Is Custom Web App Development The Right Way To Go For Your Business?
Did you know that about 80% of people, before visiting any business or making a purchase, first research online? This statistic, as published on inc.com, underscores the fact that to thrive in the modern, highly competitive and sophisticated business environment, your business needs to have a web presence.
The most common ways through which organizations establish their online presence are websites and custom or commercial web applications.
After some research and consultations, you may conclude that a website has limited features. Instead, a web application will align better with your company’s goals.
Are you mulling over whether to buy a ready-made, off-the-shelf option or go the custom web app development way? This article will help you to decide if the latter is the right fit for your business circumstances.
What Is a Web Application?
Most people know that to use an app, you have to download and install it on a device first. Yet, this doesn’t hold true for all kinds of software as we will see. You may wonder, what is the difference between a web app and a website?
A web application is a software that you access using a web browser without installing it on a device. It displays the same elements as a website (i.e. text and media). But, it’s the scope of functionality options and user interactivity is wider than that of a website.
Besides, web apps are not platform-specific in terms of device operating systems (i.e. Windows, iOS, Android). All you need to access and use one is a device with a web browser and an internet connection.
Common types and examples of web apps are online stores (Amazon), social media services (Facebook), content management systems (WordPress), and customer relationship management systems (Salesforce).
For reference purposes, a website is a single web page or a collection of related web pages with an interface that contains text, images, audio, video, and other kinds of media. Popular examples of websites are Wikipedia, Google, and Craigslist.
In other words, a web app is a more sophisticated website packaged as software. You may not be able to tell a website and a web application apart at a glance. This is because they both have an almost similar user interface layout and show text and media.
What Is the Difference Between a Commercial and a Custom Web Application?
A web application can be commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) software, or custom-made software. COTS applications are owned by third-party companies and have features that most users or organizations use. To access them, you’ll have to purchase a license and/or be paying subscription fees.
On the other hand, a custom-built web application is built from scratch, with features and capabilities that best meet your business needs. Custom web application development is the process of building such a tailor-made web application.
Benefits of a Custom Web Application
The following are the advantages you will reap if you opt for a custom application.
- Tailored for Your Business Needs
This is one of the major pros of going with a tailor-made solution. A ready-made alternative can be a hit-or-miss because since it’s typically a one-size-fits-all solution, it may have attributes that you don’t need and lack aspects that your organization requires.
A made-to-order solution gives you the freedom to dictate what suits your present company needs. The end product will be a piece of software that perfectly integrates into the workflows of your company.
2. Cost-Effective In the Long Run
A COTS solution has a low initial financial investment. But, you’ll be paying subscription fees over the time you’ll be using it. More often than not, you may need to tweak the new software so it integrates better with your business processes at an extra cost.
In contrast, a custom app is more pocket-friendly over time. Once it’s developed, you own all the rights to it. You won’t worry about monthly or yearly subscription fees, besides the occasional maintenance charges. As such, it will give you a better return on investment over time.
3. Scalable
A readily available commercial software may align with your organization’s needs. But, it has limited room for scalability. If you need to unlock more capabilities, you may need to shell out more money and be paying higher subscription fees. Or you may consider moving to another third-party offering.
On the other hand, a tailor-made solution is scalable. Not only can you tweak it the way you deem fit and add more features and functionalities, but you can also get rid of aspects that you don’t want.
4. Better Branding
A tailor-made web app will give you more allowance for your company branding. As the owner, you decide every aspect of design and functionalities to put in place. As a result, the unique look of your app’s interface will make it stand out and capture the attention of users.
Thus, a well-branded custom app will enhance your company’s brand and make it look more professional. This, in turn, will inspire more customer trust in your brand.
A COTS alternative usually has less room for company branding. Also, there is little differentiation among companies using a software product from the same vendor.
5. Amazing Customer Experience
A superior customer experience is an important factor for online users and search engines. Offering your clients a remarkable user experience will endear your business to more clients.
A custom app gives you the opportunity to effect user feedback fast into it. This will improve their interactions with the app and give them an amazing user experience.
