How to innovate 101: How Crucial are Custom IT Solutions?

In case you haven't noticed, the technology revolution is now in full swing. Software is a core element in all aspects of innovation, from basic research to product deployment. Some parts of the innovation process may still require traditional physical manipulation, but leading companies have already converted many stages of work into purely software-driven work. Moreover, innovation, by definition, implies something radically new, and hence template solutions won’t do. You need something out of the box and that's where custom software comes in . In this article, we will talk about why custom solutions are crucial for innovators.

Implementation of a unique idea

Every company is unique and has certain needs and issues that need to be addressed. If you choose custom software development, it will help solve your problems and meet your key needs because it's not just a set of common features. Customized products are about taking into account the intricacies of your enterprise and hidden risks. This is why many organizations prefer to get help from custom software development companies.

It is extremely important to determine the requirements you want to meet. If there is no ready-made approach that fits all your needs, then custom software development is by far the best solution. And when it comes to innovation, there can't be a ready-made approach by definition.

When it comes to innovation, a ready-made solution is not enough, because you have to surprise, you have to do something out of the box, something that nobody has done before. For that you need custom unique functionality along with the ability to apply advanced technologies such as AI, ML, Blockchain, etc. Moreover, in the case of custom software, the developer company can advise you on the best technologies to apply in the software, making it truly competitive.

Don't forget about the innovation strategy. To be completely free in its formation, you need non-standard ideas, and their full implementation can be ensured only with the help of custom software. In the future, it can be complemented by innovative ideas from your employees/partners/customers, which is also possible with custom software because the possibility of expansion is built into it from the beginning.  

Costs reduce 

Innovation is quite expensive. You only have to look at the amount of R&D costs globally to see that.

However, the cost of this process can be reduced with custom software. Most people think that it is more expensive to develop a product from scratch than to use an off-the-shelf platform. And this is indeed true. However, when it comes to the long term, software development may be the best choice. The fact is that custom software development means rational savings in time and money because you won't get unnecessary features in your product that require additional costs.

When creating a project, you should consider whether your business needs all the features that off-the-shelf solutions offer. Sometimes there is no need to buy them with features that you will never use. One day, you may realize that the off-the-shelf solution you choose does not offer the features you really need.

In addition, in the case of innovations, very often there is a need to add some new features even after the release as a consequence of the expansion of the company and its markets. And unfortunately, with an off-the-shelf solution, you will not have this possibility at all or it will be minimal. Sooner or later you will still feel the need for custom software as the product evolves. With custom software, you can lay down a flexible application architecture that is a solid foundation for further improvements. This can be done, among other things, through user satisfaction analysis, which is an integral part of comprehensive software development services such as Custom Software Solution.

While being an innovator, it can be a good idea to invest in a product tailored to your unique requirements and goals, thus saving you money in the long run. With custom software development, you can easily add new functionality.

Data security

The number of cyberattacks is growing day by day. Hackers want to take advantage of vulnerable corporate systems. They aim to steal intellectual property, personal data, credit card passwords, etc. This is especially true for innovative companies because it would be very unpleasant if an innovative solution caused only problems, starting with reputational damage and ending with quite tangible losses. As you can see in the infographic below, companies' cybersecurity budgets will only grow. However, this process can be evened out by initially putting all the necessary mechanisms to resist cyberattacks into your solution, making yourself too difficult a target for attackers.

When it comes to sensitive data, such as personal or financial information, custom solutions win. Non-standard software is much harder to hack because most customized solutions are not publicly available. In addition, custom solutions include specialized security measures and encryption. These technologies make your product intact and unharmed.

In addition, when developing custom solutions, you can be confident in the reliability of the team because there is an opportunity to sign an NDA. Also in custom software YOU own the software, accordingly, you have the intellectual property rights to it.

Full-fledged digitalization

In just a few months, the COVID-19 crisis has led to multi-year changes in the way companies in all sectors and regions do business. According to a new global survey of McKinsey executives, their companies have accelerated the digitization of customer and supply chain interactions and their internal operations by three to four years. The share of digital products in their portfolios has increased sevenfold. Almost all respondents say that their companies offered at least temporary solutions to meet many of their new requirements, and much faster than they thought possible even before the crisis. CEOs expect most of these changes to be long-term and are already making investments to ensure that this status quo remains in place. 

Staying competitive in this new business and economic environment requires new strategies and methods. Most executives already recognize the strategic importance of technology as a critical component of business, not just as a source of economic efficiency. 

McKinsey survey respondents from companies that have successfully survived the crisis report a number of technology opportunities that others do not, most notably filling gaps for technology talent during the crisis, using more advanced technology, and the speed of experimentation and innovation. In this environment, the importance of digital transformation cannot be ignored, and if you want to succeed, you need a truly unique, custom solution that takes into account all of your business processes. This is the only way to stay competitive in the current reality. 

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Customized solutions are designed to meet the specific needs and requirements of a company. In the context of innovation, this is a must-have because this approach will help you get exactly what you want from your software project. So if you want a unique product, choosing custom software development will be a great option . Custom solutions scale and adapt to the progress of your project. So it becomes a long-term investment for your business.