Be it any industry, business holders need a platform that helps to streamline their operations but are unaware of their options. Well, if you are cohorts who want to get their website or application customized but are indecisive about how you will do it, you first need to learn the “levels of customization.” 

This blog will also give you an insight into some good examples of custom software that may fit your business requirements. 

Level of Customization

The category of customized software is defined by its level of customization. 

Level of customization is a defining stage of bespoke software development that identifies the customer requirements. It is segregated into 3 types – Completely Tailored Software, Semi-customized software, Copied Software. 

The development team works meticulously to decide the category the software will fall into, considering the extent of customization it would need. Once the category is decided, the development procedure is carried forward.

Here is a brief description of those three categories – 

• Completely Tailored Software: This kind of software is completely built from scratch. Conventional methods of creating software are applied to build a solution that caters to every specification defined by the customer.

• Modern/ Semi-customized software: As the name implies, semi-customized software doesn’t change the basic code of your already existing software. It makes use of the same framework to develop or tweak the code in order to add special features to your otherwise normal software.

• Copied Software: At times, businesses who belong to the same industry often require almost the same features which other competitors are already using. In such cases, the source code of the software that the competitor is using is copied exactly as it is with some tweaks to make their own software. 

So, whether your software will be a completely customized solution or a semi-customized one totally depends on your requirements. 

Let’s look at some of the best examples of custom software solutions that cater to various industry verticals and have stood the test of time.

1. Content Management System (CMS)

Content Management System provides the basic infrastructure to build a website from scratch. One doesn’t even require to have the knowledge of coding language like HTML to create and manage the website built using CMS. 

Integrated with a framework to allow storage, retrieval, access control, format management, etc, CMS eliminates all the tedious tasks like –  creating webpages, formatting, editing, publishing or reporting the content for the entire site. All one has to do is, add the content in the easily navigable and extremely user-friendly system. 

In addition to this, the major benefit of using CMS is  its content delivery application (CDA). It is the back-end of the software, which is highly organized and ensures delivery of content exactly in the manner you want it to reflect on your website. The front-end, on the other hand, is made of a Content Management Application(CMA) that allows all the inputs smoothly.    

Apart from content management, CMS can also be used to assist online campaigns and can be integrated with the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. 

For instance, WordPress is a popular CMS that can be used to create social networking sites, e-commerce websites, portfolio management, etc. Besides this, Joomla, Magento, Drupal, Squarespace are also some Content Management System (CMS) examples that you might have heard of. 

2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

As the name suggests, CRM is a bespoke software that helps in gathering vendor, prospects, or customers’ information to collate, manage and analyze their respective data. Moreover, the tool can also foster planning of marketing strategies like – bringing leads, monitoring trends, managing appointments, and drive sales to generate revenues. The application also contains a dashboard that has various analysis like – details of customers that are bringing more sales, what kind of orders are frequent, etc. Furthermore, it has reporting options integrated for maintaining customer relations. 

One must also know that the sales team and customer representatives can access the data on the run if  CRM is cloud-based. 

Salesforce is a popular example of cloud-based CRM that eliminates the need for hardware which in turn curtails the overall cost of accessing the platform as well. 

3. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

ERP is used to integrate all the verticals of the business processes into one platform to manage the entire data through a single software. It helps collaborate different departments like finance, production, sales, human resources with each other to get a peek into their status of work. Moreover, ERP platform can be customized according to the business requirements.

However, there is one pullback while using ERP –  the company should not refrain from implementing the new technology because holding on to the conventional methods can deride the whole purpose of setting up the ERP in the first place, and the outcome wouldn’t be as anticipated.

Moving forward, there are typically 3 kinds of ERP systems that cater to businesses of various sizes and types –   

• On-premise ERP – ERP system is installed on the servers of the buyer company with a charge of one-time perpetual license-fee. Since it is a capital expenditure upfront, the security, maintenance and updates are done by the enterprise itself. Nonetheless, support is granted by the vendor for any upgrades.

