With the COVID-19 crisis hitting hard for businesses forcing employees to telecommute, many organizations invest in IT solutions to meet their needs. Never have the IT solutions offered to SMEs been more varied and accessible than today. Whether it is accounting, marketing, or customer relationship management, there is a whole range of software solutions that allow companies of all sizes to find answers at a reasonable price without resorting to software development teams.
The software offered as a service ( Software as a Service or SaaS ) is popular because they allow one to get a solution quickly while allowing control costs depending on the company’s growth. However, the needs are sometimes so specific and acute that the solutions offered are not suitable. This is when leaders must turn to the development of custom software.
Does It Have To Be Expensive To Do Custom Development?
I immediately hear many people saying, “oh yes! “, But I believe, in fact, that the answer is” no when you know how to go about doing it step by step! The problem with custom development is that you don’t always know exactly what software you will need. Obviously, we can get a general idea of software that meets a real high-level need.
The unique thing about custom software is that it exists first in someone’s head to meet a particular need. Since it didn’t exist, no one could really try it out, test it, see what works and what doesn’t. It is, therefore, difficult to imagine the whole of the work before having created and tried it. It’s like building a house from a blueprint. We realize the result as the walls appear. However, one thing worse than not knowing is when you think you know exactly what you need. Combined with the need to see the price, we end up with a very steep bill. We imagine many features that seem essential to us, and, in many cases, we do not have a clear idea of the need we want to fill.
That is why we are setting the first objectives together, and we are starting development without further delay. At the end of this first step, customers get a working version of its software from which they can already benefit. Diceus is the one of the best company that can give you an idea of how to develop software and can also help to estimate the cost of software development.
Will I Have Everything I Need With This Budget?
This is probably the question I am asked the most often. Finally, after answering the question “How much does it cost?”» It is undoubtedly the one that comes the fastest. It’s that there’s something visceral about wanting to know everything before you start. Even for me who is currently writing this post, I have this reflex in my personal life. It reminds me of a story. A few years ago my wife and I bought a new property. As soon as we arrived, we undertook work outside the house to allow our dogs to take full advantage of the immense space available to run and have fun and also to ensure their safety and that of the neighbors. To carry out the work, we called on suppliers to have an idea of the prices and to help us in our decisions. After explaining our needs, the first question we asked was: “How much does it cost?” “
Despite all the hours spent explaining to my customers that this question is incorrect, I am asking my supplier the same question here. Obviously, his answer included several “It depends.” I quickly realized that he was giving me the same speech I give to my clients. After fully understanding all the possibilities and uncertainties, my wife hastened to ask the second question: “Will we get what we want while respecting our budget?” We all have this fear of going over budget to complete the project. This story is not unique to my wife and me. This problem is undoubtedly linked to a too broad vision of our project, whatever it is.
We try to cover everything at the same time, and this is not always necessary. Time revealed that we could have only worked part of the field first, as this is where dogs spend almost 90% of their time. The estimate would then have been much lower than our available budget, and the subsequent investments would perhaps have been allocated to different things, more pressing and better meeting our current needs. The way of looking at our project as a whole and trying to answer all the questions from the start forced us to evaluate many things and help grow the total budget.
With the experience gained, we know that it is sometimes possible to meet the business needs initially envisaged with as little as half of the planned budget.
