Custom software

Custom software, is a type of software that is devolped either for a specific organization, or a specific function which differ from other already available software (also called off-the-shelf software), and is generally not targeted towards the mass-market.

Custom software has many advantages, the most important one ofcourse being the fact that the software may be developed for a highly specific purpose, which makes it highly efficent, although at a high cost. Another big advantage when compared to off-the-shelf software, is the difference in the relationship between the developer and the customer.

During the development, the developer can interact more easily with the future users, and it is easier to incorporate additional functionality as most of the users (if not all) often require the same functionality. Another factor of great importance, is that the development phase itself doesn t nescesarily need to have a strict deadline, compared with mass-market software, where major applications often are plagued with serious bugs as a result of a short span between deadline and first-sale. Custom software developers on the other hand, can create a version, that only contains the system core, and perhaps a few essential system modules. That way, any bugs found in the software is easier to fix, and the developers have a foundation to add more functionality to later in the process.

The biggest issue with custom software, is without doubt the cost, and the time involved developing the software. If you buy a off-the-shelf product from Microsoft or other software producers, the application is ready to install at once, and to a fairly low price, and often with good options when it comes to training or support (although at an added cost). The problem with such software, is that for organizations with a higly specialized requirement, the functionality required isn t nescesarily available, or it might be implemented in a way that adds to the users workload. Custom software on the other hand, is costly, as it is created from scratch, in addition to a smaller userbase and hence, the licencing cost is higher for each user compared to off-the-shelf software.

Other problems that may occur when using custom software, is exporting data to other systems as this is a feature that has be built inside the system. If the custom software utilizes a proprietary file format, this may become difficult, as opposed to generic software which often come with functions that enables the user to convert a document to other formats by a single click . This can also become an enourmous problem when the user wants to upgrade/change to a different system, as the data storage formats may not be compatible.