• Cloud-Based ERP –  These kind of ERP systems run on the servers of vendors and the company can access the platform using a secure connection. Since it is a cloud-based platform, the customer doesn’t have to worry about its maintenance. Cloud-based ERP is also cost-effective to the company as the vendor takes up all the responsibility of maintaining, updating, and safeguarding the platform. The purchaser has to pay a monthly or annual subscription fee and that is it.  Saas – Software as a service is one of the renowned examples of highly-efficient cloud-based ERP.

• Hybrid ERP – also known as a bimodal or two-tier model, hybrid ERP provides the benefits of both cloud and on-premise ERPs. It liberates the company from infrastructure costs and the cost of training the team. Certain important applications are chosen from the system to work as on-premise, and the rest are available on the server. The responsibilities are thus halved between the vendor and the buyer. 

FEDex, Blueshield are some of the best ERP platforms provided by Oracle.

4. Operations Management Software

OMS – Operation Management Software is a potential platform that streamlines all the operations of a business. Having a tailored software like OMS for your company can automate and customize many tasks. These may include –  employee onboarding, training sessions, workflow management, etc…while simultaneously tracking the productivity of your projects and the team. This platform also helps you manage the purchases, deals, logistics, pre-sales, invoicing, and all other related functions that are apparently performed in a business environment. 

It is the business owner’s prerogative to run the company in a structured way. However, if you have OMS you don’t need to worry about micro-managing every operation because it gives your operations an organized structure. OMS provides ease of business and hence must be taken into consideration when opting for a custom software solution.

ProofHub, StudioCloud are some of the best examples of OMS you might be aware of. 

5. Bespoke e-Commerce Software 

E-commerce software is one of the best solutions to uplift your business by multifold. Vendors who want to sell their products online can make use of this platform to increase revenue. Though the market is flooded with umpteen generalized softwares, the use of customized e-commerce software with exclusive features makes your operations more flexible, user-friendly and scalable. For example, unique features like live-chat with the dealer, email marketing automation, or customer history analysis can push you one step ahead of your competitors. Thus, it is advisable for B2B or B2C businesses to use bespoke e-commerce solution to augment their sales drastically.

6. Bug Tracking Software

Imagine having your site going down on the peak sales period… it’s scary, right? Well, then it is essential to have your site bug-free. A customized bug tracking software allows you to perform multiple operations simultaneously, using one-platform. It can be integrated with tools that ease agile management of projects, ticket generation as well as management or backlog organization. Such bespoke bug tracker platforms assist in capturing development or process issues with ease and help in delegating and coordinating tasks within the team. 

For instance, Jira, the top-ranking bug tracking solution is integrated with best-in-class features that makes a herculean task of project management a child’s play.  

The Bottom Line

Customized Softwares are the next-gen operation managers that can help you sail your venture exactly the way you want. 

They streamline the business processes, automize monotonous tasks, bring flexibility to the operations, and improvise connectivity by providing smooth interactions. Thus, if you own a business and have been thinking to streamline your operations, custom software is the way to go. What you only need to do is –  look for a good custom software development company that understands your requirements well and offers good quality software within your budget. Sigma Data Systems is one celebrated brand that can help realize your expectations.

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Software development outsourcing has become a culture in the IT industry, owing to the amount of time and efforts consumed in the overall development process of software which is quite overwhelming. 

Unlike in-house software development that doesn’t always promise the end-product to be as perfect as the ones rolled out by the professionals in the field, outsourcing provides you an opportunity to leverage the skills of the market experts to develop a more effective and seamless product catered to the specific business needs. 

Recently, a report revealed that the outsourcing business outgrew itself, becoming a whopping 66.5 billion dollar industry. This staggering growth of software development companies can be primarily attributed to the digitization of almost every business. However, outsourcing is certainly not risk-free. It does have its drawbacks, but they are quite feeble compared to the significant number of advantages outsourcing offers. 

Source: Deloitte’s report

But first, let’s dig deeper into this inflating business and understand what precisely outsourced software infers.

What Is Outsourced Software?

Outsourced software is a customized software tailored as per your guidelines by a third-party vendor.  These vendors are generally software outsourcing companies that have an organized platform, a streamlined process, and a set of qualified individuals to integrate or develop made-to-order products. Mostly, all the software projects these days are outsourced to save time and delegate the task in better hands. However, some businesses share only the testing process for quality assurance. Well, it’s up to your convenience as to what exactly you require. 

