Benefits of Custom Business Software

There are a wide range of businesses in the world. Some businesses have fairly straightforward processes, such as a retail store, or a business selling widgets. Other businesses are far more complex with more complicated processes that are anything but straightforward.

For businesses with straightforward and common processes, “off the shelf” software or well known cloud services can work quite well. These solutions are often relatively affordable and are readily available. For more complex businesses, especially those that are somewhat unique, there often aren’t any good “off the shelf” options. It is in these cases custom business software can be a good solution.

What is Custom Business Software?

Custom business software, as the name suggests, is software that has been custom designed and developed for a specific business. This is in contrast to commercial software that has been designed and developed for use by a range of businesses. Put another way, it is software that has been designed to do exactly what your business needs/wants it to do, exactly the way you need/want it to do it.

What are the Benefits?

There are a number of benefits of custom business software, here are a few notable ones:

• Uses your language/terminology
  Written specifically for your business, the software can match the language and terminology of your business. This can help make the software fit in more easily and avoid confusing terminology.
  
  
• Supports your processes
  Well designed custom software will generally be written to match your business processes. This allows the software to support your processes by guiding users through your process, prompting them for the right information at the right time, making sure required information is entered and valid, and performing automated actions, such as sending an email, or creating an invoice. In a lot of ways, custom software can become the process, more than just being a tool that you use to complete a process.
  
  
• Adapts with your business
  When your business changes, custom software can change with your business.
  
  
• Provides a competitive advantage
  With customised software that’s designed specifically to meet the needs of your business, this can provide a competitive advantage over your competitors. Custom software often allows for faster, more efficient operation and can help provide a better customer experience. Additionally, custom software, combined with good business processes, can allow a business to scale further without the need for additional staff, while still providing a positive customer experience.

The Power of Integration

Integration of software and services allows for powerful automations that reduce administrative overhead and removes the need for re-entry of data into different systems. Common integrations include creating an invoice in your accounting system (e.g. Xero) or adding an email address to your email newsletter (e.g. Mailchimp).

Integrations allow your custom software to be the centre of all of your information, without the need to reinvent the wheel. You can use best in class software and services where they fit your needs and integrate them with your custom software for a seamless experience.

The Low-Code / Rapid Development Approach

Traditionally, developing software is a time consuming and therefore expensive process. Low-code or rapid development environments allow businesses to develop their own software must faster than traditional software development approaches. This makes custom business software far more affordable and accessible to smaller businesses.

Low-code software, such as Claris FileMaker Pro, takes care of all of the underlying nuts and bolts required for business software. This includes things such as the underlying database, a central server for multi-user access, security, and integration and compatibility with operating systems and hardware. Additionally low-code software tools generally include high-level development tools, such as drag-and-drop creation of user interfaces, and fast and easy to write code. Generally speaking, all that’s left to do is to setup your data structures, user interfaces, and business logic.

Thinking About Custom Software for Your Business?

As a Claris FileMaker Certified Developer, I have the knowledge and experience necessary to develop custom business software using the Claris FileMaker low-code platform. My experience as a business owner and technologist also means I can help optimise your business processes and design custom software that fits like a glove.

If you’re thinking about custom software for your business, get in touch for a free, no obligation consultation to see if a custom FileMaker app might be right for your business.