In simplifying business process and fulfil the organization needs and objectives, growing companiesare investing IT system. Hence, it is important to make right decision whether required softwareshould be developed or can be simply bought. Software which is built for specific company is knownas custom or bespoke software, whereas the one which iscommercially sold is called packaged oroff-the-shelf software. This report will give a comparative assessment between them in the term ofthe ownership, delivery time, cost, suitability, and sustainability.
Ownership
Generally, custom application development including the source code should be owned by the company. And yet, many companies do not address the copyright ownership issue adequately and
programmers often assume that the copyright remain with them. As a result, the programmer canchoose to sue the company by asserting the copyrights issue when the code of the software isreproduced, modified, distributed, or even displayed without the developer’s permission.
Delivery Time
When talking about time, it is clear the custom software will have more time in the implementationthat require analyzing, designing, developing, testing, documenting, and releasing time. If the company choosecustom software, a timeline for completion at the onset of theproject have to be established by the software development team to prevent it in becoming tootime consuming. Having said that, proposed timeline can be unrealistic and adelay can still occur when the requirement is still unclear.
The Cost
Custom software developmentis often more expensive since there is a large initial cost required for theimplementation. This is just like buying a tailor-made suit compared tobuying from the rack. The project development will require a team that includes experts, designers,programmers, etc. to be hired. The cost is basically determined by thecomplexity of the tasks and the number of users to be served by the system. Also,there might be another cost like the health insurance for those full-time developers.
Suitability
Seeing that there is the word ‘custom’ incustom software, it means that the software is intended tobe built according to a particular specification that serve and fit the business requirements just liketailor-made clothes. Custom software will be fully integrated as it is mostlydeveloped using the firm’s own resources. Hence, it is expected for the software to be fit with theexisting system.
Sustainability
In most cases, custom software that has been put in place is expected to be usable effectively forabout seven to ten years. They will be keep maintained as the business grows insize according the contract and ownership. Particularly, it is inevitable tohave an error-free software in a custom development from true bugs that prevent the softwarefrom performing expected tasks to minor irritants like interface and peripheral glitches. Fortunately, these bugs can be corrected immediately since the company has directaccess to the developers to report the bug and even request to improve the overall functionality ofthe software.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is clear that either custom software or packaged software has their own benefitsand drawbacks. Custom software can be owned and guaranteed suitable forcompanies, but willneed cost and time for the development and maintenance. In contrast, packaged software can beinstalled as soon as possible with reasonable price, but might not be suitable in the future. Thecompany should analyze their business more carefully indetermining required software whether itis worthwhile to develop a new custom software. It can start by identifying features needed andusers who will use it.
