke solutions no matter what.
While NetSuite has highly customisable modules for inventory management and supply chain, your needs were simply becoming too complex. Additionally, integrating third-party systems turned out to be costly. In order to maintain a high level of customer service, a custom-developed software solution was the natural step forward.
Your custom software development solutions were built specifically to enable seamless integration with third-party providers and warehouse operators worldwide, irrespective of their own processes. An adaptive pricing module accommodated customer-specific pricing structures. Highly granular analytics and reporting provided better insights and trends to optimise the network as a whole. While NetSuite was highly suitable in the early days, your Custom business software development allows you to continue to scale without damaging your reputation or revenue.
When and why do you need to think about developing bespoke software?
With the rise of technologies like blockchain, ChatGPT, and Meta, the world is shifting towards custom software application development at an accelerated rate. At Myth Digital, we’ve been working with clients to develop custom software solutions since before it was cool 😉 and every project starts with a problem, challenge, or pain point that holds a business back. Oftentimes, business owners don’t even know they need a custom software development company at the beginning. They just know they need something to fix that issue that takes ages to explain.
We always look at the pain points first and work back from there to find out what needs to be created. Look at the table below for examples of pain points and their solutions.
Pain Point | How can custom software help? | Examples of Pain Points | Examples of Solutions |
Lack of efficiency and productivity |
| A financial services firm's staff spends hours each week manually entering data into multiple systems. | Develop a data integration system for the financial firm that pulls data from multiple sources, eliminating the need for manual data entry. |
Poor customer experience |
| A real estate firm's clients are frustrated by the lack of communication during the home-buying process. | Create a client portal for the real estate firm that provides updates and communication throughout the home-buying process. |
Inadequate data analysis and reporting |
| A manufacturing company struggles to identify inefficiencies in its production process because it lacks sufficient reporting. | Create a custom reporting tool for the manufacturing company that identifies bottlenecks in the production process. |
Lack of integration between systems and software |
| A healthcare provider's patient care is being hindered due to a lack of integrated medical records. | Design a centralised patient records system for the healthcare provider that ensures all relevant medical information is easily accessible. |
Inadequate security and compliance |
| A financial services firm is at risk of data breaches due to outdated security measures. | Develop software with the latest security features and regular updates for the financial services firm, ensuring data is encrypted and secure. |
Business growth being hindered |
| A manufacturing company can't meet increased product demand because its current software can't handle the increased volume. | Create production management software for the manufacturing company that can handle increased volumes, ensuring it can meet demand as it grows. |
Mobility and new ways of working |
| A financial services firm struggles with remote team collaboration and communication due to a lack of suitable tools. | Develop a comprehensive project management and collaboration tool for the financial services firm. This tool can provide features such as task assignment, progress tracking, document sharing, and real-time communication. |
Why won’t cheaper COTS alternatives cut it?
The budget is always tight no matter what, which leads business owners to wonder where they can save cash by using cheaper off-the-shelf solutions rather than investing in customized software development. So what drives business owners to make that crucial investment decision?
Scalability and challenges with systems integrations are usually the first issues that COTS solutions present. A business might expand to such a point that the relevant COTS can’t keep up with their expectations. Alternatively, they might have numerous COTS systems that clash with each other and create longer processes and more man-hours as a result. Using custom software to integrate all their processes and systems creates more efficient processes allowing the business to focus on growth and flourish.
In turn, this competitive edge is what enables a brand to rise above its competitors, offering consumers a better, faster, more attentive and exciting experience. In a world where consumers demand more than ever before, this is the reality for many businesses: 71% of consumers expect personalised solutions from the brands they interact with and 76% get frustrated when those expectations aren’t met.
Ultimately, hiring a bespoke software developer is a more cost-effective investment than paying less for something off the shelf. More on that later.
Custom Software Development UK Companies Trust
Are you on the hunt for a custom software development agency? We’re a bespoke software development company UK brands can rely on for innovative solutions a cut above the rest, built on creative problem solving, and always with transparency and communication at the forefront of what we do.
We’re specialists in custom software development for startups and small businesses as well as multi-branch companies. From our offices in Belfast and Dublin, we offer bespoke software development services worldwide.
Get started on your custom software project.
The Custom Software Developer’s Process
The life cycle of a custom design project is a process that aims to meet agreed objectives within the time and budget. Let’s look at the stages of a custom development project in more detail.
Discovery
The crucial foundation at any custom software company, the discovery phase involves all the research and data gathering. This is so the development team can build a solid idea of exactly what you need out of your custom software solution. We look at:
How your business operates
Your objectives and vision
Pain points, pitfalls, and challenges holding you back
Your budget
Time limitations
Existing platforms, software, and systems
To build a picture of your project. This will help us define an accurate quotation and timescale for the work.
Book a discovery session with Myth Digital to get started on your custom software project.
Design
In the design stage, the look and feel of your bespoke business software development project will be envisioned. Our approach considers the user experience throughout the design process, this involves not only wireframes and interfaces but databases, prototypes and user journeys. It’s our design team bring your custom software product or project to project to life and give you the first glimpse of how the product will look and be interacted with when completed. It can't be stresses enough how important the /UX design is rto teh success and acceptance of the product.
