Should You Build A Team Or Outsource Custom Software Development Services

Posted by Abel Willium on May 31st, 2023

Should You Build A Team Or Outsource Custom Software Development Services

Well, it’s not possible that a manufacturing company and a software product-based company would work on the same process. Processes do differ, and so does the business software.

We are in 2022, and if you as a CIO/CTO are living up to an excuse that off-shelf business software is the best fit to align with your business process, it’s big-time to break through the nutshell.

Business software does the same as what a heart does for the human body. It’s at the heart of a business and drives the core productivity and ultimately the success of the organization.

And, this small win at the process optimization levels collectively adds up a great value in achieving the business objectives, faster.

An investment in custom software development services would always pay off in long-term success for an organization. A custom-tailored solution aligns with the business process perfectly and is a win-win in every scenario.

Let’s understand how custom software development can add value to your business and what approach should you go with.

What is Custom Software Development?

There is nothing different that I am going to tell you here. Everyone out there, by now, knows what custom software is. Instead, we are going to dive into the ‘WHY’ side of it.

According to a report by Technavio, the custom application development market is said to grow by .76 billion during 2021–2025, at a CAGR of 7.93%.

And, you know what it points out.

It’s a low-hanging fruit if you grab it now!

Demand created pushes the bar for the increase in the cost of services and down the line 5 years custom software development companies are going to be in great demand than today, for sure.

Even if you decide to take a look at your competitor, and if you find them using similar off-shelf software as that of you, it’s your chance to take them down by choosing to develop custom software for your organization.

Custom software would not only set your organization up for productivity and operations but also will reduce the ratio of manual error that goes in today due to little to no automation in place.

All in all, custom software offers a competitive advantage and helps you reduce the odds stacked against organizational success.

What about building an in-house team for Custom Software Development

Building a team has its own perks!

You get access to the talent pool and you can achieve a great feat with what the team puts up for you.

But, the journey doesn’t end here with the development alone, there are ten different things that demand your attention.

Let’s dive in;

1. Hiring the top talent:

It sounds just fine when we say “Hiring for a new role”, but is it that easy to find the right talent? Most of the people from the recruitment function would agree with me.

Seeking the right talent for the proposed role is a daunting task and takes a lot of time. And, above all, you don’t want to mess up by hiring the wrong person, and if you do, you are in high debt, trust me on this!

Well, building a software development team is all time the best idea, unless and until the costs are introduced. Expertise comes with time and to onboard the expertise you will have to drill your pockets, big-time.

2. Knowhow of the Business & Requirements:

Before heading up towards the development, the team needs to understand what is expected of them, what is expected of the utility that they are building, and most importantly what value it is going to add to the business growth.

Each unique business requirement has to be well understood and agreed upon by every team member to the fullest capacity.

A leader has to chalk out the roadmap for the development journey and have to set out milestones to measure the progress.

It’s a make-or-break and failure is no option with the team on-boarded who is getting paid monthly wages to achieve the desired output.

3. Dealing with the Runtime Challenges:

For a team of experts as well, challenges are inevitable and unavoidable. How you deal with them is what saves the day and gets you ahead.

It’s a job of precision to deal with runtime challenges and bugs and not let them incur any further relevant challenges.

In this hassle, one thing goes on a toss for sure and that’s the timeline you set for the deliverables. We have to remember that we are building for competence and it isn’t going to wait for us to fix the mess.

4. Post-development Maintenance:

Post-development maintenance is as vital as the actual development.

The members of the software development team who had put their hands together to build the custom software for you can’t be set free to move out of the organization, the job isn’t done yet.

Post-development challenges need even double the attention as it’s the phase where you actually strengthen the application even more within the real-time operational capacities.

If core members of the team decide to leave, it would be a difficult job to find the same fit and make them understand all the things over again.

The benefits of hiring an outsourced custom software development company

1. Significant Cost Savings:

Wait! I know this sounds a little odd but, Yes you can save on considerable costs if you land the right custom software development services vendor for yourself.

Imagine, what would be the cost of you hiring a full-fledged team of experts for doing the job for you? Estimated? Okay, now compare the costs with what a custom software company offers. Fair enough?

And you know what the best part is, you get into the right terms of contracts where the custom software companies support you right through the development to prolonged maintenance.

If this doesn’t convince you, then I don’t know what would!

2. The outright Project Management:

Off course, it’s the expertise that a custom software development company charges you for and you get to have it.

With able project management associates, you don’t have to stick your head into the progress, all the time.

After the initial requirement exchange and finalization, the team helps to set up a road map for custom software development. With clearly chalked milestones, you know exactly where the progress is heading.

You can keep yourself and the in-house team reserved for other operational tasks while the outsourced team is building the application for you.

3. Effective Management of Run-time Contingencies:

Having hired outsourced custom software development services, you don’t have to trade your peace of mind over runtime contingencies. The team of experts handles these with ease and you don’t even realize that you ran into one.

Yes, there are times when contingencies become a headache, but the team makes sure that they cover that up within time because they care that you have a timeline to follow.

4. On-Time Delivery:

Having agreed upon a timeline, the team puts up every ounce of effort to make it happen and does it with flying colors.

At times, depending on the need of the hour, the project manager scales the resources up and down to keep the progress on track.

The custom software development partner does all in their capacity to make you earn a competitive advantage.

5. Maintenance and Support

Having built the application from scratch, the outsourcing partner knows every bit of it and strives to support you with top-notch post-deployment maintenance.

You don’t have to worry about the outsourcing partner leaving you in a mess as you both agreed to stay committed to a progressive contract for custom software development.

Conclusion

Custom Software Development is a unique yet audacious effort that an IT leader makes. The intentions are crystal clear; bring automation to business processes.