Custom Software Development vs. Generic Software Development

Custom Software Development vs. Generic Software Development. Mobile Apps and Software have become a part of our lives and the use of these apps has been increasing rapidly. An average smartphone user uses up to 40 mobile apps per month. The use of apps and smartphones has accelerated the development of custom software and generic software by businesses and companies which has the potential to let the businesses reach more people and generate a higher ROI.

In this article, we will be sharing about custom software development, generic software development, and their benefits.

What is Custom Software Development

Having a product that caters to your exact needs is not just thought now, it has been fulfilled with custom software development. In other words, custom software development is an app or software designed and developed for a specific set of users, features, and organizations. The custom software is specifically designed and developed to meet the defined set of requirements by the client. Although when talking about an app that serves the users with similar needs one thing that comes to mind is off-the-shelf software, they serve the users with generalized needs, and not every business has the same requirements, and this is where custom software development comes into play. The main types of custom software are:

• Content Management System (CMS)
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP)
• Operation Management System
• eCommerce Software

Benefits of Custom Software Development

Generally, when developing a full-fledged software, takes around ten months. When you choose to develop a custom software it is expected to take about 4 to 5 months, which is pretty much considerable depending on the features and functionalities that you want in the software. The benefits of developing custom software are innumerable, but here we have listed a few to keep you updated so that when you think of developing custom-made software for your business, it will guide you positively.

1. The primary benefit of developing custom software is that it provides a unique and innovative product for your business. It also helps your business/brand create a unique identity in the marketplace like it is one-of-a-kind software in the industry.
2. It provides balanced scalability to a business. Every organization needs to monitor its growth and other important factors and to fulfill this need, businesses develop custom software so that they can plan the future of their business accordingly.
3. Every business is intended to grow and with the development of custom software, you can also integrate new features into the existing software to meet the new requirements of your business and also keep up with the market trends.
4. When you want to integrate a new feature into your existing software an important thing that cannot remain unnoticed is the integration cost. Developing a custom-made software lowers the cost of integrating an additional feature, as it is already designed and developed with the capabilities to integrate new features within the existing infrastructure of the software.
5. It is a one-time investment and you do not need to pay any subscription fees or pay for any additional features when you develop the software specifically to cater to your business needs.
6. You can manage the business operations more effectively and efficiently along with the advantage to monitor the ongoing operations and employee activity.

What is Generic Software Development?

Also known as off-the-shore software development, it is developed to meet the general requirements of employees and businesses. Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Firefox, and many more are a few of the well-known examples of Generic software development in the market. The primary use of Generic Software is that it can perform numerous tasks, and is not limited to a particular application or feature. This type of software generally doesn’t require modification or any advanced features since it is pre-developed as per the future requirements of the business.

Benefits of Generic Software Development

Generic software is designed and developed to serve the needs of everyone be it an employee, client, or a company and it also has benefits that make it exceptionally stand out in the market. Here are a few benefits that you should know about Generic software development.

1. The key advantage of a Generic Software is that it is easily available in the market and it caters to all the general needs of every individual.
2. Another important advantage is that it is less expensive as it is pre-loaded with all the necessary features that are required since the company doesn’t design the software according to the specific requirements of a client.
3. If you are using or developing generic software, you might be aware of the fact that it requires less or no training for the employees or the consumers since they are less sophisticated and easy to use. Hence it is user-friendly.
4. One important advantage of generic software is that it is versatile with a wide range of features and functions.
5. One added advantage of generic software is that it is available to use instantly and users do not have to wait for months to use this type of software. Also, it provides regular updates for its new and latest features.

Custom Software vs. Generic Software Development

Now that we have discussed custom software, generic software, and its advantages you should not be limited to only these. For, both the types of software are beneficial to different business kinds you should also compare them to help you decide better which software to choose when you are thinking to digitalize your business.

• The generic software is used for general-purpose, whereas custom software is developed to cater to the specific requirements of the consumer.
• Generic software is used by a large number of people, whereas custom software is limited to the users of an organization or business.
• Custom software development is more focused on providing the best quality, whereas generic software development is not focused on the quality of the product.
• While developing generic software, the development team controls the process of development, whereas, in custom software development, the client/customer demand determines the development procedure.
• There are no such hidden costs associated with custom development, while in generic software there might be hidden costs like installation costs or added feature costs.
• When developing a custom software the development team itself provides maintenance for the software, whereas in generic software development you might need a third-party development team to make additional changes in the software or for maintenance purposes.

Conclusion

It has never been easy to decide when you have two or more choices and for your ease in making decisions, we have made a comparison between custom software development and generic software development. The basic nature of anything associated with technology is evolving, and so is the nature of software since it keeps evolving with time as per the consumer demands and market trends.

So, if you are planning to develop any mobile application or software, you are good to go since every business has shifted online to provide better services and gain the trust and credibility of the customers. But also make sure that you choose the appropriate technology stack, the right model of development, and of course the best development team to develop and deliver the best project for your business.