Custom Software Products’ Most Overlooked Features
The custom software development industry, both in Philadelphia and globally, creates tailored solutions to address specific customer challenges. These software solutions offer numerous benefits and advantages; nevertheless, there are instances when they may fall short of meeting customer needs.
This usually happens when there is no proper communication between the agency that is creating that custom software and the client. This causes the agency to overlook some important features of the custom software product.
Due to this lack of communication and failure from the client’s side to communicate their specific needs, the developer might get engrossed in the technical aspects of the product and fail to focus on some important features. In addition to that, the customer may be too engrossed in the end goal and may not think about how the product will fit into their current infrastructure.
When all these factors are combined, there might be a compromise on the quality of the end product, resulting in it not meeting the expected standards. Certain critical features, often overlooked by developers, are key considerations that every tech consultant recommends when creating custom software products. Correctly addressing these features can be a game-changer, particularly for start-ups. This article will delve into some of these crucial aspects.
Below are the most overlooked features during custom software development.
Customization
When it comes to making custom software products for businesses, it is important to understand that every business is different and has different goals. What works for one business may not work for another, so it is important to lay out what you need from the product. Failing to customize the product based on the customer’s needs and requirements is one of the biggest mistakes that will affect the quality of the end product.
Multiple platforms or Multiple environments
This is another feature that is most commonly overlooked with custom software products. This is usually because businesses need support for one operating system. The custom product may however fail to be compatible with the client’s server and fail to run on multiple platforms and multiple environments.
Security or scalability
Another important feature that is often overlooked is the security or scalability of the product. Security and scalability are extremely important for any business. However, it takes a lot of time and dedication to develop a custom software product with these features and hence this feature is often overlooked by developers.
Vendor-customer relationship
The vendor-customer relationship is another commonly overlooked feature of the custom software product. This is mostly because customers assume that custom software product development companies will help them to implement their product without putting in extra cost or effort. However, it does not work that way as this is outside of the original work scope. Do make sure that your scope of work is clearly defined before you start any project.
Training or documentation
Another overlooked feature is training or documentation. It is not fair for companies to assume that all their employees will magically know how to use the new software product without any training. Companies need to spend that extra money to provide the right training to the employees so that they can use the software as intended.
Data migration
With different business organizations, the data structures are different. This needs to be kept in mind when developing the custom software product. If ignored, data migration becomes another important overlooked feature of custom software products that can cause major hassles later on.
Infrastructure
Proper infrastructure is important to have for a custom software product to work. This is important for version control, change management and maintenance for a lifetime. Failing to have this can really affect the quality of the infrastructure, leading to many problems later.
Included maintenance
Focusing on the maintenance of the product after development is an important feature that is often overlooked by clients. Without maintenance, you might end up with a product that offers a substandard performance after a while of using it. Proper maintenance can ensure that small issues that crop up over time can be weeded out before they become a nuisance.
In Summary For Custom Software Products’ Most Overlooked Features
The blog discusses often neglected features in custom software development, emphasizing communication gaps between developers and clients. Overlooking customization, compatibility across multiple platforms, security, vendor-customer relationships, training/documentation, data migration, infrastructure, and post-development maintenance can compromise the end product’s quality and should be avoided while creating successful software. Tech consultants stress the importance of addressing these aspects, particularly for startups.
