Author: intileo

Should we buy a software solution off-the shelf or build our own?  – a question every enterprise business have to ask at some point – at the startup inception or at some stage of growth.

I was part of one of the startups about 3 years ago, the product was a subscription based with lots of features. One of the most important element of the product was to manage these subscribers, and the key question that the team debated was weather to develop an in-house subscription management software or use a SAAS product available online.

How the Enterprise software business has undergone a change can be seen from this basic fact, 10-15 years ago off-the-shelf or SAAS software were not only expensive but the enterprise had to commit to a wide range of costs into setup, maintenance, consultancy and training. Assessing the pros and cons of build vs. buying off the-shelf software made sense and was in fact a routine exercise in many large organizations. Today, thanks to the explosion of cloud-based software, it seems that there is a cheap, lightweight solution for practically any business problem out there.

So as part of the debate on buying a subscription product, the team realized that it had to be developed on a different platform and would have affected the team’s focus owing to different complexity of the product, the timelines were also prohibitory as it would have increased our time to market, so the idea of developing it in-house was dropped.

So should you build your own or subscribe to a SaaS software instead? The important questions that need to be answered before the evaluation process starts are:

• Is this our development team’s core competency?
• Is there a clear path to ROI, or return on investment?
• Can we absorb resource coverage, time, and financials of the project if it winds up costing 50% more than expected?

If the answers to the above questions are “yes”, an organization’s leaders must then weigh multiple factors, such as the goals of the business, size of their team, revenue, and the problem’s complexity.

The argument for building: how in-house solutions benefit business

In the article that follows we evaluate both options, drawn from decades of experience in IT.

1. Degree of customization

Theoretically:

• Custom-built: Custom-built software, by definition is fully customized to your needs
• SaaS Subscription: SaaS software meets most needs for most companies, but it won’t necessarily meet all your needs.

But in reality:

The best part of the custom-built software is that all you can include any feature that you want/need. But because of resource constraints, the features get prioritized which in itself is a messy, political process. In the process of trying to satisfy the needs of many stakeholders in the organization, it is not uncommon to end up with overly complex, overspecified software. This hampers the user experience, limits the efficient utilization of the software solution, and diminishes the benefits that the custom solution is supposed to bring. Research has shown that only 17% of the features included in the internal-use application are used and 19% of the features are rarely used.

SaaS solutions help you to avoid these issues, they are usually designed to do one thing very well. Over time they incorporate best practices from many different industries and companies into the product development, to maximize customer satisfaction. After all, their very existence relies on it. In consequence, SaaS solutions typically meets most needs of most companies. Crucially, they often come up with solutions that your employees hadn’t thought of. Today, in most cases it is good to start with SaaS solutions. Once your business outgrows the software’s usefulness, you may want to consider investing in custom solutions. Until then, it makes more sense to choose a SaaS solution.

2. Product improvements

Theoretically:

• Custom-built: You can improve the custom/ inhouse software as you often as you like
• SaaS Subscription: Competitive pressures forces SaaS companies to continuously improve their software.

In Reality:

Both statements are true, however, there are some important nuances to bear in mind: SaaS continuously incorporate customer feedback into their product roadmap. This is how they maximize customer satisfaction, thwart competition, and ensure business success. Their existence depends on it, so you are guaranteed that the product will evolve over time. What’s more, SaaS solutions usually follow agile development techniques, an approach that favors short development cycles of and new releases every two to four weeks. As part of the process, SaaS companies incorporate extensive user testing to align product specifications with market demands. The costs of all this are baked into their pricing model, so there are no surprise bills for the upgrades.

In theory, the same could apply to custom-built solution. But in practice once the software is built, most of the project team is disbanded and re-assigned to other projects. Even when that’s not the case, every evolution of the product is a mini-project that takes time and money. As a result, incase of custom softwares the cost of upgrading your software could be huge.

3. Integration with third-party software

Theoretically:

• Custom-built: you can design your custom-built software to integrate with any software you want.
• SaaS Subscription: Open APIs allow most SaaS solution to integrate with a wide range third party software.

in reality:

These days most software solutions come with ready APIs, the APIs are typically “connectors” that allow two programs to exchange information, which helps facilitate the integration with a wide-range of third party services. SaaS developers can give you all of the information you need to decide whether their programs can integrate with your existing software. If a SaaS solution isn’t compatible, then you shouldn’t buy it. If the developer says that its software’s API can work with your other software’s API, then integration should occur easily..

