If the internet is the highway of modern commerce, your business software is your auto.
If you're asking your customers to get in and go for a ride with you, you'll want to make sure your car is clean, fast, and attractive.
And the best way to hit all those notes is to choose bespoke software over out-of-the-box applications.
Bespoke Software Advantages
Bespoke software simply refers to an application package that's developed specifically for your company. Just like the name implies, custom application solutions are crafted to order, and they offer an array of advantages over generic apps. Here are a few:
1. Increased efficiency – When you use off-the-shelf, generic software programs to run your business, you're going to be incorporating inefficiencies along the way, especially as you add new applications to existing systems you're already running.
One of the most significant bespoke software advantages is that a talented developer can build a system that consolidates data from your legacy systems and also folds in your core business operations. They then can craft a one-stop solution that incorporates all of them, removing choke points and increasing efficiency without giving up any quality of service.
2. Adds value to your business – Bespoke software advantages include adding value to your company by improving efficiency in a general sense, as mentioned above. But on top of that is the added value in terms of reduced costs:
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Automation – Invoicing, ordering, inventory control, and scheduling can be automated and reduce costs.
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Reduced labour – Not only do you cut labour hours via automating tasks, but you also reduce the need for supervision.
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Customer satisfaction – By streamlining ordering, reducing mis-shipments, cutting costs in terms of returns, and more, you end up with happier customers.
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Functionality – Since bespoke software does exactly what you want, the functionality of the system is literally at optimal peak operation.
3. Scalability – “Grow or die” is a mantra of business. However, a surprising number of companies shortsightedly lock themselves into off-the-shelf applications that limit growth. The problem with these cheaper, generic solutions is that, while they might fit the company's needs in the short-term, they turn out to be incompatible when its time for the business to expand.
What's more, since you're locked into the whims of a giant, generic software developer far away, you have no control over how the system develops. Other bespoke software advantages include custom-made solutions being infinitely scalable, so you can quickly expand your software along with your customer base.
4. Tailored to fit your needs – When you buy a licence from a big software conglomerate, you get precisely what you pay for: the specs on the box, no more and no less. Companies are forced to adapt their operations to the constraints of the software they run.
But with custom software solutions, this dynamic is reversed. You have input into the development of the application from the ground up, and so you get only the modules that best serve your business. You don't pay for any unneeded bloatware, and you don't have any missing bits.
5. Can be altered – Another modern business mantra is “adapt or die.” But if you're locked into a licencing contract with a generic software company, your options for adaptation are constricted.
Among the most important of bespoke software advantages, you're in charge of adding updates or making alterations to your applications as the evolution of the business dictates. You can add modules to enter other sectors of the market, discard old modules that no are no longer useful, and much more. These options are usually not available with off-the-shelf applications.
6. Security – Off-the-shelf software makes it a better target for hackers, as they're more familiar with the software, and they only need to crack one program to access millions of records across hundreds or thousands of businesses. If a generic product your company is running is compromised, your customers' personal and financial data is at risk along with your reputation – even if it's through no fault of your own.
It would require a considerable investment of time and effort to create a targeted attack to crack just one company's data. Plus, custom software is built with unique security measures integrated into the system, presenting a much harder target.
7. Total control – When you own your company software, you have complete access to and control of all the data that passes through it. You have the power to analyse customer patterns and profiles and adjust your operations going forward. That's a privilege most generic big software apps retain for themselves when you only purchase a licence.
8. Simplicity – A bespoke application means you can streamline and simplify your ops, making for less convoluted work for your staff. Custom solutions eliminate the need to jump from app to app or department to department or waste time trying to make various programs to talk to one another. Because of this, bespoke software advantages also include drastically reducing training time for new hires.
9. Branding – One of the overlooked bespoke software advantages is the fact that you can brand the application any way you like, both public-facing and internally. Having your own branded application provides a substantial competitive advantage over competitors who all run the same generic software.
10. Ownership – You're building your business; you should own the tools you use. You don't want to create a company on “rented land,” giving the landlord power over your branding, updates and upgrades, along with the ability to extract more fees from you in the form of more licences if you do want to expand down the road.
The bottom line is your bottom line. And pound for pound, custom software pays for itself many times over.
Get in touch with Laracle today and give our customer service department a few basics about your business. A member of our bespoke software development team can then get back to you and create a blueprint of what your new software system might be able to accomplish if we were to craft one from the ground up.
Don't hesitate, call or email today!
