A good custom software development company can add a lot of value to your bottom line and help you to explode your company growth. As you probably know, the Internet has created tremendous opportunities for companies to cut back on overheads through the use of virtual technologies. In this article, we’ll cover five key ways that a good software development company can help you accomplish this.

#1: Virtualization of IT Infrastructure

Virtualization allows you to migrate processes such as financial management and analysis, project management, customer contact management and other processes into cyberspace. Through virtualization, you can:

• Reduce cost associated with computer equipment facilities
• Reduce need for frequent upgrades to your IT software applications
• Provide access to your data and processes from any location in the world

These are just a few of the many benefits of migrating your IT processes and infrastructure into cyberspace, and a good software development company can make this process seamless and pain free.

#2: Creation of Customized Dynamic Web Features

There’s no doubt that interactive features are the main attraction on the Internet. If you have dynamic features on your website which engage your visitors, you’re more likely to generate repeat traffic and to create a user experience which will keep people on your website. This is good for your placement in the search engine results pages as well as your bottom line because the more engaged your customers are, the more likely they are to purchase from you.

A good software development company can have dynamic, server side software applications created which will make your website more interesting and give you a competitive edge in the Internet marketplace.

#3: Creation of Dynamic Ecommerce Tools

Your ability to convert website visitors into customers is largely dependent on the efficiency and user friendliness of your ecommerce solution. Of course, there are plenty of ecommerce solutions which are ready to go “out of the box,” but many of these are unsuitable for handling large scale company growth and customization to fit your marketing strategy.

With a good software development company in your corner, you can have an ecommerce and marketing solution created which is specifically fit for the goals of your organization.

#4 Help Making Wise Software Purchase Decisions

One of the most aggravating experiences you’ll ever have as a business owner in the information age is paying money for a piece of software only to find its non-user-friendly or unfit for the needs of your company. Hours and hours can be wasted during this trial and error process. This is why having access to a good software development expert or company can be valuable, they can provide you with advice as to which solutions might be best suited for your company needs.

#5 Creation of Customized Tools for Tracking Your Online Marketing

One of the beauties of the Internet is that you can track and tweak your marketing data dozens of times faster than you could ever do offline. However, it’s also important that you have the best tools for doing so, and the free tools on the Internet aren’t always enough. A good software development company can have custom tools created for you with which you can track visitor behaviors to your website and help you to double or triple your conversions.

There are many other advantages to having a good software development company, these are just a few of them. The more advance that Internet technology becomes, the more valuable it will be for companies to have a good software development expert in their corner.

Having a custom software development expert readily available might not be the first thing on your mind when it comes to running your business; but it really should be. In this article, we’ll be covering three key reasons why, if you want to remain competitive in today’s fast paced market place, you need to have a custom software development expert ready to start working on a moment’s notice.

The Right Custom Software Development Solution Can Literally Make You Rich

In his book “The 8th Habit,” the organizational leadership expert Steven Covey stated that he believed the technology of the information age had the power to outproduce the technology of the industrial age by a staggering 500%. Other experts such as Peter Drucker and the former chief software engineer at Microsoft have made similar statements.

Over the past decade, scores of companies have arisen which consist of only five people or less, some of which are producing millions of dollars a year in profits. How is this possible? It’s possible because of the virtual technology which you see all over the internet these days.

Companies can now manage large scale customer databases and content using online software applications such as: content management systems and customer contact management applications.
On top of this, online software applications have empowered marketers to test and to tweak marketing campaigns in real time as opposed to using the slug slow methods of the past century.

All of these are examples of how information age technology can exponentially increase the efficient, profitability and the growth of your organization. With a competent custom software development expert on your list of available contacts, you can be certain that you’ll benefit from having your own solutions created for remaining competitive in the most fast paced marketplace in history.

A Custom Software Development Expert has Specialized Knowledge

Even if you’re not in immediate need of a custom software development expert’s services, you will need to locate and purchase software solutions for managing your business. This is where the expertise of a good custom software development expert can save you hours and hours of your time and perhaps hundreds of dollars. Everyone knows what it’s like to purchase the wrong software solution or to waste their time trying to use a free solution which just doesn’t have the features you need.

This is something which can be avoided by making a quick contact to your choice custom software development expert and asking them for advice or recommendations on the best software solution for your business.

The Time to Repair the Roof is When the Sun is Shining

One of the biggest mistakes people make when hiring a custom software development expert is hiring one when the need is pressing. The more pressure you’re under to make a hiring decision right away, the more likely you are to settle for less than the best. Create a small test job and place it on a site like Elance, Osdesk or Freelancer, and use that test job to try out the services of a few custom software development experts or companies.

