Custom Business Software: Myth vs. Fact
About 15 years ago, my mother was given a competency test at her job to see what she knew about computers. After taking it she asked me a few questions such as, what is this thing called?
She honestly had no idea what a "mouse" was. I couldn't help but giggle a little on the inside, but software to this day is still a relatively new thing. Most people these days now know what a mouse is, but plenty of misconceptions still exist on the business front. Here's a few common myths we tend to see from time to time.
Myth: A company website is all we need for online presence
Fact: Finding a business website without proper SEO (Search engine optimization) is like trying to find a needle in a barn full of haystacks. Search engines (such as Google and Bing) act as modern day yellow pages. Getting on the first page of results will get you noticed before your competition.
Myth: A general idea is good enough to begin custom business software
Fact: Imagine a friend hands you a wad of cash and asks you to go buy a car for himself. No extra details, just make it happen! Sounds kind of fun actually, but what happens when you pull up in a nice new SUV and your friend looks disgruntled because he wanted a Mustang Convertible? The SUV is already purchased. Unless your friend is willing to accept the SUV he's going to be losing some money. It's actually even worst when it comes to custom software development. The dealer can easily make the trade (at a cost), but changes to custom software will require additional time and money.
Myth: Throwing more software developers on a project will make it go faster
Fact: In some cases this could be true when a project is severely understaffed. However, adding additional developers will drain existing resources to ramp up the new staff. A short term loss for (hopefully) a long term gain. Some software projects are also hard to split up between multiple developers. Custom software development very well might cost more and take more time when there's "too many cooks in the kitchen."
Fact: If you can find off-the-shelf software that fits everything you're looking for than go for it! If not, are you willing to make some sacrifices? Is there a loss of productivity in using something off-the-shelf? If so you'll want to calculate out those costs to help determine what the ROI custom software development will bring.
Feel free to contact us with any questions!
