Ever wondered why bespoke software development has become such a popular B2B service? In essence, creating your bespoke software product puts you and your business needs behind the steering wheel by creating attributes such as compatibility across multiple platforms and browsers, usability, and scalability. You decide whether you need a feature or a new implementation, and your software development team builds your product accordingly! However, in order to achieve high performance, security, and software usability, your software vendor team will require a thorough understanding of the business, its objectives, and specific needs.
Working in a bespoke software development company that has partnered with unicorn companies, established businesses, and startups in key areas such as healthcare, transportation, and finance, I’ve learned the value of using a reliable software development methodology. Recently, Agile methodologies such as Scrum and Kanban are among the most widely spread and trusted ways to build software products. Why is that, you would ask? The most obvious reason is that the world around us is in a constant dynamic state, so bespoke software development needs to adjust and readapt its procedures. Many businesses aren’t sure what their future software product should do or how should they organize their project management. Agile software development steps in to offer iterative product development and seamless communication from start to finish.
Here is how exactly custom development companies build your software product in more detail:
Information Gathering
In our digital society, information gathering and knowledge have become two of the most important business assets. Each respectable bespoke software development company needs to follow established step-by-step frameworks that ensure that the high-quality standards of the future software product are always guaranteed. As a rule of thumb, before each new software product is ready to be “born”, the software development team needs to have an idea of the business requirements beforehand.
So, to lay strong foundations for your future software product, it’s key that your software developers set aside some time for information gathering. This is the first step of a more layered process called software development life cycle, or shortly SDLC. Many times, this step is performed by Business Analysts or Senior team members with more experience that can help clients and stakeholders with product definitions. In this early project stage, it is necessary to define the project scope, plan a feasibility study, and discuss technical requirements and risk minimization approaches.
Prototyping and Software Design
After the initial requirements have been discussed and documented in an SRS (Software Requirement Document), it’s time for your bespoke software development company to outline the software product design and create an initial prototype. Among other things, here is the moment to decide on some vital technical specifications such as software architecture, user interface design, necessary third-party integrations, programming stacks, etc., and to create a DDS (Design Document Specification).
Besides, you also need to discuss the security, scalability, and cross-platform compatibility of your future software application. Afterward, prototyping came come into play, and frontend designers can experiment with various UI/UX prototyping tools. If done well, a good software prototype should cover how the application would work and how it would look to end-users. Needless to say that it’s much easier and less expensive to change some software concepts during prototyping than during the actual software development phase. Prototyping also serves as a POC (Proof of Concept) and gives you a secure base for further coding.
Bespoke Software Development
When you work with a bespoke software development company, each software feature is tailor-made according to your custom business requirements, so it usually takes some time (weeks or months) before the actual development can start. For instance, if your vendor partners follow Agile software development, the software development team will be in constant communication with your in-house project team. The fact that this methodology’s continuous delivery of functional software created in rapid iterations requires back-and-forth discussions with the clients.
What usually happens in Scrum, for example, is that the software development team gets assigned certain roles and responsibilities. First, we have one (or more) Product Owner responsible for maximizing the product’s business value. Then, we have a Scrum Master, who is accountable for making sure the team stays on track and follows the Scrum guide’s best practices. Most importantly, each Scrum team relies on multiple developers that code the unique software feature, do the necessary integrations and deliver fully-working pieces of the software after each iteration (usually two weeks). Another common practice is to create an MVP, or Minimum Viable Product, to test the functionality of features.
Software Testing
Through software testing, bespoke software development companies obtain valuable information and insights about the state of the system, its overall quality, and performance. For example, when deciding whether a custom software product is ready to be launched on the market, the stakeholders need to know the software condition such as functionalities, security guidelines, etc. This includes aspects such as the conformity of the software product with the initial business requirements, user-friendliness, and compliance with the applicable regulations.
Software testing is a key phase of bespoke software development as it helps the software development team verify if the system meets all necessary requirements, including function, performance, reliability, and safety. In addition, software testing helps improve the final quality of the product. Although finding bugs is one of the purposes of software testing, it’s not its sole purpose of it. It is important that software testing procedures verify and validate that the product meets the previously arranged goals and specifications.
Technical Maintenance and Support
Once bespoke software development companies are ready with the software product delivery, the system will need technical maintenance and support to function properly. After deployment, your software will need to be regularly updated, patched, and inspected for bugs in order to continue performing how you wish. Other possible scenarios for software maintenance include changing system requirements over time, boosting current system efficiency, enhancing existing components, and reducing undesired side effects or speed optimizations.
In general, there are four types of technical maintenance: corrective (solves bugs), adaptive (modifying the system), preventive (reverse engineering), and perfective (continuous improvement). If you work with a bespoke software development company and have a dedicated software team, these guys are the best to do the technical maintenance and support. They’ve developed the entire software application and know the specifications and how to prevent potential risks.
Author Biography: Aleksandrina Vasileva
Aleksandrina is a Content Creator at Dreamix, a custom software development company, and is keen on innovative technological solutions with a positive impact on our world. Her teaching background mixed with her interest in psychology drives her to share knowledge. She is an avid reader and enthusiastic blogger, always looking for the next inspiration.