This will give you an idea of who will be the best suited for you to work with, and you won’t have to make the decision with a pressing deadline or on a huge project looming on the horizon. With a good custom software development expert on your contact list, you can add a lot of value for your organization and save yourself a lot of frustration.

Hiring a custom software development company or a freelancer can be an expensive investment, and any time you’re spending a lot of money, fear is certain to be a factor. In this article, we’ll be looking at five common fears which people have when hiring a custom software development expert and how you can overcome them and hire the right person…

Fear #1: Getting Ripped Off By an Unqualified Custom Software Development “Expert”

Anytime you’re hiring someone over the internet, you have reason to be concerned about whether or not you’re going to get what you paid for. The internet is full of unqualified hucksters who will take your money and either take their time in completing your project or disappear after getting your deposit. This problem is easy to overcome if you use a freelancing site such as Elance, OSdesk, Guru or Freelancer to connect with your custom software development prospects.

On these sites, you can see feedback from past customers and get a good idea of what kind of experiences other people have had working with each custom software development expert.
The other good thing about using an outsourcing site to hire your custom software development expert is that you can see what types of projects they’ve already completed. Outsourcing sites also have escrow accounts set up where you can put your money until the project is completed to your satisfaction.

This way, both you and the custom software development who you work with are protected: they see that you’re willing to show them some money, but you don’t have to put it in their hand before you see any results. Most of these sites require that you pay a small percentage of the project fee towards the site for providing the service of connecting you with the custom software development company.

Fear #2: Not Getting What You Expected

When you hire a custom software development expert, you have every reason to be concerned about whether or not the end product will be worth the money spent. However, few buyers know that this is just as much (if not more) the responsibility of the buyer as it is of the custom software development company. For example, it’s important that you’re realistic about your expectations in comparison to what you’re willing to pay.

While there are custom software development experts who are willing to work for very cheap rates, most of the time you’re going to get exactly what you pay for. If you choose a provider who is at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to price, don’t expect the same quality as you would if you went with one of the most expensive solutions. Also, if you aren’t clear on your instructions or expectations in the beginning, there’s a good chance you’ll end up with something that you’re not satisfied with. This leads us to the next important point when hiring a custom software development expert…

Fear #3: Miscommunication

Even the best custom software development expert can only fulfill your expectations if they first understand them. It’s VERY important that you’re clear about the objective of your software application and the expectations in regard to the deadline. The more clear you are in the beginning and the more diligent you are in making sure that the custom software development expert who you choose has good communication and listening skills, the better your experience will be with them.

As a good rule of thumb, sit down and write out some specific instructions about what you’re looking for. Pretend that you just had ONE shot to tell your custom software development expert absolutely everything about your project, and that after that there would be NO communication between the two of you. Of course, you want to make sure that you’re still available to them after the project has started, but it’s important that you get as many of the details out on the table as possible in the beginning.

This approach will also make it easier for you to choose someone who understands the requirements and who is confident that they can fulfill them.

Fear #4: The Ongoing Deadline

One of the most frustrating experiences you’ll ever have when working with a freelancers or outsourced company is the ongoing deadline. In other words, the project is supposed to be completed within one month, but one month turns into six weeks, then eight weeks…and suddenly you find yourself three or four months down the road wondering if the project is very going to get completed.

This is another reason why you should use an escrow account, and only release 20 to 50% of the money up front. By withholding the remaining balance, you create an incentive for the project to be completed on time. In addition to this, it’s important to have all of your expectations and specifications laid out from the beginning. The more clear and precise and thorough you are in the beginning, the more likely you are to see the project completed on time and according to your expectations.

Fear #5: Difficulty Learning to Use the Software Solution

Even if you have a great software application created, it’s only as useful to you and your employees as it is easy to use. Custom software development experts are often guilty of assuming that you’re just as technically savvy as they are. The last thing you want is to send the last payment, approve the project and find that you still need guidance and instruction on how to use the software application which you’ve had built. The simple solution here is to commission your custom software development expert to create a set of training videos which you can use to learn the software.

Of course, you will pay some extra money for having this done, but it sure beats having to fumble around with the software or to pay the programmer to stay on as a consultant. Another great advantage of having this done is that you can always sell your application as a downloadable or “software as a service” solution, complete with the training videos. This is a great way to offset the investment which you put up to have the application created.

So these are the five common fears when hiring a custom software development company, and if you’re diligent in following the instructions in this article, you’re sure to have a great experience and a great product.

