Custom Software Development Services

At ScienceSoft, we analyze the custom software feasibility on a case-by-case basis. Among key pros and cons of custom development, we usually outline:

Pros

• Tailored feature set, no need to pay for out-of-the-box functionality you don’t need.
• Unlimited scalability.
• Lower costs in the long run.
• Can become a unique competitive advantage.

Cons

• Needs time to develop (3-6 months, 6-12 months, and more).
• Requires more input from key stakeholders.
• Free ready trial/demo is usually not available prior to investment.
• Accurate price is not readily available.
• Ongoing support is not included.

The cost of custom software development depends on your project’s scale and complexity shaped by multiple factors, such as:

• Software type and a number of platforms supported (web, mobile, desktop).
• Number and complexity of software features.
• Custom software design uniqueness and complexity.
• Number and complexity of integrations with other software systems.
• Infrastructure requirements (availability, performance, security, latent capacity and scalability).

You can request free project cost calculation from ScienceSoft if you need to assess planned software.

It depends on the development resources you have in-house. If none, you will have to assemble a dedicated team and fully outsource your project to a vendor. If you have a team but lack specific competencies, go for a team augmentation model.

It’s not necessary as your software development vendor will advise on an optimal methodology. However, if you want to know the fundamental difference, here is our brief overview:

• At ScienceSoft, we use Agile (Scrum, Kanban, XP) to enable fast releases and easy changes.
• In case accurately predictable budgets/timelines or adherence to industry regulations are in demand, we employ Waterfall.
• We offer the Iterative model when a customer wants both project flexibility and predictability.

Let us share some of the rules ScienceSoft sticks to:

• A dedicated PM for each project who organizes the work for the benefit of transparency and visibility, coordinates communication with your in-house team and third parties, continuously re-evaluates requirements and manages risks.
• Lean UX design.
• Clean and stable code; future-proof architecture (mobile-, integration-, cloud-ready; SOA, microservices-based, etc.).
• Development in a view of undemanding support and smooth evolution.

Duration: 1 – 3 months.

A dedicated business analyst (BA) or a BA team:

• Explores the specific business needs and opportunities, documents key processes that need to be covered with future software, considers relevant regulatory constraints.
• Elicits, gathers, processes opinions, expectations and concerns of all stakeholders.
• Structures and prioritizes the requirements for future software based on business value.
• Analyzes risks.

Duration: ~ 2 weeks.

A project manager:

• Provides time and budget estimations.
• Conducts cost-benefit analysis, estimates NVP, ROI.
• Draws up a project roadmap.
• Prepares a risk management strategy.

Duration: 2 weeks – 3 months.

The team:

• Defines architecture, data flows, and integration points.
• (optionally) Defines software parts of your existing software that can be re-used.
• Conducts UX research, designs wireframes, prototypes, and interface mockups.

Duration: 4 – 8 months (for the first working version of enterprise software of medium complexity).

Duration: 2 weeks – 6 months for each release.

The team:

• Ensures safe continuous releases via automated CI/CD pipelines.
• Tests software to verify its proper functioning, performance, and security.
• (wherever reasonable) Employs test automation to decrease testing time and costs.

The team:

• Deploys the software. (optionally) A trial implementation can be conducted for a limited number of users and with technical support. The trial stage usually takes up to 1-3 months.
• Performs knowledge transfer to your internal team/outsourced support team (if any).
• (if needed) Shows your internal users how to use it.

Duration: 1 – 3 months.

The team:

• Answers your and users’ after-release questions, resolve user issues (if any).
• Manages incidents, configuration changes and updates.

Upon agreement, we can continue taking care of the enhanced performance, stability and evolution of your application after the warranty support is over.