As a result, a superior customer experience will influence their decision to buy from you over your competitors. Also, search engines will rank your company higher in search engine results pages. This will make it easier for potential buyers to find your business.
An outstanding customer experience will lead to more positive reviews, higher profits, and long-term loyal buyers. Some of them will even become your brand ambassadors.
Again, because of little differentiation of apps from the same vendor, user experience will majorly be the same for companies using them.
6. More Flexibility and Accessibility
The level of flexibility and accessibility that a tailor-made software gives you is far beyond that of any COTS option. For instance, you can do A/B testing of various graphics user interface designs, features, and menu items until you find what resonates well with you and your target market.
Being the owner, you approve what updates should be effected and only when it’s necessary. Also, you choose a schedule when maintenance will have the least impact on your company workflows.
In addition, if you want to access your data, you can do so at any time and without restrictions. If your software experiences technical issues, your developers can check its code and rectify them quickly. This is not usually the case with COTS software.
Conversely, whereas COTS alternatives will likely offer regular software updates, you have no control over their maintenance schedule. And the updates may not be beneficial to your business.
7. Safety From Security Breaches
COTS apps are more vulnerable to security attacks because hackers tend to be more familiar with their code. After hacking the database of a commercial software, they will publish online and sell confidential company and user information such as emails and passwords. The more popular a commercial web app application is, the more lucrative it is to hackers.
However, custom apps are less prone to hacking because first, hackers aren’t familiar with the code behind the app. Besides, if the software has a robust security framework, hackers may find hacking it tedious, time-consuming, and less lucrative.
I’m not suggesting that hackers can’t hack made-to-order apps. They can, but they are less lucrative to them. So, they may not be worth their effort and time to target them.
8. Better Software Maintenance and Support
Oftentimes, custom web application development companies offer a more robust back-end support. They are best placed to walk you through your new app. If technical issues arise, they will attend to them faster since they know your software in and out.
In contrast, most COTS app support staff are just that: support staff. If you contact them with a technical problem, you’ll likely wait for them to relay it to their engineers. It can take time before they resolve your issue. Consequently, crucial business operations that depend on the software will grind to a halt.
Disadvantages of Custom Web Apps
Despite their advantages, tailor-made web apps have shortcomings.
a) High Initial Cost of Development
The initial financial expense of developing a custom app is usually higher than that of acquiring a ready-made commercial web app. If your organization doesn’t have the cash for the former upfront, you can consider going for the latter.
b) Long Time of App Development
It takes time to develop any software from scratch. This can be a few weeks to months. If its code is not written properly, this will result in an unstable product. Fixing coding errors will extend the development period.
c) Choosing Incompetent Developers
When you decide to recruit a web app software developing agency, there is a possibility of hiring unskilled developers. The result is they will give you wrong advice and build an awful product that will end up hurting your business.
To avoid this problem, do some market research. Get reviews of several developers before selecting the ideal one to work with. It’s crucial to partner with a reliable custom web application development company that will understand the present and future needs of your company, and has a reputation for completing similar projects successfully.
How Long Does It Take to Make a Custom Web App?
According to GBKSOFT, it takes an average of 4.5 months to build a made-to-order web app from the ground up. One of the major factors that influence the time such a project will take is the scope of the project. In other words, bigger projects can take more than 6 months to complete, while smaller ones can take 2 months.
Conclusion
A significant number of buyers first do an online search before eventually making a purchase. Hence, having an online presence is crucial for any business to reach more buyers. If a conventional website can’t cater to the needs of your online business, a web application is an ideal choice for you. However, you need to decide whether to go with a custom web app or a ready-made commercial alternative.
A custom-made application has several benefits over a COTS software, like long-term cost savings and scalability. Besides, it gives you more room to tailor its functionalities to suit the specific needs of your organization, and brand your business better. Your ultimate decision will depend on which option is the best fit for your company.
Hopefully, this information will help to you make an informed decision on whether a custom web app is best way to go for your business.