One of the primary reasons people hire custom software development experts is to create the programming applications required for going virtual. Virtualization of a company IT Structure involves moving processes such as project management, accounting, payroll and customer contact management online. Instead of being managed from an application which runs on the machines of the individuals within the company, the above processes are managed by software applications which are installed on an online server.

Although there are many free solutions which you can use to accomplish this, a custom software development expert can create something which is specifically customized to the IT needs of your company. Here are a few things to consider before hiring a custom software development to take care of this for your company.

Before You Hire a Custom Software Development Expert

There are many advantages to having custom software developed in order to manage your company processes online. For example, you no longer have to worry about having the software application installed on each machine where you need to use it. Instead, you can access the software application online using a secure username and password. You also don’t have to worry about upgrading your software every time you get a new computer or operating system.

However, the creation of your custom software application will often depend on the goals of your company and your projected growth. For example, how many customers or accounts will you be servicing next year in comparison to this year? Will you need a more scalable system for tracking unpaid invoices and for billing customers? Will there be a future need for you to generate annual reports and other financial data?

What features will you need in order to handle the future growth of your company? How will you manage projects, payroll and customer contacts on a larger scale? These are all things you need to have worked out before you approach a custom software development expert for creating your online IT applications. Of course, there are some custom software development experts who can help you to answer these questions…but many of them aren’t experienced in such things.

Having these questions answered in the beginning will give you a more certain set of expectations and instructions, which can help your custom software development expert to get started on the job quicker. This will also ensure that the project is completed correctly the first time and the you don’t spend a lot of time and money on trial and error.

Working With Your Custom Software Development Expert

No matter how good your custom software development expert is, it’s still important that you do everything YOU can to make sure the project is completed successfully and on time. In addition to knowing specifically what you need in order to go virtual, it’s important that you do everything you can to make sure your project flows smoothly. Most software development experts will expect at least some compensation up front, with the remainder of the money due once the project has been successfully completed.

It’s important that you are on time with payments or with escrow funding and that you make yourself available for questions and discussions of your software development project. Many people hire freelancer programmers, turn the project over and disappear until the deadline, responding only in the case of an absolute project emergency. This can lead to the programmer having to improvise or guess about certain steps of the project because they weren’t able to get their questions answered.

Having a project manager or yourself respond to your programmer’s questions within 24 hours or less will ensure that no time or money is wasted and that your project is completed on time. It’s also important to make sure at least half of the payment is withheld until the entire project is completed. This will give your programmer some accountability and inventive to complete the project on time and to do the best job possible.

Have Your Custom Software Development Expert Prepare You And Your Staff

Whenever possible, it’s always s a good idea to keep your custom software development expert around as a consultant after your project has been completed. Virtualization of your company IT Processes or even the learning of a few custom software application can be a nightmare if you don’t have the right training. Time and money can be lost as you and your staff learn how to use the features of your software. This is time and money which could be spared by getting the right kind of training and consultation.

If you can’t afford to pay your custom software development per hour in order to train your employees, you can simply pay them a little extra to have a set of training videos created. These can be used to help you and your staff make the transition without the additional frustrations of learning a new software with no guidance.

Free Custom Software Development?

As a final consideration, ask yourself if the custom software development solution which you have created for your company could be marketed to other companies within your industry. If so, you could offer a license purchase option or software as a service option which could easily offset the money you investing in having the software solution created. In this case, all you would need to do is advise your custom software development expert that you would be making the software available for resale.

With only a bit more effort, the software could be created to be available online to other users in exchange for a monthly fee, and you just found a way to pay for your software, and possible turn a profit in the future. This is a great solution for creating additional income streams for your business.

These are just a few things to consider when having a solution created for virtualizing your IT Processes and for making sure that you get the best deal possible on custom software development.

There are a few key things to keep in mind as you’re searching for the ideal custom software development company. For one, make sure that they have more than just good programming skills, look for someone who will take the time to understand your specific vision. No matter how skilled a company is when it comes to writing code, they still have to understand your specifications well enough to create an idea end product. 

As you are researching or interviewing custom software development companies, keep this in mind and ask yourself if this is someone who you will feel comfortable working with in making your vision a reality. Also, check their past work and pay attention to how user friendly their applications are. Most likely, you know what it’s like to have a great, powerful piece of software which is a nightmare to learn how to use.

For best results, see how willing your custom software development expert is to either create tutorials for using the software or to be available for training you and your staff to use it. A good user friendly solution and a library of tutorials to boot (preferably videos) will greatly increase the value of your application if you should choose to resell it or offer is as an Saas solution.

