In the era where nearly every tool is available in the Software as a Service form, many businesses cut significantly their R&D budget and decide instead to focus on adjusting tools purchased from other companies to their needs. While this might sound like both a cost-effective and fast way to operate, you should still consider building your in-house tools from scratch with the help of bespoke software development experts. Such investment can pay off in several ways:
- The tool built will be matching all your requirements, including all the features that normally could be spread across multiple SaaS solutions.
- It’s much easier to implement new features in a tool that your team knows from scratch than expanding the capabilities of purchased software.
- The bespoke software development experts participating in the project are well-positioned to train other teams on how to use the tool effectively.
- Feedback from your team is much more valued by bespoke software development experts — as their main goal is to tailor the tool to the unique needs of your employees.
- Bespoke software can be optimized to work perfectly on your office hardware.
- With the help of your bespoke software development experts, you can scale the tool easily and always according to your own business’ growth.
- Bespoke tools made for your business can also be reselled to other companies, providing you another source of revenue.
- As they are tailored to your unique infrastructure, bespoke tools are usually more secure from cyberattacks than widely used SaaS solutions.
- Your bespoke software development experts assure you have a support team available to fix any potential issues with the software — anytime you need it.
- By building your own tools, you don’t have to worry about paying any licensing fees or subscriptions, allowing you to save money in the long run.
And building your own tools doesn’t need to be much of a hassle for you — you just need to take the first step and assemble a team of bespoke software development experts who can deliver the results for you. How to accomplish this? We review the most important things to consider in our guide below.
Who do you need to create bespoke software development solutions?
A successful team of bespoke software development experts includes more than just developers. Projects like this require people responsible for planning, creating the vision of the product, and giving it intuitive design. Who does a typical team at a bespoke software company includes?
- Developers
Building a web tool? You’ll need front-end and back-end developers — to put it simply.
Is the mobile world your thing? Consider iOS developers, Android developers; or maybe optimize costs by investing in cross-platform app developers?
Will your bespoke software be run on a desktop? Depending on your preferred stack, you might need Java developers, C++ developers, .NET developers, or other specialists.
Consider your unique tech requirements carefully and hire developers based on them.
- Designers
With the help of designers, you can make sure your tool is intuitive and easy to use by teams across the company. Look for design experts that match your product type (e.g. web designers, mobile designers) and consider hiring also UI/UX designers to improve the interface even further.
- IT Project Manager
If unsupervised, bespoke software development might not end up as successful as you want it to be. With an experienced IT Project Manager on board you can make sure that your project will be developed within a preplanned budget and according to specified deadlines.
- Product Owner
A Product Owner assures the right prioritization of your developers’ work — they manage the backlog, plan new features, and create the overall vision behind the product.
- Scrum Master
The third element (besides developers and Product Owner) of a Scrum team. Scrum methodology itself encourages work in regular time-boxes, most often 2-4 weeks each, which provides continuous delivery of new features. Scrum Master makes sure the methodology is followed well and organizes all the work around its principles.
- Other specialists
While the selection above should be just enough for most projects, building some tools might require help from other bespoke software development experts. For example, building an AI-powered tool will surely require AI engineers, an IoT project needs product designers, and you can also never go wrong with having a data scientist on board who can analyze the behavior of your tool’s users — especially if you are outsourcing the software. If you are unsure what other bespoke software development experts your project might require, you might want to discuss it with an IT Project Manager or a software consultant.
What tech stack should your bespoke software development experts have?
Tech stack says a lot about your bespoke software development team — what product they are building, how innovative they are, what style of work they prefer. Most specialized tools will, of course, be used by developers, as their job is the most technical one. But don’t underestimate the importance of project management or design tools — they can be crucial for your project’s success too.
Because many tools are linked to specific roles, we are not able to name all of them here. Instead, we list below the most important elements of your dev team’s tech stack. Without them, your product simply won’t come into existence.
- Relevant programming language
Highly linked to the kind of product you are developing — as well as your existing tech stack. If you wish to build a web tool, for example, you will need front-end devs with experience in JavaScript, while back-end can be built with a variety of languages, from Java to Python. When you want to build a mobile app, the selection is also vast and includes both common technologies like JavaScript (in combination with React Native) as well as more unique languages, like Swift (iOS) or Kotlin (Android).
- Relevant frameworks and libraries
The choice of frameworks and libraries depends not only on the type of product you want to be developed but also the preferred programming languages to be used. This is because many such tools are built specifically for one language.
- Version control system
System of tracking changes in the source code of a program. Most companies use Git, but there are other solutions on the market as well. Whichever platform you choose, it’s the must-have future-proof solution for your company.
- Issue-tracking tool
Where the product backlog is stored and managed. Popular issue-tracking tools include Jira, Basecamp, and ClickUp — the more of them your bespoke software development experts had experience with, the better for you, as you can then easily impose the one you prefer.
Assembling a perfectly matched bespoke software development team
Don’t rely only on tech skills when hiring for your bespoke software development team. In the end, you’ll most likely end up with at least a couple of candidates who meet your tech criteria. Because of this, you should also consider how well your candidates’ experience fits into your company profile. Review the following areas…
- Industry fit
Look for software development professionals with experience in building tools for other companies in your business vertical. Such a match assures you that they already know how to approach implementing features unique to your market’s needs.
- Company culture fit
To have your tool developed fast, you need a team of bespoke software development experts who will truly cooperate. For this to happen, find people who fit your company culture — consider areas like preferred management style and work environment (startup-style vs enterprise style), attitude towards diverse teams, approach to remote work, or any other value that you consider important for your business.
No time to assemble a team of bespoke software development experts?
Let us be of assistance.
We run a unique network of top IT experts of various specialties looking for new career opportunities. Get in touch with us, tell us about your project, and let us find for you people that truly fit your requirements. Whether you need IT Project Managers or Product Owners, back-end devs or machine learning engineers, digital designers, or data scientists — we will find you the best match possible.
Contact us today and let us assemble a team of bespoke software development experts for you.
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