Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the markets are fairly modern and more technology savvy comparing to any other country in GCC or MENA region. The presence of multinational enterprises and corporations have helped modernizing the markets and business practices. No matter if you are in UAE or anywhere else in the world, the technology has become the essential part of a business operations. Now a days without digital solutions and systems in place a business can’t even function properly. The growth and progress is impossible without leveraging the benefits of digital technologies and solutions. The flow of data and information is absolutely crucial for businesses. In order to speed up work flow and operations businesses need automation and digitalization. That is why several systems and solutions can be utilized to improve various business processes. Digital assets and IT infrastructure of a business is vital and can have huge impact on business growth and performance.
There was a time around 15 – 20 years ago when the commercial off-the-shelf software or COTS were absolutely dominating the market. At that time the needs were limited and the market evolution was slower, however, as time passed the custom software development gain momentum due to its abilities to offer exclusive and very specific solutions for businesses. As the market start evolving and the needs start growing the COTS due to their general purpose structure start lagging behind and the custom software industry start growing. Both COTS and custom software development offers several advantages and also have their own downsides and limitations. This is what made it difficult to decide which software solution type will fit best for your requirements.
In this blog we will discuss both COTS and customer software development in details to provide our audience a better understanding of both paths so they can easily decide which software type would be the best match for their requirements.
Let us start with COTS:
What is COTS and when you should go for it?
The COTS stands for Commercial Off-the-shelf Software, it is also referred to packaged apps, ready-made solutions and is publically available to purchase for commercial and personal use. The popular examples of the COTS for personal use are MS Office, Antivirus and such applications. However, in this blog since our focus is on businesses so we will discuss about the business solutions only. The COTS are designed for a large audience and is publically available for everyone. Business can quickly deploy COTS software solutions and doesn’t require to involve in designing and development process. That is the simplest definition of the COTS.
When a Business should go for COTS?
As the COTS software and solutions are designed for a larger audience so before going for a COTS software it is crucial to understand your requirements and the features the COTS is offering. If your requirements can be full filed by the features and functionalities of the COTS then no need to go through the hustle of developing a customized software solution. However, here are a few benefits of COTS that most businesses consider while choosing between a COTS or Customized software solutions:
- Most of the time 70% to 80% of the needs can be met with the COTS
- Simple and easy deployment with cloud prevent businesses to manage additional IT infrastructure
- Cost-effective solutions with flexible payment plans (monthly, quarterly or yearly payments)
- Excellent solution when the customization is not required or can be done internally
- No cost of R&D, businesses can get highly researched and market proven solutions
- Help businesses to adopt to market trends and improve internal business processes accordingly
- A large clientele base ensures most of the businesses are satisfied with the features
- COTS are very stable software and tend to offer flawless, smooth and bugs free operation
Basically the COTS software solutions are not designed for your exclusive needs and goals in mind. Sometimes one-fits-all is not enough for some businesses and some needs. That is why business have to look up for alternates, either they will have to acquire multiple solutions for different needs and tasks, which prolong simple processes and cause repetitive work and unnecessary delays in work flows. In such situations customized software solutions are a better choice.
Let us see what customized software development is and when businesses decide to go for it.
What is Custom Software Development and when you should go for it?
The customized software development is path businesses choose when they need to develop a software or solution exclusively for their very specific needs. Usually such needs can’t be fulfilled with the traditional COTS solutions. Obviously the COTS are designed for a large audience and are general purpose tools, however, each business have a very different and unique internal culture which over the time evolved into different business practices and methodologies, the COTS are unable to meet all needs, that is why businesses need a customized software which is tailor-made for their needs and offer them a 100% compatible solutions. This makes customized software development far superior than the COTS.
When a Business should go for Custom Software Development?
The custom software development is a software that a business or organization develop at their own and doesn’t require a service provider. However, most of the time the internal IT department is limited due to the workforce and skillset that is why business outsource it to third-party software development companies in Dubai, UAE such as RSI Concepts. The main aim behind custom software development is to get a precise solution to very specific needs and the custom software solutions only serve a particular set of users or organization and it is also not available for anyone else.