These are just a few of the benefits of hiring a custom software development company, and some tips which you can use to make sure you get the most value for your money.

With all of the software applications which are available today, why would someone want to use a custom software development company? If you’re searching for a CRM solution, or a solution for financial management within your organization or even a robust content management system for managing your website, you won’t have to look far to find a free solution. 

However, there are still companies who are choosing to hire custom software development experts to build software applications and who are willing to spend the additional money required to have a custom solution created. In this article, we’ll be talking about some of the specific benefits of using a custom software development company and how you can find the right company to hire.

Custom Software Development Solves the “Too Many Solutions” Problem

If you’ve spent any time searching for the right software for managing your customer contacts, managing payroll and reporting, online ecommerce solutions, content management systems, applications for building interactive forums or social networks or any other software solution which are required to run a successful company in the information age, you’ve probably already ran into the “too many solutions” problem.

For example, you find an ecommerce solution which does almost everything you need it to do, but not quite. So you end up having to purchase two separate solutions, and who knows if they’ll integrate with one another. Or perhaps you find a good contact management system, but you still need an invoicing system to bill your clients. Many times, it’s impossible to find the right solution for both without buying two separate solutions.

This can get very frustrating because you have multiple programs to learn and to train your employees to use, which means lost time and decreased productivity. In other cases, you might be using Saas and have to log into multiple dashboards to manage your company processes such as payroll, customer billing, accounting, contact management, project management, tracking your marketing results.

With the help of a good custom software development solution, you can have a single solution created which is custom fit for the specific needs of your company. While this might require more money up front, the long term benefit of having on integrated solution is well worth the initial cost.

Custom Software Development Could Lead to Additional Income Streams

Did you know that you could offset the entire investment which you made to have your custom software development solution created? Assuming that the solution which you have created might have value to other business owners or organizations, you could market the software to those other businesses. The easiest way to do this would be to offer the option of downloading the software in exchange for purchasing the license to use it.

However, if the custom software development solution can be accessed and used over the internet, you can offer people to purchase internet access to the software in exchange for a monthly or a yearly fee. Marketing software in this way is known as “software as a service” (Saas) and is one of the fastest growing and most lucrative “products” of the information age.

The great thing about marketing your custom software as a service is that the overhead is VERY low and it’s a product which can pay you a steady residual income, without very little need for attention from you as the owner.

Custom Software Development Puts You in Control

When you hire a custom software development company to create a solution, you can have it created exactly as you like it. Most likely, you’ve bought at least one program which was almost the ideal solution, except for a few small features. When using a custom software development, you are 100% in control of how the software is created. You can have it specifically tailored for your organization, which is something you won’t get from a purchases software solution, or an open source solution.

If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you started your own company because you had a vision for a better way of doing things. The great thing about hiring a custom software development company is that you can literally transform your vision into reality by having a custom solution created to your exact specifications.

Of course, the important thing is that you connect with a custom software development company who can understand your vision and make sure that the finished product is exactly what you’re looking for….

Software as a service (SAAS) has become very popular within the past several years. Custom Software development companies create SAAS solutions and offer them to companies who would rather have access to a software application by means of an online interface or dashboard than to have it installed on their company computers. In other words, instead of purchasing and owning the software, SAAS provides the software to the customer as a service which they can use in exchange for a monthly or yearly investment. 

This solves many of the problems which are normally associated with owning and installing software on one’s own machine. Here are just a few of the benefit of using SAAS…

Five Primary Benefits of SAAS

1) SAAS Offers Convenient Access

When using SAAS, you can access the application from any place that you have an internet connection. Before SAAS, you would have to install the software on one machine and you would only be able to access it from that machine. SAAS allows users to work from anywhere in the world, all they need is a laptop and access to the internet. This also makes it easy for multiple users to have access to the software application by means of logging in with a username and password.

2) SAAS Offers Simple Upgrades

Using SAAS, upgrading is simple and can be done by the company providing the SAAS, without the user having to make any changes to their own machine. Before SAAS, upgrades had to be installed and you had to worry about whether or not the upgrade was compatible with your computer. Not to mention that if you bought a new computer, you were sometimes forced into an upgrade and into paying for the new version of the program.

3) SAAS Offers Lower Start Up Costs

When using SAAS, you simply pay a monthly fee in order to have access to the software, which means you don’t have to pay a lot of money to purchase the license or to have the software installed. This is especially important for companies who are starting up and who don’t have a large budget to purchase CRM software or ERP applications, which can be expensive both to purchase and to install.

