The Pros and Cons of Customized Software VS. Off The Shelf

What do you think is the better option? 

Users want to stay successful and expand their businesses. The way you handle and process data is critical to achieving these goals. This is where software customization enters the picture.

It can be difficult to choose the best program to incorporate into your business. There are literally hundreds of options available, each promising quality, development, and expediency.

So there's no reason to be intimidated by the possibilities. The judgment would be obvious if you take the proper approach.

Step 1: Identify the type of Software that will best suit your business 

The easiest way to start assessing your criteria is to figure out what the company wants and how you can give it an advantage. Innovation should still guide business, not the other way around. Without this forethought, technology will drive the market.  

Use these points to develop a picture: 

1.  Establish the benefits and distinguishing characteristics that set your company apart from the competition.

2.  Interview employees and core partners to see what they think of the applications they use.

3.  Determine which processes to make the most of the variations and how apps can help.

4. Brainstorm ideas about tech applications and invite people who know what they're talking about to express their opinions.

Step 2: Define what is required to move forward

If the needs have been identified in phase one, the development of the flows, procedures, and systems requirements will fall into place. These should be recorded and decided upon.

Here are some questions to guide you in identifying those needs:  

1. Are our procedures consistent and easy to transition from one department to the next?

2. Are you being honest with your clients?

3. Are you running quickly enough to keep up with your competitors?

4. Do you have problems with more than one kind of software?

5. Is it possible to save resources by automating those processes?

Step 3: Researching off-the-shelf software options

Given a clear understanding of what the business requires and desires, it is possible to decide which software, or set of software, should be used to run the company.

Usually, there are two choices to consider:

1. Off-the-shelf pre-built applications 

2. Custom build developmental software

Customized Software In Comparison to Off The Shelf 

Off-the-shelf software applications are pre-configured software that can't be changed much. Microsoft Word, Salesforce, and QuickBooks are examples of such applications. Those systems are guided by a certain reason and prefer to do what they do best. These devices have a lot of features, which is awesome if you use them correctly. Otherwise, they could be overly complex for the true business need.

So here are some Disadvantages & Advantages for Off-the-Shelf Software: 

Disadvantages: 

1. Delay to adapt or adjust in response to changing market needs

2. If the feature request does not support a broader user base, it will be overlooked

3. There may be consumer, purchase, or other costs that make scaling expensive

4. It's possible that you'll have to alter the workflow to accommodate the app

5. Customization costs are higher (proprietary software vendor)

6. It's possible that they'll use vocabulary that's not the same as yours, requiring you to learn a foreign language 

Advantages: 

1. There is no hardware or applications to install while using software-as-a-service (SaaS)

2. It is easier and faster to deploy

3. Many features, often more than you want

4. Support is sometimes included or may be added as part of a maintenance agreement

5. For help, there are user groups and forums

6. Upgrades can be offered for free or at a discounted rate

Custom Software Development: 

Your company's demands are always special, and off-the-shelf apps cannot satisfy them. Custom product architecture makes a lot of sense in this situation.

Custom software developers are always willing to provide you with a rough estimate for a custom build.

So here are some Disadvantages & Advantages for Custom Software Development: 

Disadvantages: 

1. Both demands for updates and new features will be billed

2. High start-up costs

3. Additional expenses can be incurred as a result of hiring new developers

Advantages: 

1. A one-of-a-kind solution with the ability to have a competitive edge

2. Typically, there are no additional fees for unrestricted users and transactions

3. It is possible to make changes easily

4. Complements the company's lingo

5. It's possible to customize it to your own company needs and processes

6. You can begin with the most basic specifications and expand later. It's possible that less is enough

It is a widely held belief that custom work is often more costly than off-the-shelf work. Although this may be true for many customer systems, many business systems, such as SAP, cost millions of dollars to set up and deploy. Customers often use these programs but only use 5% of the features while custom development will provide them with all they need at a fraction of the cost.

