Companies that look to deploy a software application, internally or for customers, are often presented with a major decision from the outset. Should we use an off-the-shelf package and try to configure it for our needs, or should we construct something ourselves from scratch? When the choice is the latter, there are considerable benefits, particularly if your needs are highly specialized.

When building your own application, the primary benefit is complete control over the feature set that will be pursued. Whether you are outsourcing or building in-house, there are some major trade-offs of time and cost, but you will never hear, “well, it doesn’t do that.” It is critical to establish this scope for development to properly set expectations and have visibility into the delivery time and expense.

Building your own application also means control over the budget. If outsourcing is your approach as well, the opportunity to shop around for providers that offer the best price is very worthwhile. However, you need a solid description of your requirements for a provider to estimate expense. With a baseline budget in place, the development effort can be modified as needed should features need to be added or removed to manage expense.

Another critical component of custom-built software is the ability to make it work closely with your organization’s other systems. While many packaged or software as a service offerings tout their flexibility to integrate, always explore what their claims really mean. Doing it yourself means that any custom piece from your existing systems can be fitted for integration.

To learn more about the application development process or how a custom application could help your business, contact Superior Technology online at www.superiortechnology.com or by phone at (845) 735-3555.