Organizations that have already jumped into the wagon have a positive review about outsourcing the work.  

The owner of an IT service company from Germany, Ben Magnus, says, ‘Outsourcing has provided twice the quality we would have ever expected in half the time.’

Now that you know what outsourcing is, let’s move onto the types of outsourcing. 

What Are The Types Of Outsourcing?

Outsourcing has been strategically classified based on the location to ease-out business operations.

Onshore Software Outsourcing

Onshore outsourcing, also termed ‘domestic outsourcing,’ is a process of handing over the software development to the other company that resides in the same country. Some of the major advantages of onshore outsourcing are – 

• Reduced travel expenses
• No language barrier
• Similar expectations as per the culture
• Secure and flexible services
• Time zone aligned

Offshore Software Outsourcing

Offshore as the name suggests, is the outsourcing of software development to a company from another country. An offshore software development team allows businesses to expand in other parts of the world. 

For instance, a US company looking for a good yet cost-effective software development team overseas can reach out to places like – India, Ukraine, Poland, Philippines, Argentina etc., to get good quality software at a lower cost than they would get in their own country. The benefits of offshore outsourcing definitely outweigh other types of services, which are  –

•  Meager development cost
•  Faster Development rate
•  Quality Assurance with innovation due to cultural differences
• A glimpse of the foreign market
• More time to focus on the company’s core competencies
• Flexible tradeoff

Nearshore Software Outsourcing 

In Nearshore software development, a company delegates its task to the software development team that belongs to a neighboring country.  Due to the workspaces’ similar time zones, Nearshore software outsourcing gets the upper hand over offshore software outsourcing. Moreover, it increases the possibility of visits to the development center more often.

Source: wikipedia

Why Is Software Outsourcing Important?

Outsourcing software to a vendor facilitates its deployment time without spending a fortune on the development part. It also addresses resource constraints and eliminates the need to set up a new team from scratch. In addition to this, it also provides the flexibility of work. 

Here are some principal advantages of software projects outsourcing:

Benefits Of Software Outsourcing Services 

Reduced development cost 

Setting up a team and bringing them on-board involves a lot of knowledge transfer, and organizations incur a lot of expenses on their training, insurance, and salaries. The new unit also needs to develop a thorough understanding of the project at hand. In addition to this, a company may not find a qualified resource and might have to compromise on the work quality. Outsourcing software development, on the other hand, eliminates all such overhead costs. When you delegate the task to a software outsourcing firm, they already have a dedicated team of experts. Thus, it cuts your deployment cost to half, and the time for knowledge transfer is also curtailed.    

Accelerated deployment rate

Deployment rate is directly proportional to the skill factor of the development team. Since an outsourcing company already fulfills that criteria because of its uniform talent and access to advanced development tools, the projects they take up are rolled out in the stipulated time given to the client. An in-house team may not assure such commitments. 

Streamlined Process for development

Micromanagement is tedious, however, mandatory when it comes to building an in-house team of developers. All such hurdles are easily transcended in an outsourced project because of the availability of platforms and a variety of tools to ensure effective workflow and communication within the team and the clients. Furthermore, issues related to resource replacement are resolved more quickly. They hardly require any time to train their workforce because the recruited candidates are well-versed with the technology and its implementation. 

Access to intellectual capital

The primary reason for outsourcing a development team for your software is the access to the advisory of experts in the field and their technical assets like – methodologies and tools to carry out the development process hassle-free.     

Better focus on core competencies

Taking up a new project is a time-consuming process. It involves a lot of resources which may often lead to mismanagement and digression from the primary goals and competencies of the organization. On the contrary, executing the task to a third party allows the organization to focus on the imperative projects and scale up their business rather than wasting time on tasks that can be simply outsourced.

Risks Involved In Outsourcing Software Development Services

One of the major setbacks to developing a useful outsourced software is the lack of communication between the development team and the clients due to time-zone differences, language barriers, or cultural beliefs. Moreover, miscommunication may result in scope creep where there is a considerable gap between your expectations and the team’s deliverables. If you don’t address these factors appropriately, they can significantly pull back the project’s progress, consequently impacting its on-time delivery. 