4. Speed of implementation

• Custom-built: Months or years
• SaaS Subscription: Instantaneous

Custom-built Enterprise software projects typically take a minimum of 6 months and can take years, depending on the size of the organization, complexity, number of stakeholders, scope of the project, etc. Getting started with SaaS software typically takes zero to a few days, depending on the complexity of the SaaS software, user training required, etc.

5. Last but not least: costs

• Custom-built is expensive
• SaaS Subscription is much cheaper

Custom-built software is more expensive than SaaS. If you go for custom-development, you’ll be spending at least $1 million, from start to finish, to have a software up & running. And then the maintenance costs which are usually in the thousands of dollars per month. None of this takes into account the cost of failure, which typically affects 30% to 70% of enterprise development projects. SaaS businesses distribute the costs of development across many customers. As a result, the costs are much lower. What’s more, with SaaS businesses, the costs are completely variable: you pay a subscription per month which also reduces the risk as you pay as-you -go. You can go for Outsourcing the software development which can be much cheaper option. We will discuss the pros & cons of outsourcing in next blog. I would recommend you to visit www.intileo.com, we are known for our IT services and outsourcing capabilities.

Conclusion:

So when should you build custom software? To answer this question you need to ask yourself:

• Is the software part of your core competency and helps you differentiate your product or service?
• Is the purpose of the software to fulfil something for which there is genuinely no solution?
• If you are leaning towards custom software, do you have people inhouse with deep IT experience, an understanding of current technologies, your legacy systems, and the interaction/interconnection between the two?

If the answer to any of the above questions is no, you are almost certainly better off subscribing to a SaaS solution.

You can reach out to www.intileo.com, incase you are wondering about weather to develop in-house or out-source the development of a software.

Mobile phones and tablets have become more important tool for everybody and with that the companies are realizing the importance to be on the relevant platform accordingly. They are now turning to enterprise app development to keep up with modern customer demands. With the growth in demand of mobile apps the options around the same have also grown multifold and hence the importance of selecting the relevant options. We will discuss the best practices that can help make the process of app development hassle-free and seamless.

9 Best practices for winning enterprise mobile app development

9 Best practices for a winning enterprise mobile app development are:

1. Choose the right platform

There are multiple mobile operating systems and platforms and when you envisage a plan to develop an app, it becomes all the more important to identify the relevant platform for the kind of app you are developing for your enterprise. You can choose one platform or multiple platforms depending on your app need and reach of your customer. Based on multiple factors like, the complexity of the app, your budget and goal, you need to choose the platform. For example, if the app is going to be used on Android and iOS devices, it is vital to use an Android and iOS development toolkit, respectively.

2. Set a finite delivery date

With the sales cycles becoming smaller and smaller, its important to start with an end in mind  and hence you need to consider the delivery time. Based on the delivery timings, i.e if you need a faster delivery times for the mobile app development, you need to carefully plan not only in terms of the project planning, but also the technology which can have a direct impact on the quality and the timelines of the project. It is also vital to use modules and code solutions designed for mobile development.

3. Choose the right app development company

Enterprise mobile app development is not a one-size-fits-all proposition, as the app needs to be tailored to the business’s specific needs. This means that legal considerations, complexity, and support costs which can vary depending on the requirement, complexity etc.

Some of the most important reasons for developing a mobile app are increasing customer engagement, improving customer service, and increasing productivity. Apart from the above mentioned reasons, organizations also use mobile applications for internal use to manage day to day visibility, with IOT organizations are using the mobile apps for managing and monitoring the machines and equipments. More and more organizations are now using the apps to improve employee productivity, engagement and reducing costs. With the mobile being used for accessing company data and crucial resources like serves, another important factor to consider when developing a mobile app is the mobile device management (MDM) solution that is being used. This is to control and manage what the employees are accessing and using during the mobile devices.

Organizing tasks is essential for any business, and mobile apps are no different. If a company wants to increase employee productivity, they need to provide an efficient way for employees to manage their tasks. An excellent way to do this is to use a mobile app for their enterprise.

