Business Software, Custom Or Generic?

Business activity, even if it belongs to the same sector that is more or less studied and worked on, has particularities. There will be companies that work in a conventional way and others with a completely unique work system. And this reason directly or indirectly affects the   business software they use. 

Faced with this situation, you have surely asked yourself if it is better to use custom or generic business software . Precisely to this question we will try to answer today with a complete comparison.

Types of business software

Whenever we look for software solutions for companies we will find that, ultimately, there are two types, with their particularities, but two:

Generic business software : It is capable of solving many needs. Although, around 15% of its functionality is usually used, always depending on the type of company and its way of working, of course.

Custom business software : It is designed or semi-designed by the client, that is, by the entrepreneur, by the company’s design or by staff members who know how the business works or wants to work.

All functionality will be used very often, even on a daily basis, as it has been created specifically to address the needs of that company. Seen this way, it is clear that everyone will want for their business a custom business software with which to work exactly as you need. However, depending on the moment of the company, the capital to be invested and some other aspects, it may be important to rethink this decision.

We are not saying that generic software is better, far from it, but we are clear in indicating that it can be more beneficial for a time, always following a strategy that ends up offering more benefit to the company, of course (not making a crazy decision). Knowing this, it does not hurt to delve into the matter.

Generic business software

Starting with the comparison of which is better,  custom or generic business software  , we will start by looking at the advantages and disadvantages of generic.

Advantage:

• The implantation is immediate.
• Since it is used by many customers, it will have passed very long and exhaustive phases of tests of all kinds.
• It has a multitude of productive tools.
• It is cheaper.
• Ideal for the initial phase of any business, especially those that are not very well defined.

Disadvantages:

• It is usually desktop, for central servers and PCs.
• It is necessary to adapt your way of working to the software.
• Not all available tools are suitable for your business.
• Although it is cheap, the value for money is not good.
• With a positive evolution of the business (which is what everyone expects for theirs) you will end up needing a custom application.

Custom business software

Continuing with our post on  custom or generic business software, we will now talk about those that are made specifically for a company.

Advantage:

• It is designed 100% for your company, gaining in efficiency.
• The application will evolve with you.
• The value for money will be exceptional.
• Ideal for businesses with experience, clear ideas or having successfully completed their initial phase.

Disadvantages:

• It requires analysis and definition of the business and work methods: initial effort, dedication and time.
• Constant monitoring.
• Significant cost, especially for those who have just started and cannot make large investments.
• Migration of data from old systems.

We hope that with this great comparison between programs you can answer, in your particular situation, whether you need custom or generic business software .