Managing large scale enterprises or local/small businesses is not an easy task. Whether you are a manager or business owner you will have to deal with the software solutions and digital infrastructure for your business or enterprise. The present day markets are heavily data driven, the information technology have penetrated far deeper into our professional and personal lives than we can ever imagine. Now a days’ an ordinary employee can’t efficiently fulfill their duties and daily tasks without relying on technology. Managing a business or an enterprise require monitoring, control and efficiency in too many moving parts. Think of it like a car engine, there are too many gears, motors, electronics and technology. An engine will only run if all those moving parts move in harmony and proper synchronization. Same is the case with the businesses and enterprises. They can only function well if all of the internal business processes and employees works in a proper synchronization, harmony and supportive manner. That is too much to manage, one wrong move and everything could collapse. That is why business and enterprises needs software solutions and IT infrastructure.
Now when it comes to software there are two major categories to choose from. First is the commercial off-the-shelf solution or also known as COTS and the second is customized software development. The COTS were a great success in the market and still widely used, however, things have changing since past few years, and especially since 2012 to 14 the customized software market have expanded a lot. This is because the markets are moving at a rapid pace, the customer demands are skyrocketing, and the competition is getting tougher day by day. The COTS or commercial off-the-shelf software solutions are unable to keep up with the pace. On top of that the COTS are general purpose tools, they are designed for mass users. Hence lack personalized experience which is required to meet some very specific needs. Every organizations or enterprise have a unique environment which means the business practices and internal business processes are also not the same. This is what can’t be full filed with COTS and a customized tailor-made software solution is required which can fulfill such exclusive and unique needs.
However, custom software development is also not an easy feat, it requires intensive research, adequate technical knowledge and more expense. The custom software development initially looked expensive comparing to the COTS, however, in the long term the custom software development have proven to be more beneficial and businesses can yield higher ROIs over a long period of time. In this blog we will enlist all steps that are necessary in order to produce a high quality product from a custom software development project.
Step 1. Custom Enterprise Software: Discovery Phase
For any project whether it is customer enterprise software or any other project the discovery phase is the most important part of the project. It help businesses understand what their requirements are and what they need to fulfill those requirements. Usually the custom enterprise software development project’s discovery phase is a series of open-ended discussions, formal meetings, presentations, etc. To kick start the discovery phase the first step is to appoint a project manager or a team who will be responsible for outlining the project requirements and will take part in the project execution phases. The project manager should conduct these discussion, meetings and presentations. The participants should be the end users, the department or team who have requested for the software, the stakeholders, technical experts, and any other relevant person who can give inputs on the subject. The best way is to enlist all the problems and challenges the users are facing for which they need a customer enterprise software.
Divide these challenges into three groups, critical, high priority, normal and low priority. Discuss all these points with everyone and take their opinion and also request them to suggest an appropriate solution. Dividing all needs/features in three groups will help you on later stages. For any custom enterprise software development project the cost is one of the most important factor. Whenever a demand is raised by a department, team or group of employees for a new software solution, the management evaluate the solution in terms of value it will offer against the cost or financial strain it will put on the business. That is why having three different priority level will help you optimize the budget and technical needs on the bases of importance of the features that are needed. By now the project manager would have already gathered all the required information. Now it is time to formulate a charter document or requirements document.
Step 2. Custom Enterprise Software: Software Requirements Specifications (SRS)
The software requirements specifications (SRS) document is the most important document for custom enterprise software development. The software requirements specifications document provides a full roadmap to all the parties involved in the custom enterprise software development, mainly for the software developers and programmers. The verbal communication or information shared in chunks can be disastrous for the custom software development project. Such practice leads to a very incoherent communication which results in a lot of problems during the implementation of the software. A typical SRS or software requirements specifications document includes:
- The goals and objectives of the custom enterprise software
- A detailed description of the software from the user’s perspective
- What problems should be solved by the custom enterprise software
- Features and functionalities of the custom enterprise software
- The performance and efficiency of the custom software in terms of workload, users, etc.
- The roadmap for the integration and data sharing, if required
- The limitations and liabilities of the custom enterprise software
- The administrative work flow, data protection and access policy
- Detailed Definitions, descriptions, assumptions and dependencies of the software and the limitations of the production/live environment
- Functional and non-functional requirements and user’s needs
- Details and design needs of user interfaces, user dashboards, administrative control panels, etc.
