Deployment & Maintenance of Bespoke Software
If you’ve made the decision to use software specifically designed for your business as opposed to an ‘off the shelf’ solution, then you’ve made a very sound and forward-thinking choice.
Bespoke software designed by experts gives you the ability to conduct your business in the most cost effective and productive way possible, so helping you meet the challenges of today’s fast changing business environments.
The next step is ensuring the best possible deployment and maintenance of bespoke software in your business.
Finding the right professional software development expertise
Unless you’re a larger corporation the chances are you may not have software developers on your actual staff, so like many others seeking the best solution in the deployment and maintenance of bespoke software, you’ll seek out professionals who provide bespoke software development services.
Your software development partner will design software based on your specified requirements and put in place an effective maintenance and support package to ensure your needs are met far into the future. Partnering up with an experienced software development company is like having your own software development team – and you have the reassurance of knowing they can react quickly to your changing needs with software updates, maintenance and all redesigns causing minimum disruption.
Contrast this with using ‘off the shelf’ packages where you may have to both compromise with the limitations imposed with a one size fits all solution, wait for maintenance updates and face the inevitable disruption when you eventually change systems to an alternative package.
How bespoke software is deployed
Bespoke software can be designed to create databases, mobile apps and other packages – such as for example a customer or staff portal – from the ground up, or to adapt and combine your existing software to create a customised solution through systems integration.
For example, with systems integration your existing databases that perhaps aren’t communicating with each other can be adapted to work seamlessly together to cut out time wasting activities, such as re-inputting the same data multiple times, and add features that would make the database more useful to you.
Your software development partner listens carefully to what your requirements are and assesses your existing set up before even starting to design any type of new software.
Using cloud-based solutions
Much software is based in the cloud as opposed to being stored locally on PCs and physical servers, and this makes for a flexible and very cost-effective solution.
- Flexible – because enhancements, patches, updates and running changes can be made quickly and seamlessly by your software development partner without disruptive outages.
- Cost effective – because in the longer term having your own custom designed software that can be adapted quickly and in a non-invasive fashion means less downtime than using off the shelf packages that may require full replacement. Bespoke software also means your business can react fast to changes in your needs and your marketplace.
FAQs
What sort of maintenance will we require?
Your software development partner should be offering a full deployment and maintenance of software integrated service for you to get the best out of using customised software.
Deployment – is ensuring the right software solutions are designed and implemented to ‘live’ based on your requirements.
Maintenance – covers support and the ongoing monitoring of your software. Ensuring it’s up to date with the latest patches and enhancements so that it’s in premium health and performs as efficiently and as securely as possible.
Your maintenance and support agreement could also include a regular review or audit to ensure your software is continuing to meet your business needs.
What happens if our business needs change?
A key benefit, and an integral part of the deployment and maintenance of bespoke software developed by specialists, is the ability of your software to be adapted and refined to meet changing requirements.
Not only can this be done in a ‘hand in glove’ fashion so changes are implemented to precisely meet your new needs, but it can be achieved quickly so your business can respond fast: no waiting months for an update to an off the shelf package, or the disruption of having to start again with an all-new software solution.
How do we budget for the deployment and maintenance of bespoke software?
Your software development partner can appraise you of the various support and maintenance pricing options based on a solution that fits your exact requirements.
Naturally they’ll take your budget into account, and try to provide what you need within that framework: you can usually choose based on certain support options in terms of time to respond, scope and other parameters.
When considering cost though, bear in mind the longer-term benefits and cost effectiveness of a bespoke software solution in terms of increased productivity, ability to meet your likely changing future needs and minimal disruption.