How To Keep Custom Software Development Costs Down

Custom software development costs can easily spiral out of control if the right planning is not in place and the right tools for the project are not utilised. But with good preparation you can remain on budget and keep things on track, and here we explain more about how to reduce custom software development costs.

Know your target market

By understanding the pain points of your target market, you can develop customised software that is cost-effective and most importantly, relied upon by end users. Use tried and tested research methods such as focus group surveys, design thinking (solution-focused thinking) and strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). The more you know before work on the project begins, the more targeted it will be to achieve the product’s aims.

Use a knowledge software development team

Having a team of developers with the right skill set, experience and understanding of the project will go a long way to keeping costs down. One of the most common issues with customised software development is achieving the original deadline date, which inevitably leads to higher costs. With the right team in place, you can plan effectively, develop strong communication, ensure backups are in place and maintain a focus on the code quality for the software.

Give the product a trial run

Launching a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) will provide valuable feedback from end-users and decision makers that can be embedded into the final version. It’s a time and money saving process that doesn’t require you to release a fully-fledged version, but a scaled-down product with minimised features and key functionality in place. It’s a smart way of future-proofing the latter stages of development so you can’t avoid having to make huge, time-consuming and expensive changes.

Select the most suitable technology stack

You can save a lot of money by choosing the right technology stack, ensuring you aren’t left facing a software rebuild and an overspill of budget. The likes of Java and Spring are popular choices, as is LAMP, GraphQL and the Python-Django stack. Take into consideration the scope of the project, time to market, scalability and security measures that are available, as these will all influence bottom line costs.

Use DevOps

The introduction of DevOps can help you increase functionality, improve quality, enhance quality and all-round better performance. It’s also a great way to strengthen collaboration and communication between stakeholders and the developers working on the project. Overall, DevOps shortens the development life cycle through use of software development and IT operation best practice.