Custom Software Vs. Off-The-Shelf Software: Which Is Better?

Every company despite the business type, size, and industry they cater to embrace enterprise software solutions for simplifying their businesses and achieve the goals. When thinking of leveraging a business software the biggest conflict they need to solve is whether to buy or build the solution. Probably one of the biggest controversial debates of this era is custom software vs. off-the-shelf solution, the better one! 

Let’s find the answer through this blog through comparative assessments and approaches of these solutions. 

What do you mean by custom software development?

Custom software development refers to the intensive process of designing, engineering, testing, and deploying software solutions serving the specific objectives, users, processes, and business requirements. Synonymous to tailored or bespoken software development, it concentrates on defined requirements enabling you to achieve the competitive edge by attaining the business requirements. 

What is involved in the development process of custom software?

Once the identification of your business objectives is over and it directly points to the necessity of a custom solution, now you have to decide how you are going to make it real. You have 2 options- either to employ your in-house team for building the system or to partner with a development company for the job. 

However, outsourcing the development requirement will save you a handful of money and facilitate your team to focus on the core competencies. With an outsourcing partner, you have to navigate through the following steps of software development. 

• Understanding your requirements 

• Selecting the development partner

• Plan the project 

• Leverage the solution

• Testing and quality assurance 

• Post launch maintenance

What are the pros of custom software?

• Tailor-made features for your business requirements

• Full control on functionality, scale, and customization

• Complete rights and ownership to the IP and software

• No hidden or additional licensing cost

• Seamless integration to latest technology

• Gives unique edge over competitors

• Robust security features

• Scales and adapts to meet the evolving business demands

• Full compatible to the existing ecosystem of your business

What are the cons of custom software?

• Expensive initial investment

• Inclusion of ongoing maintenance and support is not guaranteed

• Overblown of budgets and missed deadlines if not handled properly

• Needs more effort and time for development

• Needs ample time to collaborate with stakeholders

• Success relies on experience, knowledge, and reputation of the development partner

Who are the right ones to use this tailored solution?

Custom software development services are suitable for everyone with the following business scenarios:

• Need personalized customer journeys to establish and enhance the brand

• Businesses with complex nature that needs unique solution with bespoken functionality

• Need technologies to integrate with multiple software pieces for streamlined operations

• Businesses want to alleviate the additional expenses such as subscription costs and third party licenses

• Require a tailored solution that is easy to use for your employees and customers

• Businesses with dynamic workflow and undergo frequent changes

• Businesses seek replacement of legacy software with advanced IT infrastructure

• Requires adaptive software that scales with business expansion

How much does the custom solution cost?

With custom solutions, businesses will continue to reap its benefits in the long run. Considering the time, the cost is relatively affordable compared to switching from one generic software to another. It saves extra expenses including software license fees and subscription charges. 

However, the actual cost of engineering this solution depends on complexity and number of features you want, sophistication of the solution, size and geographical location of the outsourcing development partner, choice of license, custom UI/UX design, programming languages, and technology stack.  

Also other factors contribute to the overall cost such as custom integration with third-party systems or existing systems, target platform for deployment, expertise of the development team, demographic segment of product and app’s complexity, migration expense, vigorous testing for intuitiveness and reliability, and expense of continuous maintenance and support. 

What do you mean by off-the-shelf software?

Off-shelf software is the generic and standard solutions ready to market for mass users. Such applications are available with pre-loaded heaps of generic features that are non customizable for end users. Also called commercial software solutions, these one-size-fits all features cannot meet the specific business requirements. As the lack of flexibility and customization is the biggest setback, this market is swoon away by custom built solutions.   

What are the pros of off-the-shelf software?

• Easy to install and use

• Low upfront costs

• Regular feature updates

• Wide acceptance among users

• Evaluate the feedback and review before paying for it

• Access to community support

What are the cons of off-the-shelf software?

• Cannot meet all of your business requirements

• Includes additional as well as irrelevant features

• Extra costs for software customization

• Lack of several important features

• Rigid and tough for modification

• Compatibility issues

• Restricted scope to integrate with other software solutions

• Availability of similar software solutions to your competitors

Who is ideal to use off-the-shelf software?

This approach is suitable for mid-sized and small companies deeming for an affordable solution or the basic features to carry on regular operations. 

The following businesses can rely on this solution:

• Those who can manage regular operations with this generic solution

• Companies that need to adopt a software solution right away

• Small businesses with limited budgets but in desperate need of IT services

• Startups with no mass-scaling plans for now

• Companies that will not integrate commercial software with the existing system

How much does off-the-shelf software cost?

Off-the-shelf software is relatively cost-effective and possesses low risk for small businesses having limited budgets. However, if you want to go with a subscription-based model or the operational costs of providers spread amongst clients then it can be of your use. 

Depending on the vendor, determination of license fees will take place. Remember, you need to pay for irrelevant features as they are part of this package. Also you have to opt for expensive partners for integration and implementation of the software. Customization can add up the cost in the long run as pre-built features are not compatible with existing systems. 

Conclusion

Custom solutions are really efficient in every aspect over off-the-shelf software. This comparison will assist you to choose the right solution for your business. In a nutshell, for short-term operational management, a commercial solution is fine. But if you want to scale and build a brand then a tailored solution is the correct choice.

Digital Aptech is a reputed company and your ideal partner to collaborate for custom software development. They have a decade of experience in diverse industries and advanced technologies including AR, VR, analytics, AI, robot process automation and many more. Explore now!