Preparation
Decision for the creation of individual software with selection and commissioning of a software provider.
As individual as you and your company itself
Standard software may be bent with additional extensions, plug-ins, add-ons, roughly in the direction you expect from it, but only roughly. During the development phase, no one ever had your or your company’s well-being in mind. This is completely different with individual software, every single line of code exists only for one reason: to serve your company. By design, this software is only designed to meet your requirements.
Individual software plays an important role in German companies. According to studies by the Experton Group, about 70 percent of all German companies use individually developed software for the digital support and optimization of production processes and workflows as well as in the areas of project management and marketing.
If you look at large companies with more than 2,500 employees in the study alone, the deployment rate even rises to around 87 percent. Standard software, such as the best-known giants Microsoft and SAP, are not sufficient in many areas to meet the requirements of efficient economic development in the company and quickly reach their limits.
The use of individual software is necessary for economic and future-proof production planning and merchandise management with ERP systems (real-time software, enterprise systems) and CRM solutions (customer relationship management) on local servers and in the cloud. In the mechanical engineering sector in particular, companies can gain considerable competitive advantages through the use of individual solutions.
Software Basic – from the first software to tailor-made custom solution
The term “software” was born in 1958. John W. Tukey established and defined the term in the US trade journal „American Mathematical Monthly”. In the article, Turkey defined all physical components of a device as hardware and the electronic data storage as a unit with the hardware as software. It was not until the 1970s that IBM separated the components hard- and software as individual products in a new definition. Microsoft and SAP were the first companies to specialize in software development. Today, software is understood as a natural term and in a comprehensive context as program, documentation and data.
Individual software in action – custom-fit in-house developments compared to standard software can do the following
In business informatics, individual software development is the implementation of individual application and communication systems with applications that enable flexible, cross-platform and cross-device control of management, production process and marketing with modern technologies. Due to the complexity of individual requirements on the systems, which are tailor-fit by the developer, it is necessary to consult professional developers with know-how and a joint analysis of the processes with the customer, so that all factors and needs of the future users are taken into account in the architecture of the systems and in the choice of technologies. User-friendliness and optimized process control are equally important. In comparison to standard software vs. individual software, solutions and techniques are not static but flexible and sustainable. The solutions are constantly being adapted and optimized to the changing business development and environments.
Development of custom-fit software solutions – components of modern software technology at a glance
Developers work with modern software technology when designing individual software products. Basically, a software consists of languages and notations that control certain processes as instruction codes in the user program. Depending on the reasons for its creation, the application’s software later enables, for example, the control and evaluation of
- Configuration files,
- Font files,
- Lookup tables,
- data structures for databases and
- Source codes for quality assurance.
The complexity of the project requires a structured approach in the development process of individual systems based on a flexible project management with detailed project planning.
Tailor-made with a concept – individually designed by the software developer
Entwurf von Architektur und DesignArchitecture and design
Basic components of the software system are structured in an architecture and defined in a design draft.
The design includes the subsequent modification of the software as well as quality criteria such as maintenance, security and data processing performance. The decisions defined in the draft are important for the following programming, because a later change of the architecture is relatively complex and entails cost increases.
Documentation
All processes, procedures and components are being meticulously recorded in a user and programer documentation. The system documentation is created in order to enable further development and bug fixing in the long term. A kind of guide and orientation for the entire complex system. Even the smallest detail is documented.
Planning
The planning includes the creation of requirement specifications and specifications to define the basics with estimation of effort and project planning by the software manufacturer or developer. A comprehensive consulting service reveals the business problems and a first consultation shows possible solutions.
Programming
The specialist for programming language demonstrates the implementation of the application software. During programming, the software design is coded with the help of the programming language into a source code that can be read from the hardware. Examples of programming languages are Java, JavaScript, C++, Perl or HTML, HTML5 and CSS.
Analysis
Situation versus goal
All required development services are recorded and evaluated on the basis of analyses. Those results are the decisive factors for the future architecture of the new systems (e.g. process analysis and system analysis).
Testing / Validation
Extensive tests with module tests, system tests and acceptance tests are used to check and analyse the programming of software solutions, the implementation of processes and applications before implementation. Any subsequent optimization is carried out after the analysis has been evaluated. Before the integration and conversion of the software into the running system a training of all future users by a specialist makes sense, so that they can master all the challenges of daily business in practice immediately. The users are trained in the full functional scope of the software solution. All modules, methods and processes are introduced and explained to the customer.
Support & Hosting
In contrast to standard software, the Individual product is subject to constant quality management and is continuously adapted. In outsourcing, the software developer takes over all tasks from maintenance, version management, support and hosting to the flexible and special process expansion of the platform.
Application of software as an economic engine
Both for small and medium-sized enterprises as well as for larger global players in every industry, optimal production processes and digital information systems play a significant role in economic success. Successful national and international business requires a high degree of flexibility in order to bring goods with a competitive advantage onto the market. If one puts standard software vs. individual software in direct comparison, mass-produced products are often unable to keep the promise of a comfortable and fast application and result in disadvantages when carrying out business activities. Non-homogeneous collaboration between technology and process flow structure reduces the possible improvement in the economic performance of the entire company. From an economic point of view, the edition of an individual software is quite reasonable and the development of IT does not necessarily mean a higher budget expenditure in the cost factor. If external suppliers are being commissioned, the purchase of individual software is comparable with the expenses for a standard product. Apart of the purchase cost, standard software is often connected with high, ongoing follow-up costs, such as license fees and additional fees for customizations in design and utilization of the application. The customization of the standard software often becomes a long-term project.
Independent technologies can already be realised by specialists with a low budget and with the implementation of all requested properties.
Individual solutions have a high level of acceptance, as all the advantages and goals of digital process optimization can be called up in a specifically tailored procedure with an individual combination. Once the individual system architecture has been designed, technical availability is possible in a short period of time. Corresponding adaptations to changed processes and procedures or the consideration of additional factors in the digital process are possible with a largely low workload. In contrast, the entire process is more flexible, independent and powerful as all individual specifications are integrated into the existing system. Supplementary means are understood as increasing quality throughout the entire product life cycle.