Update note – we recently created a 2.0 version that is a companion to this article, which is more of a deeper dive on the benefits of custom software development using agile methods. We invite you to read the newer version and provide comments and questions.

Your company is starting to hit a growth phase, you’ve nailed down a potentially scalable business model and your clientele sentiment analysis is strong. You’re building your next steps for success but you come across one large decision yet to make: do we go with straight off the shelf software or go the route of custom software development? While looking for a pre-packaged solution may seem quicker and easier, here are 5 reasons why custom software can oftentimes be a more effective avenue:

1. There’s No Such Thing as One Size Fits All

While there is some quality pre-made software available, it is highly unlikely that it will fit every need an organization has. Each organization is going to have specialized needs – some more than others – that must be addressed. Without custom software development, those needs are going to go unmet. Modifying built-in features is rarely an option with store bought software, whereas systems built just for you take all of this into account, play to your strengths and scale with your size and changing needs.

2. Realizing a Vision, Instead of Fitting in with Someone Else’s

While it relates to the one size doesn’t fit all issue, custom software development allows you to realize and further your vision, instead of being confined. Using tools that aren’t designed for you can sometimes be detrimental to productivity, efficiency and overall creativity. You may begin thinking about the things you can manage within the confines of your system, as opposed to what the possibilities could be. Custom software can encourage you to create new ways of thinking and new service provisions, as the scope can always be adapted.

3. Adaptability and Integration

In order to compete with other already available software, pre-packaged options don’t often integrate with the other systems you may be operating with. Custom software solutions can (and should) be built to accommodate these other facets of your business, instead of forcing you to troubleshoot an ad hoc solution to the problem. Custom work can be tailored towards your team’s specific skill sets and can be grown with you, as additional modules or updates can be easily built out to accommodate any changes in staffing, business direction or product variations.

4. Making Software Work for You, Instead of the Other Way Around

When you purchase or license someone else’s software, you’re inadvertently investing in their business. When you have your own custom software solution, you’re investing in your own. It gives your business another asset that’s internally owned, can be sold, licensed, or packaged as software-as-a-service (SaaS). This can open up many new doors for potential income streams. It’s also a fully brandable tool that can add a deeper sense of emersion for your employees, when they’re working with your own company’s tools all day, as opposed to someone else’s.

5. Competitive Advantage

Pre-existing software is likely going to close to or the same as what your competition is already using. When you have the exact same tools at your disposal, it’s less likely you’re going to be able to effectively differentiate yourself and progressively move up in the marketplace. With your own custom software solution at your disposal, not only do you have a proprietary platform that can meet all of your specific needs, it can also be built with the goal of outperforming specific weaknesses in what’s available to the rest of your competitors. By investing in software that is built to your specifications, you create a unique opportunity that none of your competition will have access to.

IT consulting is an effective route to approaching the intricate decision of choosing the right software and infrastructure, as we’ve discussed in one of our other articles. For more information on custom software solution, please connect with us on LinkedIn.