5 Top Custom Software Challenges and Their Simple Solutions

Custom software offers tailor-made solutions. Companies need customized software and apps to ease their business processes. This software can also improve customer management.

Custom-made software requires time and effort to develop and comes with many challenges. Here are a few of the most common:

1. Finding the best software developers.
2. Selecting your tech stack.
3. Ensuring continuous communication.
4. Sticking with the budget.
5. Preserving confidentiality.

Are you considering custom software development? Learn about these challenges and their simple solutions from this guide. Let’s go!

Watch this video to learn how Digital Authority Partners designs software that works for your business!

1. Finding the Best Software Developers

Creating custom software requires a team of experienced and capable developers. However, finding the right team is easier said than done. A 2023 survey revealed that 37% of people find it hard to look for custom software development.

Aside from the difficulty of finding talented teams, hiring is tedious and expensive. Despite these concerns, though, companies should never neglect the vetting process. 

Here are some techniques to make hiring the best software developers more efficient:

• Define your project objectives and time frame to avoid wasting time. A solid plan with a list of requirements, basic mockups, workflows, and diagrams is a good place to start.
• Use Google Search to find experienced developers. Get as much information about their services, industries, and work processes as possible.
• Check out developer reviews and rankings. Consider their size, structure, focus, strategy, experience, workflows, tech expertise, and rates.
• Look at their portfolios to determine if the company has done projects similar to yours.
• Assess the company's development method. Do they use Agile, Scrum, or a different method?
• Ask about the company's security practices. Consider how they handle sensitive information, the security levels they will adopt, and how they address safety, privacy, and data concerns.
• Determine their testing and maintenance. Understand how they plan to conduct testing at all software development and maintenance stages.

2. Selecting Your Tech Stack

The tech stack refers to developers' tools and technologies to create and install custom software. The programming language, frameworks, and operating systems are part of the tech stack. It also includes database systems and hardware architecture.

Selecting the right tech stack ensures the success of a project, but this is also a challenging step. Tech stack configuration requires expertise and skills to know the correct tools for specific software. An incorrect tech stack can lead to disaster, not to mention a tremendous waste of time and budget.

Avoid tech stack issues by following these simple strategies:

• Make sure that there are defined features and requirements. Take note of your target platforms (Android, iOS, or both), user preferences, and market share.
• Consult an experienced app or software developer to get valuable recommendations.
• Research various tech options, libraries, and frameworks suitable for the project. Consider performance, documentation, support, and ease of access to functionalities.
• Focus on the user experience (UX). Select a tech stack that allows developers to create excellent user experiences.
• Ensure development efficiency and long-term viability.
• Focus on security and privacy. Select a tech stack with solid security features that follow regulations and give users peace of mind that they have protection against attacks. This also boosts your software’s UX. 
• Choose flexible tech stacks that allow easy migration.

3. Ensuring Continuous Communication

Software development teams need effective communication to ensure the success of their projects. It improves productivity and lets every member and stakeholder be on the same page. However, maintaining continuous communication can be challenging if a business works with remote teams.

They need to be able to manage issues such as cultural, language, and time zone differences. Miscommunication can lead to many problems and break working relationships between the company and developers. Luckily, these issues are preventable using these strategies:

• Use the right communication tools such as project management software, video conferencing, and messaging apps.
• Place communication guidelines before the project starts. Make certain that every member of the development team and the stakeholders understand these guidelines.
• Conduct regular team meetings to catch up with the project’s progress and discuss any issues (both current and potential).
• Gather continuous feedback for real-time changes.
• Schedule team-building exercises. These activities are great opportunities to gather ideas and create synergy.

4. Sticking with the Budget

Whether using custom or packaged software, businesses must consider the cost. It is challenging to estimate the cost of a custom software development project. Because of the many factors involved in software development costs, coming up with exact numbers becomes impossible. 

Despite the difficulty, it is imperative that developers stick to a working budget. They can use these strategies to make sure that their project stays within budget:

• Specify the project requirements early on for a better estimate of the costs.
• Use cost estimation models to have an approximate calculation of the needed budget, time, and resources.
• Break down the project into smaller, manageable tasks for easy estimates.
• Always confirm development stages and costs with project leaders, the developers (front and back end), and the stakeholders.
• Set maximum time limits for every task. Consider the time frame of similarly completed tasks or projects.

5. Preserving Confidentiality

One of the biggest challenges in custom software development is preserving confidentiality. At any time, someone might leak the business’ trade secrets or project ideas to competitors. The risks increase when working with a large development team. Here are remedies to preserve confidentiality during software project development: 

• Secure a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for all development team members. It is a legal document that prevents the leak of project information to outside parties or the general public.
• Use a non-compete agreement to prevent anyone from working on a similar application or piece of software for a specific period.
• Make certain that every member of the development team understands the value of confidentiality.
• Restrict access to non-public data. Businesses can ensure confidentiality by choosing who will be able to access documents, files, and other information.
• Encrypt data and guarantee that only authorized personnel are allowed to decrypt it.
• Develop a cybersecurity program to preserve data confidentiality, integrity, and availability. This keeps the custom software that you make safe and harder to hack, which also keeps your trade secrets safe.
• Use physical data security measures such as installing an alarm system, securing paper-based documents or files, and using surveillance cameras.

Summing Up

Avoid these custom software development challenges to ensure the best results. An experienced professional developer understands the value of the right tech stack, continuous communication, determining the right budget, and preserving confidentiality. All of these can prevent costly development issues.

Working with the best custom software developer brings you closer to completing your business goals. Contact Digital Authority Partners (DAP) for software development expertise.