6 Custom Software Development Cliches You Should Avoid

Let me ask you a simple question – will you choose common and ordinary over exclusive and unique? Well the answer isn’t too difficult to guess. Everybody likes uniqueness and exclusivity.
Then why do people dread custom software development and go for off-the-shelf products or solutions most of the time?
Market research shows that majority companies shy away from custom software development due to some clichés or stigmas attached to it.
Let’s dig into few custom software development clichés and find out the truth:

• Custom Software Development is very expensive/costly/too much money

No, it is not.
Because when you buy off-the-shelf product, most of the time you are charged per user license fee and then there is deployment fee also. With custom software development, it’s just one time expense of development.
Moreover, you require special training for off-the-shelf products whereas custom software does not require formal training most of the time.
So when you compare the overall pricing of custom software development and off-the-shelf solution, the findings will be in favor of the former than the latter.

• Custom Software Development takes ages, maybe forever

No, it doesn’t.
Any off-the-shelf product or solution is generic as it is built considering different requirements of varying industries. When you deploy it in your company, you are definitely getting more than required functions. Secondly, there are some areas which are missing from it, which your organization requires for proper functioning so you have to find an alternative for those areas as well.
Now, how could custom software development take more time than off-the-shelf product as it fits organization’s needs and requirements perfectly? There is nothing more or less with it. You simple develop and implement the solution that is built exclusively for you.

• You have to know what you want

No, not necessarily.
A good custom software development company can come up with a great solution if you just share a basic idea with them.
You don’t have to exactly know the technicalities or functionalities of the solution before consulting with a software house. This is the task of custom software development company to understand your needs and propose the best possible solution for it. Your ultimate job is just to find a capable company and that’s it.

• Custom Software Development is for giant companies only

No, the size of the company has nothing to do with custom software development.
If there is a gap or need in your company that can be fulfilled by custom software development, then you should go for it without considering the size of your company.

• Off-the-shelf products and solutions are better than custom software development

Off-the-shelf products have more than required functions and some require functionality is missing as well while custom software perfectly complements your business need.
In addition, off-the-shelf solutions do not consider your industry or your unique business environment whereas custom software is based on these two factors – your industry and business environment.
The arguments here can keep on growing in favor of custom software development.

• Custom software has more bugs than off-the-shelf products

Custom software has bugs, yes, true. But it has not more bugs than off-the-shelf products.
Bugs are part of any software and that’s why you keep receiving updates for off-the-shelf products. With custom software development, all the issues are resolved as they appear in the development phase. And even after deployment, the responsible software house provides support for any issues that may appear in the software.
The whole point of this debate is not to convince you to choose custom software development all the time. Instead, consider custom software development as a viable option, where you deem it worthy, without being influenced by the clichés attached to it.