Challenges of custom software development

Custom software development enables organizations to provide their end-users with a software that completely match their needs.

However, developing custom software is not trivial and a series of challenges may quickly arise.

There may be technical challenges first. If the tools and technologies used in the implementation of the project are not correctly mastered by the project team, it may induce additional risks of not delivering on time and on budget the required applications.

Then there may also be integration challenges. Somehow, the newly implemented systems may have to communicate with other applications in order to execute existing logic or exchange data. Integration must be seen at two different levels: functional and technical integration. While functional integration will address application responsibility, scope and functional message/data definition, technical integration will address protocol inter-communication, transactional aspects, security, technical availability,…

The project management aspects are not to be neglected either. Organizing a project for custom software development brings collaborative challenges as to make people work together efficiently during the different phases of the software development project.
Custom software development enables organizations to provide their end-users with a software that completely match their needs.

However, developing custom software is not trivial and a series of challenges may quickly arise.

There may be technical challenges first. If the tools and technologies used in the implementation of the project are not correctly mastered by the project team, it may induce additional risks of not delivering on time and on budget the required applications.

Then there may also be integration challenges. Somehow, the newly implemented systems may have to communicate with other applications in order to execute existing logic or exchange data. Integration must be seen at two different levels: functional and technical integration. While functional integration will address application responsibility, scope and functional message/data definition, technical integration will address protocol inter-communication, transactional aspects, security, technical availability,…

The project management aspects are not to be neglected either. Organizing a project for custom software development brings collaborative challenges as to make people work together efficiently during the different phases of the software development project.

Finally, adequacy of the delivered applications to the expressed initial business requirements is a crucial aspect when evaluating the success of a project. First the requirements may not have been accurately expressed or understood, then these requirements may have evolved over time with the project unable to cope with requirement changes, finally acceptance testing after the delivery is a crucial step that is often under-evaluated resulting in poor software quality delivered and frustrated end-users.

At the end of the day, the questions that all ICT managers have to ask are: "is this custom software development project really the core business of my department ?" and "will my project generate positive Return On Investment (ROI) for my business taking risks into consideration ?".

Possible ways to address software development challenges

Enforcing a methodology is a crucial step that can lower the inherent risks on a custom software development project. Indeed, a project methodology will make sure that all roles of the project will follow a process through which the project will succeed. A methodology will make sure that no steps are forgotten and that all artifacts will be delivered. It is however important to make sure that the followed methodology is adapted to the project objectives and the organization structure.

Another key point is governance. Well defined governance enables accountability and responsibility through cohesive decision-making process.

A final point is resource availability. Without the appropriate resources available on time, the project is doomed to failure.

Outsourcing of custom software development

As part of our managed services, SAGA Consulting can outsource the development of custom software for our customers.

SAGA Consulting, after a pre-study of the project, will engage itself on a fixed budget and planning for the delivery of the custom software.

For each fixed price project we undertake, we customize a methodology based on iterative methodologies (Unified Process), agile development (scrum, agile manifesto) and extreme programming (continuous development, test-driven programming,…). Of course, the customization is based on the customer and project objectives.

SAGA Consulting managed services organization already defines a standard governance for fixed price project. Besides that internal governance, we define with the customer the most appropriate governance (coordination, steering,…) that allow regular reporting and efficient decision-making processes in order to maximize the chances of success of the project.

SAGA Consulting can leverage the knowledge of its consultants in order to make sure that the appropriate skills will be working on the project at the appropriate time. This will maximize the resources allocation and budget management of the project.

Thanks to our strong partnerships with top-quality technological companies, we can expect the best support in developing high-quality software solutions.

Our internal competence centers are finally also a critical source of information for the project. Our internal collaborative methods make sure that a problem in a project can be solved not only by consultants working on the project but by the whole SAGA Consulting organization.