Top 6 Ongoing Custom Software Costs

by Chris E. Business Brand Executive

In today's competition driven world, the task to develop a tailor-made software exclusively to meet your specific business needs is a necessity for your survival. For this,you have to hire a competent custom solutions provider who can help you in creating a product prototype and prepare a rough estimate of the total costs involved in developing customized applications. The task isn't completed when a custom-fit solution is built, but there are several ongoing costs which are incurred in building, continually improving and enhancing the custom software. In this blog, let's explore the top six ongoing custom software development costs.

1. Hosting: Once you have developed a custom solution for your organization, that has to be hosted somewhere. It can be hosted on the cloud, your servers, or someone else’s servers. There are hosting costs involved in the form of monthly, quarterly or yearly charges irrespective of where your system is hosted. Some hosts offer discounts if you pay a year (or more) in advance. You can compare the prices quoted by different hosts and can choose a commercial host which is capable to cater to your unique requirements.

2. 3rd Party Integrations: Sometimes you might have to choose 3rd party integrations to either eliminate duplicate data entry or to provide new features that your custom software vendors cannot provide. For example, e-commerce functionality or email services. Many of these 3rd party integration tools have ongoing costs, which you should definitely include in your budget.

3. Licensing Fees: It is mandatory on your part to pay a licensing fees for building a customized solution. You can use Boilerplate in order to get a head start on standard functionality so that you can focus on crafting custom features. The advantage of using this platform is that it outweighs the cost of licensing fees, but you have to plan for the ongoing cost.

4. Suopport: Once you start using your custom software, you might identify small areas for improvement. You have to work with your development team in order to prioritize these modifications based on their individual values. Hence, it is recommended to include a line item in the budget for support and your development partner can help you to identify an appropriate amount which is required for implementing these purposes.

5. Enhancements: In addition to small support options you might have a list of enhancements such as new features and functionality that you want to incorporate in your custom solution. These advancements are thought to bring additional value to your custom system. Planning for enhancements is one of the most lively parts of custom software development because in this phase you're past the stress of the original build and get to focus on making your system better. You have to keep some money reserved for incorporating these enhancements in the budget of your custom-fit solution development.

6. Proactive Diagnostice: Proactive approach to system maintenance is much more effective than others. In this approach, your custom solution is regularly reviewed to figure out error logs and there's an initial analysis of the glitches that are found. As a result of this process, you can easily understand the problem and your development team can identify, estimate, and share potential solutions to resolve these issues. This approach helps you to better plan for maintenance costs and leads to a more stable custom system.

A tailor-made software development project requires an ongoing attention to make the most of your investment. If you want to develop customized solutions, then contact a proficient custom software development company.