Considerations when investing in custom software development
Most Colombian companies are in a process of digital transformation, this implies the modernization of information systems and business processes with the aim of increasing their productivity, reducing costs and supporting the controlled growth of organizations.
Investing in a custom development is not a decision that is made quickly since different variables must be considered such as costs, benefits, scalability, adaptation of the new technology and that is why we have brought from our experience what should be considered for an investment in technology based on custom software development.
Software growth and scalability.
The business processes of each organization have unique characteristics, as their activities grow they become increasingly complex and represent more work to obtain, analyze and manage relevant information for the proper functioning of their operation. Inflexible packaged software solutions are not enough for the unique needs of the organization, in this case it is convenient to look for a customized software development solution that helps to systematize business processes.
The investment decision in custom development should not simply be based on an immediate solution to the current operation, it must take into account a long-term vision that allows us to see what the business will be like on a time scale and the growth it will have. at the level of users, transactions and operations to be carried out, in this way software development can be adapted to future growth without affecting system performance. Therefore, it is important from the conception of the project to evaluate the design and development of the system easily adapted to the expected growth of the organization..
- They bought applications for exclusive use 85,4%
- They rented apps 31,9%
- Download applications for free 20,7%
- Developed or designed applications 10,8%
Percentage of companies that used computer applications or programs according to the method of obtaining it.
Source: DANE – EAM Note 1: The calculation base is the total number of companies that supplied some ICT good (7,773). Note 2: Companies can have several types of obtaining applications; that is, the answers are not exclusive.
“The investment decision in custom development should not simply be based on an immediate solution to the current operation, it must take into account a long-term vision”
Appropriation of knowledge.
Traditionally in the industrial era, fixed assets were the basis of the success and value of a company, however if we look at current companies such as UBER or AIRBNB, their book value is lower than their value reflected by other variables built on what they know how to do. and not on what they produce, where their intangible assets are made up of patents, organizational capabilities and their ability to take advantage of the information that is at their disposal. Currently the competitive advantages are developed on how the individual and collective learning of the organization is managed, when thinking about custom development allows the experience of the organization and the business processes to be integrated in a systemic way allowing a controlled administration of the information, turning it into valuable knowledge in short periods of time without an additional effort of physical and technological resources.
Integration and interoperability with new technologies.
When proposing a custom development, we cannot forget how it is going to be integrated with other information systems that the company has, otherwise we would be manually replicating information between the information systems, which causes an overwork, high error rates. humans and would completely lose the principle of data integration into relevant information such as reports, analysis, reports, among others.
Adaptation strategy
Technology alone is not the solution, it is important that it involves three important axes from the conception of the project such as people, processes and organizational culture, this will allow taking into account the important factors of the business and the vision of the project leaders allowing a successful adaptation of new technologies.
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Towards an agile methodology
Towards an agile methodology
Nowadays projects are defined from the beginning with a tentative time for delivery, time in which the client / stakeholder in it only reports the result months after its preparation and delivery; In this fact, there is a tendency to fall into “adjustments” that involve taking a time greater or equal to the development in the worst case and shows a high expectation of the client.
All these factors lead to a product at the end of its development cycle ending up with different expectations from the client and it is in this case where it becomes clear what was really expected of it; Having said this, there is a more “dynamic” way where the client is showing the evolution of their product and where doubts are cleared during the development cycle: using a methodology such as Scrum.
Customer and team activity planning diagram comparing development deliverables and customer reception
Why Agile Methodology?
An agile methodology comprises a more dynamic and evolutionary development comprised in iterations or what is called partial delivery of the product before finalization. An iteration or cycle is also called a Sprint.
“By using an agile methodology such as Scrum, the client interacts with the deliveries and shows partial results of the final product”
This means that in a Sprint the product is developed, once it is finished it is delivered to the customer; When Sprint 1 starts, the product is delivered to the customer while in the same Sprint, work is carried out in parallel on the development of the next delivery.
By using an agile methodology such as Scrum, the client interacts with the deliveries and evidences partial results of the final product, thus, in case of requesting an adjustment, it is not necessary to wait until the final delivery but it can be added to a Sprint to be developed and later see what is expected.
This is how the agile methodologies SCRUM presents a paradigm shift in terms of customer expectations and this generates a better result and direction of the vision of the same.
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