- Complete details about the system users and what value it will add to the existing or new business processes for those users
The important thing to understand is that the software requirements specifications would serve as the agreement between you and the development team whether in-house or outsourced. The final outcome would be exactly like the SRS document. It is also crucial to describe each and everything in a language the software developers can understand, that is why adding descriptions, glossaries, definitions, references, etc. is important.
The SRS document also includes all of the user cases. A user case is what defines how the end-user will interact with the software and how the software should respond. There would be a set of users who will be performing different tasks on the intended custom enterprise software. Each user or user group would be needing different sets of functions. Even if there is only a highly focused group of users and they all need to perform same tasks, there would be a lot of tasks that can be performed. In any case all the tasks and different users will define the use cases. A use case is how the user will interact with the system for example, if they upload a file, what should happen next, if they input some data where it should go and what the software should return, etc. These all includes in a use case. Here is how to define each use case:
- Chose a set of users or a single user who will be performing certain task
- Define that tasks in full details and try to add goals if necessary
- Now enlist all use cases of that user or user group
- Define all the user interactions and what response is required from the software
- Include all alternative actions and their corresponding responses too
- Repeat the same processes for all of the users or user groups
The use cases are aimed to define the custom enterprise software and its features from a user’s perspective. This provides the software developers a to-the-point visualization of the features and functionalities of the custom enterprise software and it also serves as a guideline for different stakeholders. That is why it is extremely important to write a detailed software requirements specifications document before starting the custom enterprise software development project.
Step 3. Custom Enterprise Software: Chose a Right Software Development Team
Choosing right vendor in Dubai or anywhere else in UAE is a very difficult task. There are so many custom software development agencies out there. It is important to choose the right vendor for the project. The best approach is to search in the local market and find a reliable company with relevant experience and good portfolio. However, outsourcing to offshore companies is also very common in UAE. Which is not a good practice. The biggest disadvantage of outsourcing to an offshore company is that it is not bound by local UAE laws which provide protection to the both the customers and the vendors. Anyway, as for local custom enterprise software development companies, it is important to verify all the details before getting into an agreement. The best is to analyze multiple vendors, make a list of all vendors that looks good. Then check their portfolio, examine their website, view their complete company profile. After that short list at least five of them and request them to submit their proposal and select one of them. This way you can get a better vendor for your custom enterprise software development project.
For More Details: How to Choose the Right Software Development Vendor for Your Business
Step 4. Custom Enterprise Software: Chose Right Technology Platforms
When it comes to software development there are a lot of technology platforms which can be used to build those apps. The first and foremost important is the compatibility of the technology, for example, if you need a native software app which is usually installed on an operating system such as Windows, Linux, etc. Then whoever will be using that software must first have to install it in their computer. However, if you need a software that can be accessed from a web browser, then the users only need a laptop and a browser. Similarly all other features determine the technology that you might be needing or what platform is compatible with your needs. It is better to engage the vendors at this stage. Vendors usually appoint a business analysts who work side by side during the requirement gathering stages and then help finalizing the scope of the work for the custom enterprise software development project.
However, here are a few popular trends of the modern technologies that enterprises are utilizing all around the world and the signs are those trends will grow in coming years:
Blockchain Technology
The Blockchain is a buzzword all around the world, especially since the BTC (Bitcoin) hit its ATH (all time high price) last year. The electronic media and social platforms start talking about BTC since, even very well reputed media outlets dedicated several shows on the technology. This has built an image of the Blockchain and most people thinks that it is some kind of digital currency that will challenge the fiat. However, that is only partially true, the Blockchain is more than just a currency. It is a technological platform that allow enterprises and individuals to develop software, applications and much more on the Blockchain. It is a great technology to develop software with shared workflows. In the Blockchain the networks are called consortiums, it is a shared network and each connected user can track all transactions. The Blockchain is the most secure and transparent platform and can offer great features.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML)
The Artificial Intelligence or AI and the Machine Learning or ML is very commonly used all over the internet and we daily came into contact of the AI or ML without even realizing it. For example, the Google uses AI and ML to run its several algorithms which are connected to its advertisement platforms. If you are using internet on regular bases, you might have noticed that if you searched for something suddenly it start appearing on several different platforms, such as if you searched for iPhone 14, then you start browsing your Facebook or Instagram and suddenly you start getting ads related to iPhone 14. This is what is being done by AI and ML. The AI and ML are widely used in various enterprise software and solutions such as data analysis, decision making processes, personalization, customer experience management, enterprise performance management and many more. There are endless possibilities of using AI and ML in custom enterprise software to improve their efficiency and user experience.