The Hybrid Version of Software Solutions

The hybrid approach usually entails customizing an existing piece of software and source code access to meet your specific market requirements. This will be an application that has the majority of the functionality required by the company but needs to be tweaked to satisfy particular requirements.

Through this way, a company would get the best of both worlds: a solution that is fully tailored to their needs but still exploiting existing features.

In terms of tech, the possibilities are endless. It's easy to get overwhelmed and perplexed. However, if the business's requirements are apparent, selecting the appropriate program becomes even simpler and clearer. 

Now that you are able to clearly differentiate the advantages and disadvantages of customized software and off-the-shelf software.  Let us help you create a customized software solution today, contact us! 

3 Reasons Why Evolution is Better Than Revolution in Product Design

There is no doubt that the era of digitization brought numerous advantages for all types of businesses, but many challenges have also emerged. And for companies that want to succeed and be better than their competitors, these new challenges mark the difference between success and failure.

These challenges do not always involve a generalized change of the products or services of your company, sometimes the real challenge is to realize that your product only needs some improvements to be at the level of the expectations of your clients.

In this blog, I will write about the redesign options for a digital product, specifically the difference between an evolutionary and a revolutionary design. Moreover, I will give you some reasons why evolutionary design can sometimes be better for your business.

Evolutionary design

Evolutionary design is based on making changes to a product in order to have an updated design that increases the perceived quality. This type of redesign is highly recommended for brands that are well-positioned in the market. It is not a good decision that a brand that is recognized and also has good acceptance among customers, is subjected to a revolutionary design because it could run the risk of not being recognized by its own consumers.

Revolutionary design

When it comes to a revolutionary design, the objective is to modify the original design practically in its entirety. This decision may be backed by an urgent need to revitalize a little-recognized product. Through a fresh and innovative design, a product that does not attract the attention of consumers can obtain greater freedom to change and show a more attractive image.

It is logical that both approaches have striking aspects. But, before making a decision, you must carry out an analysis of the objectives that you intend to achieve. As well as the time, resources and money that you are going to invest to obtain that long-awaited new design.

Why revolution design is not always the best decision for your business:

1.A makeover is not always the solution to brand problems

A renewed concept is not a guarantee that this time your brand will cause a positive impact among consumers. If the product presents problems in its functionality, there will not be striking fonts or colors that make consumers change their opinion.

2. Listen to your customers

Making a revolutionary design means making a significant change in the current design of any product. This is a commonly used practice for dealing with competition, but it doesn't mean that if your competitor revolutionized their product design, you should too.

Before carrying out any redesign of your product, you must first analyze your consumers, understand what attracts them to your product, and what makes them feel identified. Otherwise, you could confuse them and even lose them.

3. More money and more time

When you make a revolutionary design you commit your brand to a pause period. It can take months for you to get the new design and its approval, time your clients don't have to wait. On the other hand, if the new design turns out to have some problems, you should invest more money and time to solve this situation. And possibly by that time, you have already affected the perception of customers about your brand.

On the other hand, an evolutionary design focuses on constantly improving a product. You do not have long waiting times for a totally different design because you gradually improve the existing design with strategic changes that provide a long-term benefit.

If you are looking for advice about which approach is better for your brand's current situation, please contact us, we are willing to help.

Big Data and the 4 Major V’s!

Anything from professional sports to ads and investment management and nearly everything in between. Every day, big data drives thousands of decisions that affect us both in big and small ways. So what exactly is big data, but also how or why does it affect initiatives in the area of health & welfare?

Let's begin with a description of big data. Big data is a concept used to characterize vast volumes of data that have emerged in the last decade or so. I know it's dull. It was originally used to characterize data sets that were so massive that they exceeded the reach and capability of conventional database and analytics tools. When Moore's law progressed, science caught up, but the data was still stored.

Big data is now more clearly characterized by a series of properties, than merely being a large amount of data. The four Vs – Volume, Velocity, Variety, and Veracity – are widely used to describe these characteristics.

