Commercial Vs. Custom Software Development: Exploring How Custom Software Development Works Wonders For Your Business
As you plan to build a software solution for your business, it is important to select the right path for the end users. While driving digitization is inevitable in 2023, make sure you implement the right software solutions for your business, employees, and customers.
There are two major types of software you can build for your organization – commercial and custom. The choice you make between these two alternatives defines the fate of your digital infrastructure. Over time, businesses have switched from commercial to custom software development to get more traction, earn more revenue, and have more control over the software.
Before looking into commercial vs. custom software development, let us briefly understand the two alternatives you can choose from.
What Is Commercial Software?
Commercial software is any software solution built for widespread distribution and mass implementation. It is not built for a specific user or business. Its functionality is generic and is often sold off the shelf.
From operating systems like Windows and Apple OS to collaborative platforms like Microsoft Office 365 and Adobe Acrobat, commercial software solutions are built for a wider range of users who can purchase and slightly configure them according to their needs.
So, what is custom software development?
What Is Custom Software Development?
As the name suggests, custom software development is the process of building a software solution according to the needs of a specific user or business. Working with a custom software development company helps you design and develop a software solution that is unique for your business.
A custom software solution contains tools and functionalities designed just for your business, its employees, and/or its customers. It does not have a universal appeal and cannot be purchased off the shelf.
Why Should You Choose Custom Software Development Over Commercial Software?
Let’s now get into commercial vs. custom software development and understand why you should build custom software for your business:
Greater Control And Flexibility
Once you purchase a commercial application, you won’t be able to make many changes to its functionality, design, and tools. This is because you do not have its source code with you. Commercial software solutions are built by dedicated developers and sold to a plethora of users worldwide.
On the other hand, custom software development provides you with complete control over your application. It allows you to build your application from scratch. Having your app’s source code with you lets you make necessary changes without putting in unnecessary effort and money. Custom software development makes it easy to make alterations and upgrades to your applications, which is not always the case with commercial software.
A Unique Business Identity
One of the biggest benefits custom software development has over commercial software is that it lets you create a unique business identity. Implementing Microsoft Office 365 for your team will not help you create a separate brand identity. On the other hand, when you create your own application and let your audience know about it, it helps you build your brand.
A custom software solution also makes your brand more identifiable in the market due to the unique tools and features of your application.
Better Security
You cannot compromise the security of your business data, especially if you collect sensitive information from your customers, such as health records, financial details, etc. Commercial software solutions often suffer from security issues as they are easier for hackers to break into. This is where their accessibility backfires.
Building a custom software application helps you set your own security standards and protocols. It helps you decide on security measures depending on the kind of security you are looking for, such as setting up spam filters, working on intrusion detection, etc.
Custom software development also helps you set up secure inbound traffic filtering firewalls to detect potential threats and block unauthorized access. This makes your software solution and your valuable business data safe.
High Scalability
Commercial software products offer limited scalability to users. In most cases, you need to subscribe to a higher edition to scale up your processes. However, custom software development company provides you with better scalability by letting you scale your solutions up and down according to specific circumstances.
As you have complete control over your software, you can choose to expand its functionality to accommodate more traffic/data or shrink it to limit its capacity. A custom software solution gives you more scalability along with flexibility, preparing you for what the future has in store!
The Final Word
These were some of the many reasons why custom software development works wonders for your business. It is always advisable to choose a custom software solution over a commercial off-the-shelf software if you want to build your brand. Custom software development comes with greater authority, control, and security for your business.