Our Approach to Top 5 Custom Software Development Challenges

Custom software development has always been in demand as developing software solutions as per customer needs has slowly become the need of the hour. And custom software also helps build customer confidence as they are the ones to test and evaluate it. But there is an old saying – “All that glitters is not gold.”

As simple as the process looks, it has a flip side too.

It’s not easy to develop a custom software solution as per customer needs. Custom software development services providers focus on attracting customers and showcasing their ability to deliver projects per customer demands. Still, the result doesn’t even match up to half of the customer’s needs.

In today’s scenario, the IT industry is vibrant, growing steadily and opening more ways for financial vistas. However, in this competitive and challenging world, IT sector stakeholders face numerous problems when it comes to software development.
The increasing complication of process, and the unpredictability of global market landscapes, swift undesirability, reduction of both software and hardware components, and the constant up-gradation of tools and techniques in the industry, are some of them.

Top five Challenges of Custom Software Development

Being a leading custom software development services provider, Integrative knows that the above-described issues are universal and troubles all key players in the IT domain. But when it comes to developing and implementing a specific project, the organizations face various problems, and they need to overcome those issues to deliver high-quality software ultimately.

Here, we have described the top five common issues and the Integrative approach towards them. Have a look:

1- Inadequate Software Development Planning

This is a serious challenge or pitfall, to be exact, encountered by start-ups that are taking baby steps and getting their first software developed. Companies in the growing phase tend to understand the importance of meticulous phase preparation and confidently move ahead. In simple words, they bite a bigger piece, than they can chew. But this approach doesn’t work in software development, and because of this, start-ups get bogged down without reaching their first milestone.

The Solution from Integrative Systems

Before your team develops customized software, make sure they have a thorough & detailed plan of the project that needs to be developed. The roadmap should contain all the information, like scope and specification, tools, and technologies to be used, budget, the quality expected, and resources needed to fulfill the project on time. The team should also be aware of potential risks, communication channels with the client, and migration strategy.

Furthermore, the team should stick to the plan, no matter the cost, as every project needs fine-tuning and sometimes severe overhauling. A clear strategy and pre-defined vision are required to be successful in the building phase.

2- Vague or Changeable Requirements

If you think you can get a sustainable solution onboard just by getting the visible outline of customer requirements, you will fail. Also, around 75% requirements of custom software development firms reported that vague requirements from clients are one of the significant problems they face.

Moreover, under specification and over-specification both are harmful. Several requirements created for other complex projects may contradict each other. As a result, the custom software developers will need to contact the customer for every further pain point discussion, which may slow down the project progress while acting on their decision.

Another requirement-related problem is that customers’ minds frequently change, which sometimes pushes the custom software development company to change the entire code or concept. This alteration results in a waste of time and money; also, constant modifications increase errors.

The Solution from Integrative Systems

Before you start working on a project, you must be aware of what you are developing, the future use of this product, and who your audience is. So, you should start the process with meticulous business analysis and setting up a 24/7 communication line with the client, whose inputs will help you shape the software clearly.

Furthermore, prepare a well-articulated document, where all the requirements and miscellaneous functions should be mentioned cleared, and ensure that all these requirements should be aligned with expectations, and a prototype should be developed. This should be done as per the client’s needs, where UX should be your top priority.

Even after following the documented plan, you should be ready to make changes as the market fluctuates. Therefore, don’t take these challenges as obstacles, but rather consider these necessities as an opportunity to test your flexibility and resilience. These are the things that customers look upon while searching for a custom software development company.

3- Technology Stack Issues

After considering the above two issues, you must be thinking that the plan has been approved, requirements are documented, and everything seems sorted. Isn’t it? But you’re mistaken. Now comes the phase where the technical team needs to address technical challenges.

These challenges are of three types:

• The first challenge is to identify what is needed to be included in the technical stack to complete the task. Choosing the perfect technology must be assigned to the field professionals, who have deep knowledge about the tools and frameworks best fit to perform the specific job.
• The second challenge is to ensure that commissioned software integrates well with existing legacy software employed by the customer. But for that, you’ll need a professional with deep expertise.
• The third challenge is to stay up to date with the latest developments in the IT domain so that you can add value to your custom software development projects. The pace of technological changes is so high in the modern IT scenario that it’s not an easy task even for industry professionals.

However, jumping with overconfidence, hoping that you can manage it independently, can make the decision worst and bring many problems. You may end up using unreliable business tools, and a lack of skills to use modern technology may harm your projects.

Solution From Integrative Systems

As a solution to all these problems, connect with an expert custom software development services provider. Integrative Systems also provides a whole gamut of consulting and development services and can help you choose the right technology according to the latest industry standards and as per the requirements of your current project.

4- Staff Recruitment

All the solutions described above to counter the challenges of custom software development may go in vain if the team is not compatible enough to finish the job. It may happen that the team members assigned to do a particular job don’t have the expertise to finish it, or you failed to find an expert to finish it, or the existing employees left the job. You need to invest the time and efforts in training again that could have been implemented on project development. Also, your organization may be understaffed, which is a common scenario in this pandemic.

The Solution from Integrative Systems

The universal solution to solve employment issues is to outsource your custom software development project. The technological advancement in the 21st century has enabled organizations to connect with a pool of IT experts around the globe to provide high-quality software services at a reasonable cost.

A company like Integrative Systems provides a dedicated team to handle your project competitively and provide staff augmentation services so that you can hire the specialists that the in-house team lacks.

Being a perfect software development company, you must approach the outsourcing firms carefully. It means you should look for the experts they have onboard and their expertise in your domain. Also, while looking for an outsourcing firm, ensure that the company is headed by a mature technical leader who can manage teams effectively and solve conflicts quickly (if they arise).

5- Inefficient Project Management

Project management problems are one of the primary reasons various projects fails—assigning responsibilities within the team, supervising the team members, meticulously monitoring the progress of each project, and ensuring if all of them are on the same page. This is the job of experienced leaders.

A good team leader should manage quality and speed and limit multi-tasking to achieve desirable results. Otherwise, they can be bombarded with lots of new assignments, and the team won’t focus on one.
Project management challenges worsen when remote outsourcers from multiple locations and different time zones are hired to finish the job.

Some businesses employ a keen project manager who is given a free hand to act as per situation and decision-making powers to manage the project’s progress. But this strategy has some limitations. It works well only if the whole team hails from the same country or same background and has the same cultural values and similar work ethics. But if all the team members are from different time zones, then managing such a team will be a headache.

If the team and the manager are locals of the same country, you may see a particular variation. For sure, it will take some time, and you can also assume project speed from this. And, if two parties do not agree with each other while working together, then it’s time for you to look either for a new custom software development team or a new project manager.

The Solution from Integrative Systems

To avoid compatibility issues, think of end-to-end software development. Once you have selected this approach for custom software development, look for a dedicated team that can fulfil the project. (S)he should be aware of crew expertise, their psychology and know how to deal with the situation accordingly.

The in-experienced project managers working in the IT domain can’t do it without knowledge of software tools and an agile methodology that accelerate the development process. The process will allow you to gain a satisfactory outcome by using all the resources available.

Conclusion

Being a profitable business niche, software development is a practical process where you may come across various challenges. The process starts with preparing a project plan and ends with delivering a finished product to the customers. But the CEOs, CTOs, COOs, should be aware of such challenges and have a strategy to address them.

Furthermore, if you want to have such setbacks in your next project, it’s good to connect with a custom software services provider, as they’ll help you deliver high-quality software at an affordable price.

If you have any project in mind, feel free to connect with team Integrative at [email protected], and someone from our team will be here for your help.