How to Reduce Software Development Costs?
There is a smart way to do everything in life, including choosing the right software for your organization. Computerizing the different workflows in your organizations has become so important today. Manual processes do not deliver optimally today. There are plenty of loopholes with manually-driven processes and smart companies – small, medium or big – in the past realized the essence of the same soon to get their processes automated. Those organizations that did are today reaping the benefits while the ones that did not have invariably understood the importance over a period.
Installing the right software is also vital today because of the way the digital medium has evolved and is developing. From your website to social media, the online world has opened a Pandora’s box full of opportunities for business entities. Automation of work processes can help a company smoothly get integrated with digitalization while manually driven processes have no future in the world of internet.
Advantages of software programs are multi-fold. From helping optimize systems and processes to minimizing costs, there are numerous reasons why a business establishment should be looking at adopting computers and software programs.
The bottom line is that software system should be made for your business. Whether you purchase and install a custom-made software system or have a system developed from scratch, it should be meeting your business needs and requirement at the end of the day. If it is not, then it is as good as your manual system. Since computerization involves a handsome investment – it does not come cheap – it is wise for a businessman or a manager to first consider the pros and cons of ready-to-use software programs vis-à-vis the customized developed software before taking the final call.
Whether you decide to go in for the generic software system or your very own developed system, you need to remember that there is a costing that can run substantially high depending on your decision. Many large-scale companies have their own in-house IT teams that work day and night to develop and enhance internal software systems, besides managing and facilitating workflow.
But affording an internal software development team can be an expensive option; something that small and medium businesses should ideally not even consider. Even multinational companies outsource the software development tasks of critical processes and systems to specialized third-party software development companies. Reason enough to prove that when it comes to specialized work, it is better to trust people who have hands-on knowledge, qualification and skill in the relevant field.
Having agreed to the above, the cost of software development often skyrockets and goes beyond your budgets, even with minute detailing. There must be a way out to reduce the cost of software development. The good news is that there are ways to do so. All you need to do is to take advice from experts on this.
Mentioned here are five outright ways that when followed to the hilt will help you reduce software development costs drastically.
Search for leading software development companies
This is easy in modern times. No more do you need to refer to the hard-bound telephone and business directories to look up for few good software development companies. In the contemporary times of internet and social media, you simply need to search online. Search engines like Google and Bing are powerful crawlers that are run using detailed and complex algorithms. They are trusted by business communities and consumers the world over. There is no reason why you cannot. Powered by forceful computerized codes, these search engines search through millions of sites online to give you the best and the most optimized results.
So, when you look for the best software development companies, you will get a list of the top ones. You can also customize the search further to ask for software in your specific industry or domain and drill it further down to find out companies that are best in your geographic region.
The other way of using the online medium for searching the right software development companies is to read through articles and blogs by trade experts and software professionals; reading through reviews and comments online and referring to neutral third-party websites that offer honest reviews direct from customers of such companies.
The other alternate to finding leads for effective software development companies is to speak to take references from people in your industry like competitors, vendors, partners, trade associations etc.
Must brief them on the flow of your business process
There is no shortcut to success. The adage holds even for this scenario. Whoever is the software development partner that you choose to work with, you need to make sure that you and your team brief them on the exact flow of your business process. Remember the software is being developed for your business and not the other way around.
If the software development company is aware of the exact business systems, it will be able to work in the right direction. It is good to understand that the software development company is not well-versed with how your business works – it is best in its field, but it will have no clue how your business functions. SO, you and your managers need to spoon feed them with the synchronized glimpse of your work flow – step by step.
At the end of this phase, the company should have a mirror image of your business and know your business system in and out. Ensure that all the communication and exchange of information is documented in writing. This is to remove all discrepancies that can arise later from either end. Written communication is the most effective methods of maintaining clear records.
Ensure to brief the loopholes and gaps of the manual system
To give clarity to the IT company, you need to mention the failures of your existing system. Even before you start the process of finding the right developer, you need to understand and document why you need to change from the manual system to computerized system. The more exhaustively the documentation happens the better it will be in terms of clarity and precision.
The fact that the shift from a manual system to an automated system is being initiated showcases that the manual system had certain shortcomings and has been affecting the profits of your business. You need to carry out a due diligence process to better understand where the gaps exist and how the automated system is going to help resolve the same. The more diligently the work of gap finding is done, the better will be the performance of the software system.
Use the trial version before going online
The trial version is the preview of the actual product. It is a wise decision to first implement the software in one of the non-core areas of work and measure the results and the performance. The trial version is like a prototype which shows if the software has been made on the expected lines and if it is helping improve productivities as expected. It also helps understand if all the relevant processes in the area has been addressed by the developers optimally or not.
Once the trial version works fine in the chosen area, the other relevant areas of work can then be taken under the trial version. The trial version should not be an endless process. It is just meant to test if things are fine and performing as expected. There needs to be tough and stringent timelines and schedules that IT company needs to follow during implementation.
If the software requires crash course for your employees, it is not worth
This means to say that when the software development work has been outsourced to a third-party, it should not in any way denote that you need to hire qualified software professionals for the job or have your people undergo detailed software development work to be able to work with the software. Features of the software being installed need to be user-friendly. Your employees need not have any type of knowledge or experience of software coding.
If it is so, you have made the wrong choice in selecting an IT company. Ensure that your software development company does the same. The company also needs to give the basic training of the software to your employees. Beyond that no other training should be required with the right software development doing the work. It is important to remember here that training entails huge costs and can be an extra burden on your finances.
Computerizing all aspects of your business is a substantial business decision. One way of reducing costs is to go with the process in phases. You can identify one or two critical departments or workflows and start with them. But if you do it this way you need make sure that you choose a software development company that offers integrated approach to develop software systems and modules for each functionality.