4) Secure Information Storage and Retrieval

With SAAS, you can store your information online instead of on the hard drive of your computer. This eliminates the worries about losing valuable data if you should suddenly have a system crash or hardware problem with your computer. SAAS also allows you to export and download data onto your own machine so that you can have access to it while offline or store it on your own hardware device if you wish.

5) Optimum Performance and Scalability

Since SAAS operates in cyberspace, you save yourself a lot of storage room on your own machine. SAAS is also much more scalable than software which is installed on your computer. If you need to increase the amount of customer data which you’re accessing or the tasks which you’re performing with your software application, you simply pay a bit more every month for a more robust solution.

These fives benefits are just a few of the reasons more and more organizations are choosing SAAS solutions for their IT needs. If you believe that SAAS can help you build a more successful IT infrastructure and make your company more profitable and easier to run, a good custom software development company can help connect you with the best solution.

Are you thinking about hiring a custom software developer? If so, there are some important things you’ll need to know to make sure you have a good experience and an end product which you can feel good about. In this article, we’ll discuss a few things which are common to the best custom software development companies and some things you need to know before you hire one.

#1: Good People Skills are Just as Important as Good Programming Skills

When it comes to connecting with a good custom software development company, communication skills are just as important as good programming skills. This is because you need to make sure the company you’re working with has a crystal clear understanding of what you’re trying to accomplish with your custom software solution.

If you work with someone who has poor listening skills and who doesn’t take the time to get clear on the purpose of your software solution, they could end up creating something which doesn’t fulfill your requirements. This could lead to time consuming revisions which will result in missed deadlines and lost revenue for your company.  All of this can be easily avoided if you work with a custom software development company who has good communication skills.

For best results, pay attention to how hard they work to understand your expectations before they offer quotes for prices or for deadlines. A company which takes the time to understand your expectations and ask the right questions can save you a lot of time, money and hassle.

#2: The Best Custom Software Development Experts Are More Than Just Programmers

Any efficient programmer can follow instructions and create something which is consistent with your specifications. However, great custom software development experts are just as much consultants as they are expert code writers. No matter how well you’ve thought through your specifications, an experienced programmer should be able to offer advice on how your application can be more user friendly for both you and your customers.

When hiring an expert program writer, there are times when you “don’t know what you don’t know.” In other words, there are details which you didn’t take into consideration when creating the specifications for your programming application. A good custom software development expert will be able to fill in these gaps and thus give you greater confidence in their ability to complete a top notch finished product.

#3: Check Their Portfolio and Know What to Look For

Of course, when spending money on a custom software development company, you want to see evidence of some of the application which they’ve created for past customers. When examining their work custom software development portfolio, it’s essential that you know what to look for.

First, make sure that the applications they create are user friendly. Everyone knows how frustrating it is to use a program which is complicated, difficult to understand and which has a monstrous learning curve. If you get a chance, spend some time looking through the programs they’ve created or at least searching for feedback from past customers (reviews on forums etc.) No matter how many features and functions a custom software application has, user friendliness makes a world of difference when it comes to the value of those features.

Second, look for examples that they’ve created applications which are similar to the one which you’re commissioning them to create for you. For example, if your custom software development application will be a robust customer management and invoicing application, make sure that they have at least some experience creating such applications.

Finally, if they have testimonials, look for feedback which suggests that the custom software development company was easy to work with and that they were available for their customers after the application was completed. Looking for these things will ensure that you connect with a company who will do a great job for you.

#4: Think of the Future

When having a custom software development company create an application for you, it’s important to consider the future growth of your company. If there are features which you know you’ll need eventually, it might be a better idea to have them created early on than to wait until you need them. Most of the time, you’ll be able to get a better price if you have things created in one project than if you decide to add them later.

Even if you decide to hold off and have these features created in the future, it’s important that you notify your custom software development specialists of this. You might be surprised at how easy the features you want are to create. Not to mention that even if you don’t have them created right away, the fact that they’ll be added later might affect the way the original application need to be created, so be safe and plan ahead.

#5: Cheaper Isn’t Always Better

When it comes to hiring a good custom software development company, you certainly get what you pay for. Even if you end up with a decent product, cheaper companies might not have the resources to be quickly available if something should go wrong with the software after the job as been completed. This is especially important because problems with your software application could lead to lost revenue and productivity.

When making comparisons between custom software development companies, take everything covered in this article into consideration. If you have any doubts that a company can deliver you the best quality for your money, move on to the next company…even if this means paying a bit more money.

If you follow these simple guidelines, you’ll be sure to hire a custom software development company which will provide you with a long term solution that  pays for itself many times over.