The importance of enterprise software for modern businesses cannot be overemphasized. Whether for sending invoices, data processing, managing customer information, communicating with customers and suppliers, or preparing reports, business software plays a vital role in ensuring business efficiency.

Despite a decline in global IT spending due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and its resultant global economic recession, the global enterprise software market is anticipated to reach $426 billion in 2020. This demonstrates the increased dependence of businesses and consumers on software technology.

As business operations grow and become complicated, your digital strategy must evolve along with it to ensure a highly responsive business environment. This necessitates the upgrade of your existing software and/or development of new IT solutions.

There are different methodologies employed when developing a software application. Custom software development is one of the most reliable ways of developing, updating, and maintaining software at an advanced level.

What is custom software?

Generic or off-the-shelf software solutions are mass-produced by major software vendors. They come with pre-set features and capabilities. When you purchase such software, you’re bound by its built-in functionalities and conditions of usage as determined by its developer.

Custom software is the exact opposite of generic software. Also known as bespoke software, these IT solutions are developed for a specific client. They are tailor-made to meet the unique specifications of a business.

Customized software is equipped with functionalities that serve your business needs and processes with accuracy. Since the software closely reflects your operations and communicates in your language, the software is easier to learn. Custom IT solutions are intended for the exclusive use of the customer; hence you have a unique solution.

How is custom software developed?

Software developers follow different development models like the Waterfall, Spiral, and Agile models. While each process model follows a unique approach, they share the same basic software development steps or life cycle. Software development companies follow this workflow to deliver high-quality solutions efficiently.

Here are the basic steps of the custom software development process.

Planning

This stage involves brainstorming and analyzing the present and future technology needs of the client. It is important to fully understand the customer’s exact requirements. The developers gather information about what issues the client wants to solve. Software developers at Entrance Consulting emphasized the importance of communication between developers, the client, and the end-users at this stage of app development.

Feasibility Study

Once the details of the project are defined, the developers will then evaluate the feasibility of the project. The development team prepares a workflow that divides the project into small tasks that are divided among developers, project managers, designers, and testers. They will then evaluate the assigned sub-project and create specifications such as the time, requirements, cost, etc.

Software Design

Perhaps the most important phase in the software development life cycle, software design lays the foundation of the product. The product design involves database and data structure design. Different companies follow their specific workflows and strategies in designing an application. Creativity and clarity are essential to good software design.

Programming

Another critical phase of the software development process, this stage is the actual execution or coding of the software design. This is a tedious process that requires a lot of hands and brains. As mentioned above, the whole project is assigned to separate teams of programmers. Each coder works separately on the sub-task assigned to them.

Implementation and Integration

Typically, the software runs on numerous smaller programs that are coded separately. For these sub-programs to work smoothly, it requires coordinated implementation and step-by-step integration. At this software development phase, the development team ensures the compatibility of the software product with various platforms and systems. Glitches and bugs are expected and addressed by testers.

Software Testing

Once the codes are integrated, the product software will then be tested. In this stage, testers and analysts ensure the quality and performance of the software. The software is subjected to numerous test cases by quality analysts and debugging by testers. After the application is guaranteed error-free, it will be subjected for deployment and further

Installation and Maintenance

Finally, the product software is submitted to the client for testing on their devices or system. The development team gets feedback from the client and users. In some cases, a beta program is released and the end-users are requested to evaluate the application. If there are any revisions or modifications, the developers initiate the maintenance process.

Conclusion

These are the basic phases of software development. The majority of software developers follow this workflow regardless of the nature, size, and complexity of the software. However, different approaches and strategies can be taken depending on the customer’s and project’s requirements.

The tedious custom software development process is the reason why it costs that much and takes a long time. The development team ensures that the application is carefully developed and designed, both externally and internally. It ensures that all aspects of your technology needs are met. This guarantees that the software is not only error-free but also future-proof.