Risk Mitigation: Maintain constant communication via online meetings to achieve transparency in goals and improve the workflow. Establish one point of contact, a project manager, for instance, to relay the alterations in the developments. Doing so will not only address issues timely but will also help get an insight into the way forward. 

Compromising Quality For Cheap Labor

It is always tempting to settle for a low development cost regardless of the budget of your business. However, it is not advisable to opt for such low-cost operations as they are mostly unreliable for the quality they deliver. On the other hand, if the vendor is an influential party and has multiple projects running concurrently, they may not prioritize your deliverables as intended. Hence, it is imperative to choose your vendor diligently to achieve the focus, quality, and commitment you require from their end.

Risk Mitigation: While zeroing in on the vendor, it is crucial to gain a proper understanding of their team strength(whether they have in-house experts or outsource coders), methodologies they use to carry out the operations, the level of communication they maintain with the clients, and most importantly – detailed documentation or a contract of the developments and support services they will cover within the finalized cost. 

Security Breach

Company data is confidential and must be held with utmost sensibility. Any leak in this intellectual property of your organization may cost an innumerable amount of damage. 

Risk Mitigation: Choose a vendor that prioritizes the security of the data over any other aspects. 

Effective Ways To Outsource Software Development / Outsourcing Strategy 

 Once you have made up your mind to get your software outsourced, it’s essential to follow the right strategy that fits your requirements. 

• Understand the kind of software you require
• What must be the outcome of the development
• Decide on your priority – reduced cost or time-saving. 
• Does the project require one resource or a complete team?
• Does it require in-house development or full outsourcing?
• Decide which outsourcing model fits your needs better – single outsourcing model or multi-outsourcing model
• Set KPIs that are realistic 
• Execute your plan

Reasons To Outsource Your Software

Most companies are indecisive when they have to choose between an in-house resource and an offshore team for software development. If you are among those, who want an answer to what they should go with, read on – 

 Lack Of Required Skills In the Region

The skillset you are getting in your region isn’t sufficient enough to carry out your demands. 

In-house resources are completely packed 

Despite having a team of experts, the organization doesn’t have enough time to delegate them to another task.

Have limited time and budget

Seeking for low investment and quick deployment of demands? You must try outsourcing your software.  

Where To Find Best Software Outsourcing Professionals?

 India is one of the most renowned countries for outsourcing your software. With a population of 1.56 billion, the country houses about 5.2 million software professionals that dedicatedly work to provide services to the US, UK, and most parts of the world. 

Its inexpensive labor cuts the development cost remarkably, and most of the support services in this country are time-zone aligned which makes the collaboration sustainable. 

Moreover, India is the second-largest English-speaking nation in the world that makes it a perfect location to outsource your business requirements without worrying about language barriers. 

So, have you made up your mind yet? Reach out to us!

Why Choose Sigma Data Systems For Outsourcing Software?

Sigma data systems has a vast client base and is leading the market with its excellent services and on-time deliveries. With a workforce of more than 400 employees and a dedicated team of trained professionals, we have a knack in software outsourcing with guaranteed quality assurance. To know more about Software Outsourcing click here.

The post A Complete Guide To Successfully Outsourcing Software Development appeared first on Sigma Data Systems.

Moreover, customization of software provides a tremendously organized workflow making the companies’ operations conducive to natural efficiency. Then be it for an online banking sector, healthcare professional, or any other business vertical. 

But, as a matter of fact, software that is customized to incorporate specific features certainly requires thorough planning and a set of protocols to follow. This entire process is termed as Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). A custom software development company that skimps on any of these life cycle steps unintentionally invites bugs in the software. 

Hence, if you are one such customer looking for a reliable vendor, it is imperative for you to have a deeper understanding of the complete process that encompasses software development. 

Read on to understand everything about SDLC. 

What is the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)?

Software development life cycle is a collation of 7 steps that helps an organization to sail hassle-free through the various stages of development. This step-by-step process aligns the project’s demands, budget, deployment time, and quality assurance to ensure the delivery of a robust product. Each of these stages is, however, dependent on the type of development model (Agile, V-model, Waterfall, RAD ) a company chooses for its operations. 

