Are you struggling to keep up with the rapidly changing technological landscape? Are you lagging in the competition?
If so, custom software solutions could be the answer you've been searching for. You can tailor custom software solutions to your specific needs and help your business gain a competitive edge.
But not each of them is similar. Different types of custom software exist for different purposes and are more suitable for specific industries.
That's why knowing about the different types of custom software solutions and their purpose is vital.
In this article, we explain what custom written software is and list various types of custom software together with their uses and benefits, so that you can select the right one for your business.
Custom software solutions are broadly classified into four categories.
Below, we explain in detail what they are through some practical custom software examples.
This will help you understand each type better and select the right software development company to create the right custom software for you:
Industry-specific software is a type of custom software designed to meet the specific needs of a particular industry, such as its unique workflows, processes, and regulations.
Here are some examples of industry-specific software:
FinTech software refers to any software that helps digitalize financial services. One of the most common examples of FinTech software is the mobile banking app. Another example is investment apps. Whether you are investing in stocks, mutual funds, or cryptocurrencies, the app you use to do this is FinTech software.
This software is designed to help businesses manage their financial operations more efficiently and effectively, whether processing transactions, managing accounts, or analyzing financial data.
Agriculture software is a specialized solution to help farmers and agricultural businesses manage their operations. It includes tools for managing crops, tracking inventory, analyzing data to optimize yield, and minimizing waste.
Farmers can make informed decisions, streamline their workflows, and boost productivity with this software. That's why many agriculture businesses are already implementing custom software solutions and accelerating the market.
According to the Markets and Markets research firm, the global farm management software can grow by a whopping $2.1 billion to reach $5.1 billion by 2028.
Healthcare software helps healthcare providers to manage various processes and operations, including:
Not to mention, developers can create custom healthcare software that protects sensitive patient data by limiting access to certain files. For example, doctors might be the only ones who have access to personal patient data stored in the software.
Custom healthcare software is also developed to comply with whatever healthcare regulations hospitals use, such as:
With growing digitalization, the eCommerce industry is growing exponentially. Statista shows that 17.9% of the total retail sales are online. eCommerce software helps manage these online sales and everything else related to it.
It includes inventory management, order processing, payment processing, and more. eCommerce software also provides analytics and reporting tools to help businesses make data-driven decisions and optimize their operations.
With this software, businesses can improve the customer experience, increase sales, and reduce administrative overhead. Additionally, eCommerce software can be integrated with other business applications, such as accounting software and marketing automation tools, to create a comprehensive solution for managing online businesses.
Construction projects are very complex. The engineers must handle construction materials, labor, budgets, blueprints, etc. Construction software help construction professionals streamline such workflows and manage various aspects of their projects.
Construction software is useful for creating and managing schedules, tracking project progress, managing finances and budgets, communicating with team members, and sharing project data in real-time. This software can help construction teams save time, reduce errors, improve collaboration, and increase productivity.
Legal software helps with various tasks related to law practice. This can include the following:
Legal software can help lawyers improve accuracy, reduce the time spent on administrative tasks, and ultimately improve their bottom line. A legal firm can customize the software to fit the specific needs of different types of legal practices, be it for small law firms or large corporations.
Resource management software helps businesses manage various resources, such as customers, content, employees, or assets, more effectively.
Listed below are some examples of resource management software:
A Content Management System (CMS) is a software application that enables users to create, manage, and publish digital content, such as web pages, blog posts, images, and videos. CMS software provides users with a user-friendly interface that allows them to create and edit content without coding knowledge.
You can easily find off-the-shelf packaged CMS like WordPress. But if you have specific needs, it is best to use custom CMS.
For example, if you have a large content team where multiple individuals work on the same document simultaneously, WordPress might not be useful. On the other hand, a custom CMS will allow multiple people to work on the same document, show the document's history, and even allow you to publish the content with a single click.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software helps businesses manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle. And since customers are most important for businesses, most use a CRM. According to data, 91% of companies having ten or more employees use CRM.
CRM software provides a central database that stores customer information, including their purchase history, communication history, and preferences.
This information allows businesses to offer personalized services to their customers. It can also help track sales and marketing performance and identify areas for improvement.
CRM software is essential for businesses looking to improve customer satisfaction, build customer loyalty, and increase revenue. By providing insights into customer behavior and preferences, companies can tailor their products and services to better meet the needs of their customers.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software is a centralized system that integrates and manages all aspects of a business's operations, including:
ERP software streamlines business processes, automates tasks, improves data accuracy, and enhances decision-making by providing real-time insights into company performance. With ERP, businesses can eliminate redundant tasks, reduce costs, increase efficiency, and gain a competitive edge in the market.