Get tailor-made solution to meet all your needs
For COTS software and solutions businesses always follow an 80/20 rule. It means if the software meets 80% of the needs and doesn’t address 20% of the needs or problems it can be acquired. Each business has different structure and different business processes which are result of organic evolution and growth. However, the commercial off-the-shelf software can only meet up to 80% of the needs. The features that are offered out-of-the-box or later developed with customization are still unable to meet the 100% needs of the business. The customized software development is exclusively done to meet all the needs of the business. It means all the features will be designed to meet the needs. Another greater advantage of this is that the businesses don’t have to modify their internal processes or work flows to achieve compatibility with the software features.
Get more control and customizability
The COTS software and solutions are also customizable, however, the level of customization and the cost is a major drawback. The COTS sometimes are limited due to technology or implementation or any other matter which limits the customizability of the software. In addition to that the customization with COTS is usually done by implementing small patches and modifications in different modules, however, the core can’t be modified. The custom software allow in-depth modification and customization facility. Businesses can freely chose the technology they want or they can acquire a consultant to help them selecting the best technology for their outsource project. Furthermore the custom software are capable of evolving at the same pace as the requirements and needs evolves. The COTS also offer third-party plugins to support and improve customization and integration abilities of the software.
However, this could lead to more cost, separate agreements and eventually business could get stuck with more vendors. However, the custom software doesn’t have any such problem and allow businesses to keep improving their software to achieve higher efficiency and performance.
Custom Software Offers Superior Security
Business often believe the commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) have better security and as the service provider is providing services to a large clientele sometimes globally but the reality is the COTS are more prone to internet pirates. Basically the COTS are widely used and also widely available, the criminal minded people or group can easily get familiar with the COTS. However, the customized software are exclusively designed for the business and only a limited people have access to the applications. That is why the customized software are more secure and have better protection against internet attacks. The source code is well protected as the developers and only limited people have access to its source code. Furthermore the business and the development team have full control over the software and its source code so they can also implement more techniques and include better security features.
Custom Software Offers Full Ownership Rights
One of the biggest problem of the COTS is that the businesses never get ownership rights, the software always remains the property of the service provider. Which could cause several issues, however, the biggest issue is that if the service provider ends the product or closed the entire business the customers will end up abandoned and helpless. Obviously that usually doesn’t happen but it happened in past and it could also happen in future. However, the custom software development doesn’t have any such problem. As the software is exclusively designed for the business by either their internal software development team or outsourcing partner. The business have full ownership rights over the product. The business gets all core files, source codes, algorithms, integrations and each and everything.
As the software is exclusively designed for the business so it has full ownership of the entire software, no matter if the outsourcing firm got closed or the maintenance and management team got changes, the business will remain the owner of the software and there would be no harm to the data and/or application.
Custom Software Development Offers Better Cost and ROI
Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the most common belief is that the custom software development is expensive than the commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) solutions. However that is not the case, in reality if we calculate the ROI over a period of time, it will be much better than the COTS. The commercial off-the-shelf software might have less initial cost, but the running, customization, updating the COTS is way too high. Mostly the COTS comes with annual subscription, licensing or customization fees and such costs which raise the overall cost of the commercial off-the-shelf software. The COTS always have too much operational cost, however, the custom software doesn’t have any such costs. In fact the operational cost of the custom software is very less and in some cases there could be no operational cost at all if no third-party components are used to develop the software.
Personalization and Compatibility
One of the most important advantage of the custom software development is that it offers greater levels of personalization and offer better compatibility. The COTS are often designed for general purpose which require them to develop a universal interface which help businesses all over the world, however, one-fits-all is not true always, most of the time some users feel the lag or personalization and customization. The custom software development allow businesses to customized the UIs (User Interfaces) and UX (user experience) to make it more intuitive and also allow users to customize the interfaces and user experience as per their needs and desires. The COTS are also rigid and most of the times businesses doesn’t have their internal processes and work flows as per the features of the commercial off-the-shelf software. This means that businesses will have to make changes to internal processes and workflows to attain the full compatibility with the available features.
However, this is totally opposite for the custom software. The customized software are tailor-made as per the needs of the businesses, they are designed after studying all such needs and requirements, hence when a custom software is deployed it doesn’t require businesses to make adjustments or changes to any of their internal processes or workflow. This can significantly improve the efficiency of the custom software however, on the contrary when such changes are made in case of COTS those changes could also harm the performance and efficiency.