What are the 7 stages of SDLC?

Ideation and Planning

As Earl Nightingale rightly said – “Everything begins with an idea.” 

A well-thought idea becomes the cornerstone of every project and it requires a lot of brainstorming to implement that idea in an effective way. Thus, strategic planning forms the primary phase of SDLC which includes determining the availability of resources, type of methodologies to be followed, the scope of the project, development challenges, and its cost. Besides that, the planning stage also helps in anticipating the possible impediments in the project and in taking necessary measures to surmount them. 

Furthermore, during this initial phase, a software development company gleans information from their customers to recognize their expectations and problem points. This in turn helps the development company to optimize the flow of their operations.

Requirement Analysis 

Also known as feasibility analysis or defining stage, this step involves 3 stages. 

•  Requirement gathering – It is one of the most crucial steps in requirement analysis to deliver the end product exactly as expected by the customer. In this step, the business analyst garners the minutest details of the requirements from the client in the exact form they need. It is also a common practice to involve stakeholders in this step to avoid any discrepancies between the client’s expectations and the end product. These stakeholders could be software programmers or quality control engineers, etc. 

Example of requirement gathering – Suppose a user asks a company to develop software so he can view his staff’s presence, then the business analyst must ask him whether it is for calculating salary or merely for checking if the employee is on leave. Or, for both.

• Requirement analysis –  Now that the information is collected, the next step is to analyze the gathered data. Various stakeholders or people delegated for the task then sit together to brainstorm the functional and technical aspects of the project. The feasibility of the requirements put forward is then measured to eliminate any sort of ambiguity in the plan. 

Example of requirement analysis – the customer, in addition, may ask for a feature that allows him to gauge the performance of each employee and the number of hours he/she spent in the office.

• Documentation – After a complete analysis of the functionality of the project, the finalized plan is documented into a contract known as Software Requirement Specifications (SRS). This document contains the risk mitigation solutions and quality assurance plans. 

Design 

Once the SRS is prepared, software architects refer to this guide in order to prepare two types of design documents: 

• System Design Specification (SDS) – has logical design, and 
• Design Document Specification (DDS) – has a physical design.

Some of the design examples which these documents contain include –  data-flow diagrams, meta-data, pseudo-codes. SDS and DDS are then reviewed by the stake-holders for – assessing the risks, flexibility of the design, product strength, time, and budget constraints. The design that satiates all the conditions is finalized and propelled forward for the programming phase.

Coding/Implementation

The coding phase forms the foundation of the entire software development and is typically the lengthiest process. Software developers meticulously produce source code to meet the design requirements specified in SDS and DDS. It is also imperative for the programmers to align to the demands of the stakeholders. Once the design is produced and the functionality of the solution is established, the product (software) then enters the testing phase.

Testing 

After the source code is ready, the next phase of testing those codes starts. Testing is usually a cycle. When a code is prepared, the developers test the code for its functionality. Then that code goes through the testers who use various frameworks and white/black box methodologies to check the code at multiple levels. Program testing, in-house testing, module testing, user-end testing are some types of testing conducted by experts that ensure the software is bug-free and has a smooth flow. If the source code has errors, the software goes back to the development mode. Thus, testing and development work in loops. 

Deployment

The newly created software is now installed on the cloud for the client to use. At this stage, the software components are integrated to achieve a functional solution. Oftentimes, the deployment is staggered in case the software is quite complex. Once the software is deployed, it is available for the end-users and analysts. 

Operations and maintenance

Operations and maintenance is the final phase in the software development lifecycle where the end solution is at the user’s discretion. Feedback obtained from the end-users is then used to upgrade the software with enhanced features or improved performance. This stage is also used to procure new requirements from the customer. 

Software Development Models 

Software development models are a set of frameworks that aid in structuring, planning, and managing the, otherwise, tedious development process. These models not only help developers to carry out the development process strategically but makes it effortless as well.

Significance of Software Development Methodologies:

• Provides a roadmap to manage the scope creep properly
• Eliminates customary development issues
• Engages the customers by keeping them informed 
• Gives clarity and enough time for alterations 

Here is an overview of some of the most popular and reliable models that drive the complete development procedure.