Build
Once the design has been signed off by the client, designers, and development team, the build will begin. This involves coding and creating the actual software. This stage is usually the longest in the entire process, where developers work to create the foundational structure of your software right through to the fine details. As a full service agency both the front end and back end development of the project is handled by our team, ensuring consistency across the final product.
Testing
Thorough testing is an essential stage in the process. It’s through testing we identify any bugs that were missed during the build stage and ensure the software runs smoothly, intuitively, and does exactly what you want it to.
Testing is carried out throughout the build and upon completion, where members of our skilled team run through all the actions and outcomes of the software. It’s also important for clients to test the software themselves and provide feedback on the experience. Beta testing can also be carried out to check how its intended audience receives the software. More on that below.
Deployment
This is when the product is installed and made operational in your business and becomes available to end users, whether that's your customers, workforce, stakeholders, or anyone else in between. This involves installing your custom software so it’s ready to use, migrating data from previous systems or integrating them with the new ones, and training your teams to use it with confidence.
In some cases, the product will be initially released to a limited audience for beta testing. This is a type of real-world testing that can help to identify weak spots before full release.
Maintenance
While custom software is built to last, we don’t just disappear once yours is up and running. We monitor real-world use with you for the first few weeks and months, ensuring we’re ready to modify, adapt, or correct in the slim chance we need to.
Methodologies in Custom Software Development
In the context of any custom enterprise software development, a methodology is a framework used to plan, manage, and implement the project. As custom software projects can be highly complex, totally unique, and demanding of several different teams to work together, a methodology acts as a guide to synchronise all the stages, people, and tasks, the order in which they should be taken, and the deliverables. Here, we’ll go through the common methodologies.
Waterfall model
Like a waterfall, the process in this methodology is linear and follows down through each stage of the conception of the software: discovery, design, build, testing, deployment, and maintenance. Each stage is fully completed and signed off before moving on to the next. When this method is followed correctly, a project can move along smoothly, but if new issues present themselves later down the line, it may be difficult to go back and correct them.
Agile methodology
Increasingly popular, the agile methodology involves short cycles of work called ‘sprints’ to work on the individual components of a piece of software or stages of a project. At the end of a sprint, a session of feedback is incorporated into the next sprint so the process continuously improves. This methodology also eliminates extensive upfront planning and allows project execution to begin sooner.
Scrum
Scrum is an implementation of the agile methodology that promotes communication, responsiveness and adaptability. Scrums involve routines like sprint planning, sprint reviews, and stand-ups to optimise efficient workflows and outcomes.
Kanban
Another implementation of the agile methodology, Kanban focuses on the visualisation of the workflow process. Tasks and activities are represented visually on a Kanban board where teams can see every task and stage simultaneously. This methodology is designed to minimise work in progress and maximise efficiency.
DevOps
DevOps focuses on collaborative workflows between software development and IT operations teams. The objective of this methodology is to shorten the development cycle, speed up deployment, and respond to changes quickly for a more dependable project and ultimate release.
Rapid Action Development
This methodology prioritises rapid prototyping along with feedback in quick cycles, which aim to deliver high-quality output faster over drawn-out testing processes.
Methodologies range in approach and often are trend led. If you are working with a development partner part of the benefit is that how the project progresses day to day should be managed on their end. In most cases it's important now to get too hung up on prescribing a methodology as agencies will adapt an approach that best suits their team and project.
Custom Software Development: Cost and Investment
Cost is the first hurdle for many business owners considering approaching a custom software development firm. These projects have a higher price point than acquiring anything off the shelf. Labour costs, especially associated with specialist skills, consultations, and training staff—there are myriad costs associated with bespoke software application development. But businesses that already use custom software will know it’s an investment that ultimately saves money over time. Here’s how we know:
Increased productivity: while initial training will be required, custom software is designed to optimise efficiency and often incorporates highly intuitive processes that your workforce will pick up in no time.
Adaptability and scalability: custom software is developed with your growth and expansion in mind, so there’s little need to upgrade as this is in-built.
Reduced licensing costs: licensing fees apply to each of the COTS systems and platforms you use. These can add up over time. However, with custom software, you are the owner, and therefore there are no licensing costs.
Lower integration costs: designed to integrate seamlessly, custom software can easily work alongside existing software environments.
Maintenance: often, initial costs are higher, but the software is being developed to anticipate and minimise issues and downtime, meaning less maintenance is required over time.
How can developers help clients manage the higher costs of custom software?
As custom software developers, it’s our responsibility to ensure clients who decide to make this step can do so without destabilising their budget. We want our clients to get the most out of custom software, and that includes managing the costs along the way. Here are some methods.
Develop a minimum viable product (MVP) which can be used to test and validate the product. Not only does this ensure we’re making the most of your budget and eliminate any elements that aren’t completely critical, but it can spread the cost out over time.
Adopt an agile methodology to incorporate increased communication with the client and stakeholders for reassessments at each key stage of the project so that it moves ahead steadily and goals and expectations can be readjusted as necessary.
Opt for a development company that offers both design and development so communication and integration between these two key stages of custom software creation are streamlined and efficient at all stages.
Overall, custom software is an exciting (and often unavoidable) turning point any business can make. To make sure you use the opportunity to its fullest and have complete peace of mind throughout your project, hire a custom software agency with experience, talent, and transparency. We offer bespoke software development from Northern Ireland to all corners of the world.