Big Data
Big Data is not a new technology however, with the increasing levels of digitalization and our reliance on the data the big data is also gaining much rapid adaptation. The big data is a large amount of data coming continuously to a system or enterprise which they need to store and process efficiently. Majorly the data is coming in large volumes and it comes continuously hence the software should be able to handle the large amount of stored data as well as the large volume of continuously coming data. The biggest advantage of using big data technologies is to improve the data processing and analytical processes. The big data is very helpful in understanding and analyzing large volume of data which otherwise is either very difficult or completely impossible for humans to process. Especially B2C enterprises, large organizations and government sector utilizes big data. However, now a days SMEs are also adopting big data technologies to improve their internal processes and capabilities.
Cloud Computing
The main reason behind rapid adaptation of the cloud computing is that it offers great value, low cost, high performance and high availability. The businesses don’t have to manage the very expensive in-house IT infrastructure. The cloud offers great benefits for the system users as well. The custom enterprise software tools can offer better user experience and high availability with the help of the cloud computing. Another most useful feature of the cloud computing based custom enterprise software is that users can access the data from anywhere through the internet. The cloud service provider manages the actual infrastructure and ensures high availability. The cloud is very flexible in terms of cost as well. The business will only have to pay for what resources they used, which can significantly reduce the cost. The system deployment is relatively easier and much faster. The high redundancy, flexible costing, easy access and ability to integrate open-source tools and frameworks make cloud more superior.
These are some of the technological trends of the year and we have witnessed a steady growth in all above mentioned technology platforms. The rapid market adaptations, innovation and highly efficient products are signaling that these trends will go on for a couple of more years.
Step 5. Custom Enterprise Software: Design and Development Phase
The custom enterprise software design and development phase is when the designers form the UI and UX and the developers program them by adding source code to them. The custom enterprise software design should be started with a wireframe so all the necessary changes can be done in time. Then the actual design is formed. Which also should be approved by the end-users and stakeholders. Once the software design is approved, it should be handed over to the development team. Each custom software development company have its own project management methods, some follow agile and sum follow scrum, whatever the project execution method is it is important that the final product should align with the software requirements specifications document. The project manager and business analysts should make sure that he entire development phase is going on track. The updates and progress should be shared with all stakeholders and feedback should be collected if necessary.
Step 6. Custom Enterprise Software: UAT, Launch and Post-launch
Technically as soon as the development phase is completed the project is completed however, there is always a testing phase. There are multiple different ways to test a custom enterprise software however, there are two major testing phases. First one is the QA testing, or quality assurance testing. The QA testing is always done by the technical teams and staff. Businesses can also hire a third part to evaluate the software in terms of security and penetration testing. The quality assurance and the security teams sometimes take a longer time. However, whatever the case is the next step is the UAT or user acceptance test. This test is conducted by providing software to a certain numbers of users. Mostly end users, higher management and a lot others too. After the UAT, there is launch which also consists of two stages, one is beta launch and the final stage is full launch. The post launch activities are majorly related to the user feedback and the performance of the custom enterprise software.
Conclusion
In the present day the markets are heavily relying on data and IT. The digital and IT infrastructure could be your much needed competitive advantage. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the businesses and enterprises are adopting to customized software solutions. When it comes to custom software development the biggest concern of the managers and business owners is the time and resources needed for the project. The custom enterprise software development starts with a discovery phase or internal research to understand the audience and their needs. Then on the bases of those needs a tailor-made custom enterprise software can be developed. However, it is not as that simple as it may sounds. The custom software development is not an easy feat. It is a very crucial process and it requires full attentions form the project manager and the relevant stakeholders. That is why in this blog we have discussed the important steps to execute a successful custom enterprise software development project.If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want us to help you with another software develop 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.
Check out this: Waiting Line Problems and Solutions