Smart watches can help companies to improve the health of employees and even health practitioners are using smart watches to monitory the critical patients proactively. They offer businesses the ability to access information and data without taking out their phones. This allows businesses to focus on tasks without being distracted by irrelevant details. Enabling enterprises is critical for any business. If a company can’t access its data, it won’t be able to grow.

To develop a mobile app, enterprise can utilize the services of so many Mobile app development companies who offer the best way to create an enterprise app. They have the knowledge and experience to create an app that meets the specific needs of a business. They also have the resources to ensure that the app is reliable and user-friendly.

4. Focus on the app features

When the organizations decide to embark on the journey of developing a mobile app, one of the crucial requirements is to identify the features the organization wants to offer and/or use. There are many prominent features that mobile enterprise apps should have. These include managing and organizing data, providing access to critical information, and providing users with a convenient way to interact with the app. Some of the main challenges businesses face when developing mobile apps include ensuring that the app is user-friendly and reliable.

5. Analyze the challenges

Additionally, companies should be aware of the tech business challenges that they may face when building their first mobile app along with the costs involved. The key challenge that the organization should plan is to develop a scalable mobile app solution and finding relevant technical resources/ developers. When it comes to the following projects, businesses should consider whether they want to build a mobile app or create a website.

6. Pay attention to app attributes

When developing an enterprise mobile app, it is vital to consider the app optimization part, app performance, application goals, native app development, security protocols, right technology stack, development efforts, and consider the network. To optimize an app, it is crucial to understand what the app’s goals are. The goals of an app may include increasing sales, satisfying customer needs, or improving employee productivity. It is essential to tailor the app’s design and functionality to meet these goals. App performance can be affected by many factors, including the app’s size, the devices used, and the user’s internet connection. Testing an app’s performance before releasing it to the public is essential.

7. Test app thoroughly

As the mobile app is the direct face of the company to the customer, it becomes all the more important that the app performance and its user experience will directly impact the brand value. To reduce the the risk of such exposure the organization must ensure that the app is thoroughly tested before being released to the public, and apart from functional, performance testing is highly recommended. It is important to identify all the possible variables affecting the app performance like how an app will be used and how will it behave on different devices and networks. There are several practices that can improve an app’s performance.

8. Know target audience

A critical factor in choosing the right mobile platform is the target audience. For example, an enterprise app for a small business may have a different target audience than an established brand. The audience should also be considered when developing the business case for the app. A solid business case can help support the decision to create an enterprise app. The business need is also essential when developing an enterprise app. The app must meet the specific needs of the business.

9. Focus on UI/UX for better experience

Iterative design is an integral part of enterprise mobile app development. By constantly testing and adjusting the app’s design, you can ensure that it is both usable and user-friendly. Overall mobile app design is essential for two reasons.

First, it should target the specific needs of enterprise users. Second, it should adhere to the least privilege principle, which means that the app should give users the minimum access required to complete their tasks.

It is important that the enterprise mobile app is developed taking into consideration different types of targeted devices. As by identifying the different types of devices the app is going to be used on, the designer can can ensure that it is designed to be as user-friendly as possible. The methodology is also important when designing an enterprise mobile app. By using a specific framework or methodology, you can ensure that the app is consistent and easy to use.

Notification is a method of notifying users of important updates. Notifications can be used to inform users of new sales opportunities, product updates, or changes to the app.

Another practice is to design an app with a mobile application design. This approach uses a format that is easy to use on mobile devices. It is also essential to develop an API strategy. This strategy determines how the app will use external resources, such as data sources or services.

For Digital Transformation in any organisation, it is imperative that the existing process and systems are made more efficient to be effective in creating value for your customers

As being digitally enabled means that the organization and the customers/ consumers of the organization products or services are brought closer which not only helps the company to understand the buyer needs proactively but also it helps to interact with new buyers. With the understanding the organization then strives to meet the expectations of the buyers. Digital transformation hence help organizations meet the current customers expectations but also ensure acquisition of new customer and hence opening up new business opportunities.

It is the improved customer experience which helps organizations in retaining customers and also open up new opportunities that organizations are investing in digital transformation.