Waterfall Model

It was one of the first models introduced by Winston Royce in 1970. This model is segregated into sequential stages that work as a cascade. With no overlap between any of the phases, this model proceeds with step-by-step documentation and deliveries. Furthermore, this method ensures quality assurance at each stage. The project doesn’t move further unless the previous stage is developed completely and tested thoroughly.

However, this model does have its downside. One cannot evaluate the end results which risks the efficacy of the entire project.

V-Model

V-model is an augmented waterfall model where each coding stage is synchronized with the testing phase. Each phase is verified and validated by means of test cases and test plans are generated at every stage. Due to this, bugs in code, architecture, and documented requirements are minimized which makes the V-model more robust.  

The only drawback of this model is that developmental changes and their implementation prove to be heavy on pockets.  

Iterative Model

Iterative model, as the name suggests, works in iterations. The development is carried out in parts and the changes can be incorporated within the development course. However, the model restricts any major alterations to avoid complexity and wastage of time. It is, therefore, important to proceed meticulously with the specified requirements.  

Spiral Model

This model works in a cycle and deeply assesses the risks. Hence, for this kind of a project, it is imperative to have good risk evaluation analysts. The process in this kind of model starts with defining the objectives and limitations of the software. It is followed by the creation of prototype and risk evaluation and the development continues in a spiral manner. Hence the name. 

Agile Model

Agile model is a collation of Scrum and Kanban methodologies that revolves around iterative development. This model focuses more on software development and testing to deliver the functional part quickly, which in turn, ensures quality. Additionally, in Agile development, the teams work in collaboration with each other and there is frequent interaction with the clients. Due to this constant involvement of customers with the development team, the product bugs are fixed simultaneously and it becomes easy to incorporate additional features if need be. On the flip side, due to multiple iterations and people involvement, it becomes difficult to gauge the budget of the overall project. Moreover, it also consumes a lot of time to provide the final software. 

A Comparison Of Agile Methodologies

Frequently Asked Questions About SDLC

1. Why is SDLC important?

• SDLC is important in software development to disintegrate the whole process into parts in order to make it more workable and deliver results faster.  Apart from that, SDLC provides structure to the process to make it operational and efficient. It lays the foundation for determining the project goals, eases iteration management, and simultaneously helps measure project performance. Checkpoints and consequent validations at each stage make this process all the more quality-driven.

2. What are the problems you can face in the SDLC process?

•  Project’s time management can be the biggest issue in SDLC.  An approaching deadline can often cause the phases to be overlooked.
•  Poor requirement analysis and vague goals can drag down the entire process due to failure of delivering the expected results.
• Improper allocation of resources and their responsibilities can lead to complexity and may adversely affect the productivity of the team. 
• Lack of risk assessment and problem anticipation can impede the progress, hampering the scheduled activities and discouraging the team as a whole. 

3. Which phase in SDLC is the most important?

• Planning phase is the most significant stage in the software development life cycle as it forms the foundation for the rest of the stages. It is at this stage the feasibility of the project is determined and the plan for process management is laid out. 

4. Which SDLC model is the best?

• Agile is so far the best model in SDLC because it is quite flexible to change management and combines incremental and iterative approaches. Moreover, the agile development process requires less resources compared to other stages in SDLC.

5. Which stage of the software development is the most expensive?

• Implementation is unequivocally the most expensive phase in a development cycle because of the excessive consumption of resources and time for coding and testing which leads to increased cost of production. 

Conclusion

As Mitt Romney rightly said – “Starving research and development is like eating seed corn”, when we fail to put enough work into our research and  analysis, we fail to deliver the right product.  As a result, impediments come wrapped in a parcel.  

Hence, it is imperative to make the foundation strong and follow the cycle with a holistic plan. All the stages in the SDLC are equally important and must not be neglected at any point in time to ensure high-quality product. Also, a good software company will certainly know which model will suit their clients the best. So, make your choice carefully.

Select Sigma Data Systems for Software Development

We at Sigma Data Systems, ensure high-standards of development, organization and strict adherence to quality, to all our prospective clients because we like to champion our challenges and deliver what you imagine!

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