It’s no secret that two of the biggest business trends of the past few decades have been increasing complexity and the increasing importance of software. Today, nearly everything most businesses do is in some way connected to software tools. This enables them to manage all that complexity and remain competitive.
It also explains why custom software development is so popular. But should you consider the custom route for your software needs and how can you choose the best provider? Let’s answer both questions.
When is it better to choose a custom solution instead of an off-the-shelf solution?
There are a few main things to consider when comparing custom and off-the-shelf software. The first is simply whether existing solutions actually meet your needs. If not, custom is the way to go.
If they do, then you need to consider how well they’re able to do that. Are there features you wish they had? What would be the benefit of having those features?
Then there’s the question of how well an existing solution will be able to adapt and scale over time. Your needs as a business are always going to change, so considering whether and how your software can evolve to meet those changes is vital.
5 things to consider when choosing a custom software development company
If you’re set on going the custom software route or just want to better understand what that process might look like, these are the main things to consider.
Examine their previous projects
The cliche that “talk is cheap” does apply here. It’s easy for a provider to make claims about their performance, what they can deliver, etc. Knowing they’ll actually be able to follow through on those promises requires looking at their track record.
Software development providers should be able to provide you with details about previous projects. They may also share client testimonials or even put you in touch with former clients so you can speak with them directly. In any case, you want to find a partner who is open about their past performance. Trying to hide this information may be a red flag.
Technical abilities that match your project
Whether you’re talking about a specific programming language, the ability to perform specific tasks like developing machine learning algorithms, technical abilities are essential.
You can’t afford to rely on providers that don’t already have the skills and experience applying those skills to projects like yours. Put another way, you don’t want your software to be the training ground for someone dipping their toes into a new technical challenge.
So be sure the providers you’re considering have the technical skills you need. This might include chatting with the team members, asking for examples of where and how they’ve applied those skills, etc.
Research reviews from previous clients
While asking a potential provider about their past projects and clients directly is an important step, that’s not all you should do. You will also want to research third-party website where people can leave reviews of software development companies to get more perspectives on them.
Some great examples are G2 and Trustpilot. Even other sites like Glassdoor can help you gain insights into the internal culture of prospective partners. The goal is to find authentic reviews from real former clients of that company. These will give you better insights into how they perform, and whether they will be able to meet your software development needs.
Just be sure to take the information you learn from these external sites and directly from former clients with a grain of salt. Their experiences will be subjective and may not reflect what your experience would be.
Choose a transparent company
We mentioned previously that it could be a red flag if a company is not willing to provide information about former clients. That same approach applies to the entire process of analyzing them as a prospective partner.
Transparency is essential as it drives effective partnerships and dramatically improves outcomes. Without it, problems fester, critical information isn’t conveyed, and the resulting software suffers. It becomes harder to finish projects on time and budget as well.
Custom software development companies that don’t demonstrate transparency in this early stage are unlikely to be transparent later on. So pay close attention to how they respond to questions and requests.
Consider the culture of the company
Closely tied with the company’s transparency is its overall culture. It’s easy to gloss over this factor to focus more on their technical abilities, but culture is just as important. Poor cultures hamper even the most technically proficient people, preventing them from delivering the software you need.
As we mentioned earlier, you can both observe the company yourself while in talks with them and look to review websites to better understand their culture.