A Note From Our Scrum Master - Custom Software vs Off-The-Shelf
Side Note From Our Scrum Master: Custom vs Off-The-Shelf
Now I know what you’re thinking – “Why is custom software so much more expensive than the off-the-shelf software in stores?” Yes, it is true that you can cruise on over to your local big-box store and pick up a software solution for a couple hundred dollars. And yes, this mature software is most likely very intuitive and robust and yes, this software is most likely free of bugs and does exactly what it says it will do.
Why is this prestigious piece of software only a few hundred dollars? Let me explain. These software solutions (i.e. Norton, Adobe or Microsoft) are developed for the mass market. Though there are tens of thousands of hours put into the development process of these software, because these solutions are distributed to millions of people, they can justify selling their products for less than a custom developed system. However, if for whatever reason you wanted Microsoft to custom tailor their Microsoft Excel program to fit your specific needs, the cost to develop would be colossal.
Custom software is more costly because it is customized only for you. It is not made for the mass market, it is made for you. This means your experience is tailored and the individual benefits are much greater than that of a mass product. You will get features for your specific business and you will get full control of your workflows and data. If you would like to know some of the other costs associated with custom software, be sure to check out Why is Software Development So Expensive?
Comments