Well, what specifically are these Vs, and how do they affect the universe of EHS? Let's take a better look!

Volume

Data can be seen as a significant contribution to the EHS scale today! When researching the size of datasets available to the public today, the Internet is a reasonable place to begin your search!

The number of Internet users in the 21st century has become outstandingly large. Therefore consumer interaction has also become a massive generator for large volumes of data in the interwebs. But, it is not just about people who are contributing to the massive amount of data, according to several statistics found online in the U.S, most businesses generate almost 100 terabytes of business data annually.

What exactly is the information being processed? It is mainly about CRM, financial data, and ERP data. Data on the atmosphere of a workplace, employees’ wellbeing, regulatory enforcement are all important sets of organization data collected in large volumes. 

Velocity

The rate at which new data is generated is referred to as velocity. Certain usage cases, once again, seem to be massive sources of new data production. Take, for example, the everyday events that take place in financial exchanges all around the world. Any exchange and activity generate a steady flow of updates.

So it's not just about stocks and shares when it comes to data velocity. Data is produced at a rapid rate for EHS professionals as well. Not only are safety violations being reported these days. Analyses of accidents and near-misses, disciplinary measures, preparation tasks, and reports are all operations that lead to the rich pool of EHS data you already have.

Variety

There is no longer a centralized source of data. In reality, data isn't entirely generated by computers in the way we think of them. Smartphones, wearable gadgets, and even internet-connected machines are all part of the internet of things. Many of these endpoints add to the mountains of data we already have. There isn't just a lot of choice in terms of devices. Heavy-duty data used to be the domain of the military and banking, but now it's the domain of everybody.

Also, seemingly straightforward business processes from the past, such as event monitoring and reporting, are now monitored in new, purpose-built EHS databases and platforms. The EHS system is no longer limited to event info. Platforms will also capture, compile, and interpret data from accidents, quality control, preparation, and risk matrices, among other aspects.

Veracity

Perhaps the one dark truth of all the evidence we now rely on is its veracity. In either case, how reliable is all of this information? Data accuracy is also a major concern. According to a study, the cost of bad data and the mistakes it can cause, cost the US economy more than $3 trillion dollars last year.

What steps will you take to ensure that your EHS data is of good quality? Use software and technology to ensure that all of the data is entered correctly and on schedule, whether it's event forms, investigations, or imports from foreign suppliers. Some software will also assist in ensuring the accuracy of your data by including external sources such as images and videos. Moving away from paper forms and manual processes in favor of a web-based framework is, of course, the most important step in ensuring the accuracy of your EHS results.

With this whole info, the biggest challenge is finding out how to derive the kinds of insights that will help you make real improvements, not only to your EHS systems but to your whole enterprise. That is, no matter how large your haystack is, you'll need assistance to locate the needles of wisdom that might be hidden within.

Valuing Time

EHS monitoring and research software can provide easy-to-use data exploration resources to you, the consumer. You can save time and money by using apps that allow intuitive reporting and move dashboards. You should be able to spend more time finding and visualizing insights and patterns in your EHS documents by using tools that help you to spend less time studying how to use them.

EHS Data Communication

Strictly speaking, EHS data exploration tools can make it possible for you to communicate in that language. Any EHS administrator or manager should be able to convey data, patterns, and problems to management and colleagues in other departments in a simple and succinct manner using a variety of charts and modern graphing software.

Decentralization of Analytics 

Nothing is more frustrating than seeing a department becoming a barrier in your workflow. The big data techniques of the past is developed with data scientists in mind. Most of the use of those early techniques has been refined and updated to make them more available to the rest of us. 

Search for EHS applications that have monitoring and light market analytics capability, allowing EHS administrators and program owners to easily analyze their EHS data in real time without the need for a corporate business analyst to serve as a middleman. This helps you to take care of your EHS data and access the knowledge you need when you need it.

For more insight, contact us today!