Operations Management Software (OMS) provides a centralized platform that allows businesses to monitor, control, and optimize their operations. This includes everything from scheduling and inventory management to tracking production and logistics.
A custom OMS can integrate seamlessly with a company's existing systems, incorporate industry-specific features, and provide a personalized user experience.
Next on the list of types of custom software is platform-specific software. Platform-specific software is designed and developed to operate on a specific operating system or platform.
Custom platform-specific software developed by professional custom software developers can enhance user experience, increase engagement, improve security, and enable scalability.
Hence, it is vital to go for custom software if you want a competitive edge. Here is some platform-specific software you can use:
Desktop software refers to software built for desktops, such as Windows PC, MacOS systems, smart TVs, etc. You can build a custom desktop software for any task, such as accounting, data analysis, graphic design, or anything else you can think of.
Some desktop software can also run without an internet connection, as the user installs it locally on the device. For example, Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel can even run without an internet connection once someone downloads and installs them.
Additionally, desktop software can take advantage of the user's device's full processing power and memory to offer enhanced features and capabilities.
For instance, the developers can use multithreading, which is a technique where they can make the software use multiple cores of a modern CPU to break complex tasks into multiple smaller units to concurrently run multiple threads.
A mobile app software is a computer program designed to run on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. It allows users to access and perform specific functions, services, or information on their mobile devices.
Mobile apps are vital from a business perspective. In today's digital age, many customers prefer self-service over contacting a human. With custom mobile application software, you can make self-service possible for your clients.
For example, you can allow customers to purchase your products through a mobile app. A recent survey by AppsFlyer reveals that most enterprises have become mobile-first, as 40% of sales are via mobile phones.
Cloud software refers to applications hosted and accessed through the internet rather than installed on local computers. These applications are hosted on the cloud servers like those offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), etc.
Custom cloud software is important because the developers tailor it to the unique needs of a specific organization or business. Consider the example of Epic Games. When Epic Games released Fortnite, it witnessed a huge surge in concurrent players. Epic Games turned to AWS for quick scalability to ensure the gamers don't face any lagging issues.
Tailored technology-based software is the type of software that leverages a specific technology, such as AI or blockchain, to address business needs. Technology-based custom software usually costs higher than other custom software because it requires profound technical knowledge and expertise to build it.
Here are a few examples of such technology-specific software:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer the sci-fi you see in movies. It is now a reality. And AI advent has opened new ways for businesses to leverage data and automate business operations, along with many other benefits.
AI software refers to computer programs that use algorithms and data to simulate human intelligence, including the ability to learn, reason, and adapt. This can help analyze a large chunk of data to generate insights, automate repetitive tasks, and personalize services.
The way AI technology does this is through data analysis to identify patterns. Based on these patterns, can generate insights and suggestions that can aid businesses in making crucial decisions. For example, if data patterns show that sales go down during a specific period, companies can reduce stock or offer discounts to increase sales.
Internet of Things (IoT) software refers to a set of applications and platforms that enable communication and interaction between smart devices via the internet. These software solutions help businesses to collect, analyze, and utilize data from various sources such as sensors, machines, and other IoT-enabled devices.
With custom IoT software, companies can gain complete freedom over what data they want to collect and from what devices. Custom software also makes it easy to scale if there is an increased need for data.
One of the most relatable examples of IoT software is in the manufacturing industry. Manufacturers can use sensors to track their production plant's temperature, humidity, and pressure levels.
IoT software can analyze this data to detect anomalies, identify patterns, and generate alerts for maintenance or repair. This way, manufacturers can ensure their operations run smoothly and prevent downtime, saving time and money.
Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that allows for secure, transparent, and tamper-proof record keeping. It utilizes a network of computers to maintain a decentralized and immutable database, ensuring that no one can alter data once recorded.
Businesses can build custom blockchain software to ensure transparency in their operations. For example, the supply chain is a complex process where transparency is paramount. Due to the involvement of multiple players, it is often hard to determine where the problem occurred in case of delayed delivery.
With custom blockchain software, companies can backtrack every vendor's delivery time and digital signatures to determine where the delay occurred. This can allow businesses to take necessary actions without breaking the parties' trust.
MakeITSimple creates bespoke software solutions that are specifically designed to meet the needs of your business.
Our team of seasoned developers works with you to understand your distinctive requirements and build software that integrates seamlessly into your current workflow.
Whether you require web applications, enterprise software, or app design, we offer inventive solutions that can assist you in achieving your business objectives.
Get in touch now for a free consultation.
If you are looking for a bespoke software development company, please get in touch by phone by calling +44 (0) 1905 700 050 or filling out the form below.
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