What is Customize software development? How it is useful for business?
Introduction
In the digital era of 2022 the enterprise resource planning ERP has great importance. There are various types of software available for various purposes. For example there is software for production management, school management, vendor and business management, and many more. The basic need for Enterprise resource planning software is to minimize the workload of the people. So here the programmers create basic software which has in itself the facility to handle data and generate output that is uniform to many similar type of business. Each business has its own need for software so there is a need for customization in the software. By doing customization in the software business can generate more profit.
The ERP developers have done lot of research on to what is their basic need in the business. Like for manufacturer management ERP what all things are listed down. They create a program which is uniform to all the manufacturing business. This is very helpful in managing the work and data. Also here there chance of error generation reduces. Their time is saved and very systematically they can get the results. But do you think that the basic version of the ERP is enough for handling all the data of manufacturing process. The answer is certainly NO.
Every process in business is associated with other process or department of the company. Like manufacturing is linked to sales. So just by creating a basic version won’t satisfy the need of the company. They need customization in the software based on the company specific process.
Customization process development is the development of software based on need of customers. Like if manufacturing ERP is used by one company and they have specialized process which cannot be handled by the given product then they go for customization of software. Here they ask to create a more refine process of software development along with the basic one. So new software will be specially design for a company as per their need.
Customization of ERP helps the business to meet their software requirement. Business uses customization in order has full control of their business activities, from starting till the end of the process; software developers can create a system as per company need.
Following is the importance of customization of software development that helps business to grow in their respective fields.
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Centralized control of every activity
As the company uses customized software, they have the application for all the activities that occur in the company. Here with in few clicks they can gather information about all the departments and understand what is going on in the company?
Now a company uses a manufacturing management ERP in their system. The head of the department can get information about what things are needed and where the process has reached. If they have integrated camera then that gets connected to the ERP and head can view about the process any time. At the same time head wants to know about the sales department then too they can go into that department virtually and get to know about the info available of sales data. If any item is needed then employees can mention in the system and it will directly viewed by the head.
Department can get to know centrally what is needed and what process are going on. As they are connected to each other, centralized control is obtained. They also have data of finances and budgeting which helps to get clear idea of needs and wants of the company. Corruption inside the company was a regular thing in past days, but by ERP they can get control of each and every item from small to big, from cost to sales etc. this helps the company to make strategic decision in their business.
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Time saving
With the help of customized software development business owner can add their business requirement to the software developers. They create a system which has all the management control of every activity the business is.
When customized software for a company is created then it saves time for various activities that were manual. This may not be so with the basic version of the software. In the basic version of the software all the organization needs were not fulfilled. But this can be done in the customized software.
Like for example in a basic version of school management software, some ERP developers do not provide wellbeing module which is specific for British schools. Here the schools can go for customization and add that module which is the organization need.
Now when all the activities are connected then it saves times of the teacher, students, Principal and trustee. Thus customized software development saves a lot of time and makes things fast.
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Efficient and effective output
In customization of software development business goes for making extra facility for themselves for better processes. This leads to connecting all the units and tracking the work done. Data of every unit is stored and when ever any help is needed they can input the message to the concern department. The concern department can view the query and makes further process. Like for example in the manufacturing management process ERP there are various options available for things needed.
During any manufacturing process there is a need for a specific item and it is not available then they can fetch the nearby department for that specific item from the software itself. No need to go manually and look in to the books for this. This saves time and efforts. Thus the company has very complex process. By the use of customized software they can handle effectively all the process. Data is secure and stored for further use.
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Decision making
The customized software of a company has its own set of information available specific for the company. All the information is secure and private. This information can quickly be fetched and helps the decision makers in making important decision for the company.
Budgeting and finances decision can be carried out effectively and this helps the company to gain insights into what is needed for growth of the company.
Also with the latest technology in the software integrated they can be able to access the work, employee performance, appraisal etc. This helps in decision making of various important aspects of the company.
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Integration with other software
In the customized software development they give options of integration with other software. Companies use some of the basic software such as Tally or Miracle for basic financial accounting process. With the use of enterprise resource software the whole business activity altogether has a new way to process information and task. In this budgeting and accounting process they already have the old data of the company stored.
This data is integrated with the existing software by the process of integration. Financial statement of old data is integrated and full information is obtained from years old data. Suppose a company uses and enterprise resource planning software and data of the company is stored into it. Company then changes the software or ERP to some better one. Here too data from the old ERP software to new ERP software can be done.
Data is thus not lost and is safe.
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Specialized services
In the customization of software, ERP developers give an option of Personal Relationship manager service. In this there is a personal RM for the company. For any query one person will assist the company. Also if needed they give regular visits to the company for training to the employees for the software. This option may not be there for the basic version. When there are complex processes and an ERP is available for giving solution to the activities this can make company processes fast. Thus specialized services are obtained when company opt for customization of software.
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Silent cost reduction
The day today activities require a lot of time for manual work. Like if people go for maintaining register for attendance. There are around 500 employees in the company then it’s a tedious job to mark present or absent and time in and time out timing. With the introduction of enterprise resource planning software they build a biometric system for attendance. Here the machine itself will take the punch in and punch out time. So no need for any register or making a person sit for taking attendance.
Salary of the person for taking attendance is saved; along with it the stationary cost of register and books is also saved. Likewise there are various other ways in which the silent cost is reduced. This leads to cost reduction and fewer expenses to the company. This kind of integration of biometric device with other devices is the option available in customized software development.
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Future complex task
The business which has seen the effective use of ERP will defiantly use it for future years. As the business grows the future complex process also grows. When we have customized software developed for business then company tries that each and every business activity gets its use from ERP. Now as company grows the complex process will easily get integrated with the existing software. For employees it would be easy to get upgraded as they are trained for the existing software.
So future complex task can be easily managed when we use customized software. If we compare it will the basic plan of the software then they might not have this option of customized module.
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Marketing and increased brand value
The business which uses customized ERP can have much better brand value. If we look at the school management ERP then work of students and parents gets highly reduced. Parents find the ERP very interesting and feel that the organization has very good value standard for providing better education. This leads to increase in brand value of the company. Also parents among themselves do mouth marketing which increase more students to the school and this brings good strategic position to the school.
Thus customized software development brings very good change in creating brand value and does good marketing by itself.
Conclusion
Customized software development means developing software based on organizational need. Here organization can get very good benefit from the use of the software. They can get closer control and can know what the needs of the organization are. Company also reduces silent expense and can make a good brand value. Overall the company achieves good financial growth and control over day to day activities increases.
