Introduction
Business Automation and Digital Transformation are the new buzzwords that have caught the attention of the industries at large. With businesses trying to catch up with the next big thing, they need to know about these latest advancements and how they can catapult a business’s growth. Business Automation and Digital Transformation together refer to radically reinventing business processes with the help of the latest technological advancements and automating their workflows. The best way to bring about automation and Digital transformation in a business is to create a custom software solution, tailored to business needs and capable of automating workflows.
As and when a business grows, so does its operations and their complexity. It immediately requires increased manpower, resources, infrastructure, and money. Automation of a few of these processes can help businesses scale up quite efficiently and free up time for more important tasks of expanding the company. Custom or tailored solutions can enable this transformation for business by automating many if not all, operational workflows. There are many advantages for businesses looking for Tailored software development. Read on to know how businesses can best benefit from investing in Tailored software solutions:
What are the advantages of tailor-made software?
- Customizable
Custom (Tailor- made) software solutions are designed for businesses that are modern and technologically advanced solutions to problems faced by these businesses With the enterprise software development industry expected to reach $271.80 billion in 2023, there are many custom software development companies in the market that craft software as a solution for a business with a problem. The software, unlike off-the-shelf software, caters to a specific company’s problems and aims to resolve them.
2. High Return on Investment and profitability
Custom software solutions are true money savers. Except for straight front-end costs, it eliminates additional costs of other hardware, licenses, and expensive infrastructure. Also, clients get to use only the features they require and not extra features that they may never use in purchased, off-the-shelf software.
Though Tailor-made software is a little expensive to be developed, they churn out big returns in the long run. This is because it caters to specific business requirements, solving niche problems while acquiring desired results with high productivity.
3. Additional security
Regular off-the-shelf software has generalized security i.e. it has a one size fits all approach. This makes it more susceptible to virus attacks and data breaches. However, Custom software solutions or tailor-made business software solutions are designed for a single system and thus more difficult to infiltrate. In such software, businesses can add security features that only the company can access, and the accessibility stays within the organization.
4. Scalability
As businesses compete to match the speed and direction of market evolutions, their system software should be able to do the same. The generalized, off-the-shore software is not as capable of scaling up with the business and can malfunction in case of heavy loads and high usage. On the contrary, tailor-made software is designed keeping in mind this possible scenario for businesses. These software solutions are built solely for individual companies and ensure the autonomy of companies over their features. They need not wait for updates and simply partner with development teams to accommodate new market changes.
5. Personalization
Unlike canned software, tailored software solutions cater to a niche crowd. While off-the-shelf software is designed for a broader base, a custom solution can be designed according to specific business requirements. This allows companies to personalize and even use the software for increasing brand value.
6. Support
Tailor-made software is accompanied by reliable technical support which is usually the team that was involved in developing your application right from the beginning. This team will be familiar with your software and can handle any issues that may arise. Contrary to canned software, technical support accompanied by custom software solutions are experts and work for their clients across different time zones.
7. High Productivity
Custom software makes sure that an organization is running at maximum efficiency while it automates repetitive mundane tasks. This directs human resources for more important tasks thus improving the overall productivity of a day.
Steps to Streamline Operations with Tailor-made Solutions
Having talked about benefits, let us study how we can execute streamlining operations with custom software solutions. One can follow these simple steps to get the best of implementation of tailor-made software solutions in operational workflows:
1: Evaluate, Evaluate, and Evaluate
If a business is deciding to invest in a custom software development project, it must first evaluate the need for the same. It is important to identify the key areas of operations that need upgrades and automation. One must also evaluate whether or not the company has the infrastructure in place to handle the software once implemented. If not, one must source the right equipment and invest in skill training of employees. All employees must be aware of how to handle the new infrastructure and equipment.
2: Communicate
In an organization, employees can be reluctant to change. Therefore it is extremely important to have clear communication channels and transparency in the organizational channel. This will not only help members of the organization to understand the new software but also support it to the best of their abilities. Implementing new software is a radical change and can generate apprehension among workers. Ensure that employees are enthusiastic, skilled, and capable of handling new software and identifying any potential challenges even before they arise.
3: Test as much as possible
Once the software is developed, have it tested multiple times and thoroughly! Ensure it undergoes stringent quality assurance from the developer end. This is a crucial phase as it helps eliminate bugs and failures which might cost organizations huge amounts of money in the long run. Thorough testing also helps companies fix vulnerabilities in the software which can be detrimental to the organization, in the long run, if not caught early on.
4: Proper delegation of resources
Developing custom software is costly and requires resources which in turn are also expensive. In such a case, businesses can do well to hire software development consultancy services to guide them through the development process. These consultation services will guide you through your requirements and how much you need to invest in the resources and the software. Many consultancy firms guide businesses by providing critical insights and understanding their software development needs.
5: Consistent Optimization and review
Understanding how the software is performing, is yet another crucial step in streamlining the software with operational workflows. One can ensure that the software is performing as expected by mapping different metrics such as Response time, adoption ratio, ROI, User engagement, etc. One must also take critical feedback from its employees and relay it to the development team for better updates and evolution of the product.
Conclusion
In this technologically revolutionized era, businesses evolve with time. Business automation and digital transformation of each phase of corporate workflow is the need of the hour and businesses must invest in the same. There are many SaaS development companies in the market who can deliver SaaS product development for their clients and help them elevate their operational efficiency and bandwidth. OpenXcell is one such company that is an expert software development company that has excelled at delivering tailor-made software best suited for businesses.