Digital transformation brings in holistic improvement of the businesses thereby not only in terms of retention and acquisition of customers but also enabling the organization to be future ready.

Most of the companies are already taking steps and implementing complex digital transformation strategies to ensure improvement in customer experiences. 

As mentioned earlier, digital transformation in an organization brings about a holistic change within the organization. It essentially improves customer experiences, but also enable an organization experience tremendous improvements in employee engagement and overall company/ employee productivity.

Digital transformation is about using technology to overall improve the business models in turn bringing about developing business revenue streams and also improving overall productivity by avoiding ot reducing disruptions.

Ways to improve your workforce performance and ROI

1. Streamline processes and systems

Digital Transformation is not only about taking your data into the Cloud, but to change and optimize your systems and processes. It is to ensure that they are compatible and flexible enough to deliver reliable business insights, and position your business for future success. 

The whole transformation process should involve employees in the change management process, ensuring the employees who convert and integrate new digital methods and processes to existing working practices, helping bridge the traditional and digital parts of your business, to support the organization’s digital transformation.

Engage technical innovation managers with profound experience developing advanced solutions to support transformation.

2. Set up self-service portals

The whole process of digital transformation should follow the basic change management process, wherein the employees or verticals involved should own the processes and systems being developed. One of the best practices is to deploy self-serve digital technologies that all the stakeholders including employees, business partners can use and based on these can suggest improvements which not only embeds the changes but also the buy-in of the end users of these systems. The process can be kicked off by starting with a small function and taking it to digital. Once the other functions realise the success of the initiative and based on the trust hence gained through a successful digital initiative, Organization can go on with much large and organization wide changes or digital transformation projects.

3. Leverage digital technologies and solutions

To bring in transformation, it’s a good practice to utilize the digital technologies and digital platforms to transform business processes and systems e.g, training employees to work on new software platforms designed to help product launches happen more quickly. 

The digital transformation uses artificial intelligence, automation, hybrid clouds, and other digital technologies to harness data and enable more intelligent workflows, quicker, more informed decisions, and real-time responses to market disruptions.

4. Harness real-time data

The biggest benefit of Digital transformation is that it helps in collection of reliable data. The data can then be centralized for data storage, and can be used for taking business decisions through different tools for data analysis and insights. 

The data can be for getting actionable steps for e.g. revenue generation, proactive and predictive machine maintenance, machine productivity, cost reduction, new product development etc.

The organizations can integrate the powerful digital tools including AI and ML to automate the processes and also enhance the decision making process for the employees.

5. Ensure employee collaboration

With the centralization of data, and relevant tools along with strategies can really help improving the customer satisfaction. Some of the examples of improving customer satisfaction are the use of automated chat process, which fetches the relevant data and helps executives respond to customer enquiries proactively; secondly, the digital tools help employees communicate across departments, continuous data flows within the organization seamlessly, ensuring a smooth phase-to-phase customer lifecycles – this makes the overall process more efficient and help save time, money, and resources.

It is of paramount importance that the teams are well aware of the overall mission, create buy-in of the whole change process by empowering the teams in the workplace transformation, and most importantly having a properly designed implementation and roll-out program helps improve employees’ commitment and ensure the success of the digital transformation program.

Organizations realize overall increased revenues, cost savings and increased profitability from better data capture to improved customer experiences. A data driven corporate culture only helps drive significant changes in costs and revenues for the organisation.

Employees and leadership can enhance their best practices by improving visibility across various aspects of a company and boosting revenues by pattern recognition, assessing trends, and capitalizing on data-driven opportunities.

6. Improve operational efficiency

Executives said that improving operational effectiveness (40%), faster time-to-market (36%), and being able to deliver on customers’ expectations (35%) are among the main benefits of digital transformation.

One of the most critical improvements that digital transformation brings is improving the operational efficiency. The data availability helps with predictive maintenance which can help reduce breakdown of machines, the proactive management of effectiveness of machines can help reduce rejections and improve productivity of machines. These are simple examples of direct improvements in operational efficiency through digital transformation.

Your employees will improve their performance by digitizing your company operations, streamlining your workflows, and improving information flows throughout the company.

The digital transformation involves changing the overall business processes and systems from the designed to manufacture and sell products to a data driven organization flexible enough to respond to market needs and changes proactively.