Custom Software Development

Are software suites a panacea for rapid IT development or not? In other words, should you continue with custom development using a pure programming language such as C# and Java or move into “Power” mode as Microsoft suggests with its Power BI & Power Apps suite of development tools, and similarly Salesforce with Appex? These business solutions are sometimes made of a set of softwares, or they were born by the development of a new custom application that has grown rapidly followed by a sprawling development such as Salesforce which today covers all business needs surrounding CRM, and more, if you consider MuleSoft. These software solutions are powerful, and they claim to greatly accelerate the software development process!

At Analystik, we have always considered it a best business practice to put your Business Intelligence into your own proprietary code; and thus, remain independent from any external control over this precious commodity. More than a development model or a working method, it is our business philosophy!

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Generally, according to managers, software development projects are all urgent, but the reality is that some are more urgent than others!

Typically, in agile mode, we talk about 3-week sprints following sprint 0 which is the initial “definition” sprint. However, we are encountering more and more situations where the client requires Agile+++ development or, if you prefer, projects that require accelerated Agile development… very accelerated!

We’re talking about one, two or three very short sprints (one or two weeks maximum) with well-defined deliverables and expectations.

Are the demands unrealistic?  Was the planning deficient? That’s another story… One thing is certain: in Agile+++ mode, there is no room for “red tape”, we want competent resources that collaborate with each other and are motivated to deliver!

And how does all this get executed?  So, let’s start at the beginning.

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Hiring internal IT resources or hire an external firm: the dilemma of every IT Project and a key decision for the Project Manager.

It is true, a new IT Project always calls for a fundamental decision from the Project Manager: should I hire internal IT resources or hire an external firm?

Every IT Project is first and foremost a Management and Logistics challenge. In the sense that each IT project brings its own challenges, its own customer requirements and, at the same time, its own needs in terms of expertise and resources.

The Project Manager must first clearly define the nature of the IT development project to match it with the expertise of his Development team.

The Challenge of IT Resources Scarcity at the Dawn of the 21st Century

The magnitude of the Software Development Project Management and Logistics challenge should not be underestimated. In fact, many companies have been involuntarily slowing down their growth in recent years due to bottlenecks in their internal processes, mainly because of resource scarcity.

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Eliminating paper-based business processes from your company may be one of the best software development projects to undertake in times of pandemic!  Have you thought about it?

We have written in previous posts that Digital Transformation is taking place on two main poles or towards two main goals, if you prefer:

• Improvement of Customer Experience (in real time)
• Improved Product Development (in real-time)

From these two main poles a large number of Communication, Marketing & Sales and Development projects and activities are derived in organizations, but unfortunately, many of these projects and activities still rely on paper business process.

Paper-based Business Processes in Customer Experience

Being able to communicate in real time and at any time with Customers allows you to ensure Customer / Consumer Satisfaction and also, to benefit from invaluable Customer Intelligence.

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Two facts play against custom software development:

• The market is full of comprehensive software solutions such as Oracle, SAP, IBM, Salesforce, etc.
• Horror stories are on the side of major software development projects

Considering these facts, over the years companies have chosen to install commercial software solutions (CRM, ERP, accounting software, loan management system, etc.) instead of custom software development.  And in many cases, they replaced a “home” application whose technology was obsolete.

Of course, a lot of time and effort has gone into tailoring these business solutions to “your” reality to turn into customized solutions that really meet your needs. If you encounter one of the two situations below, rest assured, you are not the only one in this situation:

• You have different systems that do not talk to each other
• You still have specific business needs that are not met by your commercial software solutions

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Service Oriented Development offers all the benefits of custom software development without the risks and without the costs of a Commercial Software; this is what we intend to address in this sequel to the previous post.

We explained in the previous post that while Custom Software Development constitutes a significant risk in terms of sustainability of services and development costs; commercial software often entails huge pre-installation adaptation costs and recurring license fees.

Thus, we explained to have taken another path a few years ago because it seemed to offer the best of both worlds for both the client and the developer; service-oriented development based on three principles:

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That’s right, Analystik celebrates its birthday today, that’s 30 years old… not bad, hey?

And still today, Analystik is perfectly aligned with its original mission, that is Custom Software Development but God knows how different we now go about it, in the execution…

When first starting we went from developing self-sustained and task-oriented Dos and Windows applications to Software Suites automating most or all critical business process of organizations to land today into Web and Mobile Web solutions communicating information in real time with systems within organizations.

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Of course there were horror stories with the cost of custom software development before the New Millennium, and there will be others. But since the New Millennium though, the crown of horror stories often goes to Commercial Softwares under license like Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, etc., to which many large corporations and Governments have given humongous mandates (often outrageous purchase orders).

Evidently, the vast majority of commercial softwares’ exaggerated costs and deadline overruns come from integration and personalization; services normally de facto included within the cost of custom software development mandates but which we don’t always measure accurately the impact when buying a commercial software… since everybody else has purchased it, right!

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The New Millennium has witnessed the splendid triumph of « best practices » and « quality control » concepts, in almost all fields of activities. And most of all, best pratices and quality control have come to define the true nature of Custom Software Development in particular and IT in general, Communications and Information Technologies, which have accelerated their broadcasting.

2000 à 2010 – reminder

• Web democratization, as well as Web design and programming jobs
• Communications, Sharing & Implementation of Best Practices
• Democratization of « best practices » concept in custom software development

Who defines the concept of best practices, broadcast it and why?

Expert firms such as Gartner, Forrester, KPMG, Deloitte, etc., that counsel large corporations and assess the evolution of standards within different industries to take their pulse, which is quite useful for investors and shareholders as well as for managers. It helps decision-makers to weigh their enterprise against their industries and to get to know the necessary means to keep the pace with the competition.

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To better circumcise this series of articles aiming at enlightening the myths of Custom Software Development vs Commercial Software purchase and integration, we thought it would be useful to revisit the evolution of software development.

Myths of Custom Software Development

Let’s remind us that before the turn of the New Millennium, when a company wanted to automate a process, it would have to either use internal resources or an external firm to develop its application.

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