Integration and Scalability
For any business solution or tool the integration and scalability are the most important features. The COTS also offer a certain level of integration and customization. Sometimes when a business is using multiple software and tools, the direct integration between them might not be possible, hence businesses will have to develop and deploy middleware or other integration techniques to bridge the gap between two software and tools. However with the custom software development there is no such issue. Since the entire source code and everything can be controlled and modified, the integration become seamless. No matter whatever kind of integration is required the custom software can easily do it. The COTS do support scalability but it is very expensive and it increase its operational cost. However, the custom software solutions are very flexible towards scalability and doesn’t have any licensing structure which could cost you. This makes custom software highly cost-efficient and very superior than COTS.
Custom Software Development VS Commercial Off-the-shelf Software (COTS)
The best way to decide whether you need a custom software development or the commercial off-the-shelf software solution, you must first have to understand what you need and which solution will be able to meet your needs. Of course cost is a major factor too, so it is better to choose a software type which can meet your both technical and commercial needs. Here are some pros and cons of both of the software types, which will further help you taking a decision:
Pros of the commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS)
- Cost-efficient and much affordable in terms of initial investment and deployment
- Better technical and mostly larger community support is easily available
- Require less training, simple to operate and easy to maintain
- Save a lot of time, cost and resources on product research and development
- A wider range of competitive products is available, and by comparing a few of them a business can get a better product with better functionality and affordable price
- The wide user-base ensures a flawless and bug free product
Cons of the commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS)
- Mostly the commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) comes with hidden cost and additional expenses down the road
- Furthermore the COTS comes with additional costs for upgrades, scalability and customization
- The COTS offer limited or absolutely no customization or modification facility which could interrupt several business processes by forcing them to adopt to the new structure of the COTS
- Doesn’t offer competitive advantages as most of your competitors might also be suing the same COTS solutions
- Sometimes the upgradation might demand upgrading your existing IT infrastructure and other existing systems in place
- Doesn’t offer much support for the customization and innovation hence a business could feel stuck and limited by the COTS demands
- Always comes with unwanted features as a bundle with other required features, that is why a businesses can never fully satisfy its needs
Pros of the Custom Software Development
- The biggest advantage of custom software development is that it is capable of meeting 100% needs of the business
- The custom software allow easy and flexible modifications, upgrades and evolve and grow as the businesses evolve and grow
- Businesses have full control and can keep modifying and upgrading the custom software over the time to improve functionality and to support growth
- Custom software can be designed as per the needs of the users hence it can offer greater user experience and better usability of the system which results in better performance
- The custom software development is a one-time investment and there are no hidden charges, licensing fees, and per user cost
- As the technology grows and market demands increases the business can instantly made changes, modifications and upgrades to leverage the new circumstances
- Integration with third-party software and systems is very easy and more flexible, businesses can align their software easily to integrate with existing software and systems
- Since the custom software is exclusively designed for your business, it can provide a greater competitive advantages
- Custom software can boost employee performance, internal processes and operational capabilities
Cons of the Custom Software Development
- The biggest drawback of the custom software development is its high initial cost
- Apart from higher initial cost, the custom software also require proper research and brainstorming to establish a roadmap of the features to achieve the desired outcome
- In-depth testing and repeated tests are required to make the system bug free
- Custom software development is a time consuming task and couldn’t meet very urgent needs
- It could take a fairly longer time to bring innovation and to upgrade the software
- Another challenge a business faces while opting for a custom software development is to choose a right partner and service provider who can understand and meet your software needs
Conclusion
If a business wants to sustain growth and prosperity they must have to adopt the modern methods and industry trends. These days’ businesses heavily rely on IT and digital infrastructure to compete and grow in the market. The Dubai and in fact the entire UAE is a very competitive market and on top of that the customers are also very savvy and demanding. These trends and factors help evolving the society, hence the businesses will also have to evolve and upgrade to keep up the pace. When a business wants to upgrade its digital arsenals the biggest challenge is to decide among the commercial off-the-shelf solutions and customized software development. In this blog we have described both and we also listed all important aspect so the both methods. RSI Concepts is a leading custom software development company in Dubai, UAE. If you want any more help on the subject or if you want us to develop the next performance and success oriented software solution for your exclusive needs, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.
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