Custom Software Development

The demand for custom software development has increased as accuracy and business optimization have become the key factors in sustaining growth. With that, this is one of the most frequent questions asked by companies or business owners who are looking to develop custom software for their business or start-up — “What is the cost of custom software development?” Whether it is your growing business or you have decided to start your organization and want to scale your business better, reach more markets and increase your ROI, a software app is essential. The software landscape is rising and every modern business is wanting to create a better customer experience, to create something unique and innovative and with technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Internet of things and AR/VR, enterprises are creating robust software projects. Although all custom software projects have different execution or development processes. And while there is no definite answer to what the actual cost is or a one-fit formula to know the precise cost of custom software development, we can help you determine the estimated costs of the overall development, considering the top factors which affect the development cycle and its cost.

A custom software is a solution developed specially developed for a specific organization or company, in accordance to their business requirements, which is in contrast with other broadly used mass-market applications i.e., it is different from the usual off-the-shelf solutions like Microsoft Office, which caters to a generalized user-base. Some people often get confused between a custom software and customized development. But customized development is different as it’s optimizing the existing app according to user’s or company’s requirements and new expectations. Whereas, custom software is a user-specific product, tailored in line with your business requirements like a banking desktop app or ERP software for a company.

A custom software development process involved requirement analysis, code building, software testing, and deployment. It offers a personalized experience for users while lowering the development cost and increasing ROI. Moreover, the scalability of a custom software is better than a readily built software.

There are several things which go into a mix of total cost custom software development. Regardless of the level of expertise of the software developers you hire and the location, there are various other key factors which will determine the eventual cost of your custom software. To get clarity of that cost, you must know what impacts the development cost. In this section, we will go through a list of critical considerations that impact your project lifestyle.

Deployment Platform

Software development prices may vary according to the deployment platform you choose for your software because each platform has its own specifications. If your app is for mobile devices, then it depends upon operating systems and since each one has a different number of devices that the app will be deployed for, the cost will differ accordingly. For example, Android is the most popular venue in the market as it’s captured other devices markets, apart from mobiles, like laptops, wearables, streaming tools, smart appliances etc. But it’s a massive platform and if you choose it, the scalability will escalate and you need a robust structure to have efficient performance, which will require more development efforts.

Other platforms include iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux, Unix and Web. If you deploy a software in different native environments, the development team will increase and will cost you higher than a single dedicated team. To avoid that, you can choose a cross-platform development process. Furthermore, the tools used for the deployment of your software will also affect the cost.

Size of the Software & its User Base

The size of the software and its user base affect the cost of development. Which means, its magnitude i.e., the number of modules/pages/screens play a role in determining the costs as well. The more the number of modules or screens there are, the more work will the software require and the longer will it take to develop the software.

The size of the software user base of the solution refers to the number of end-users for that particular software. The size and user base of the software are the important factors of the development costs because the software with a large user base and a greater number of screens or modules will need to be optimized and tested more extensively. That will make the whole development and testing process more expensive, leading to the increased overall cost of the software.

Complexity of Software

The complexity of the software plays a significant role in determining the cost of development. It basically refers to how complicated the logic behind your software is. If the product has complicated logic, it means the development, testing and deployment will be more challenging. Take a look at these things which can complicate the logic –

o The complexity of the features of the software.

o Technological complexity.

o The complexity of software’s design.

If the software requires a complicated set of features or needs to be conditioned according to the complicated business rules, or if the development cannot be completed with the traditional technologies, the process becomes more time consuming and costs more. Take s stock trading software for instance. It requires complex real-time functionalities which take more time and effort.

The development complexity is determined by the development team, after discussing the requirements with the client. Usually, the complexity level is categorized between basic, medium and high but there are some set criteria for each category and the team evaluates it in terms of hours i.e., the time it takes to develop.

Development Approach

The project’s plan includes modules which help you get a clear idea of the execution strategy and the budget, be it choosing a framework or deciding on a development approach. After that, you need the right development approach that’s fast, reliable and has fewer errors. The best approach to follow is agile development, which involves an iterative process. Most of the organizations choose agile development processes that have their tasks distributed across sprints to address feedback from stakeholders and developers.