How to Get Started with Business Software Development

There is a lot to learn if you have never used a business software development service before and have never hired software developers. To some degree, it is not much different from hiring workers for other positions and with other types of expertise. That said, business software development is very complex. Building even a simple app can take months, if not years, of expertise to acquire.

Here is how to start business software development and what to have in your mind.

Define What You Want Your Software to Achieve

Identifying the specific goals that you want to achieve for your software gives you insight into the type of skillset you need. It may be to improve customer management, automate internal tasks, run data analyses, or something entirely different. Define it.

Set Realistic Goals for Your Software

It is important to have realistic goals that factor into your allocated budget, schedule, and hires. While any type of software can be coded and developed, every business is limited by factors such as budget. Discuss what is realistic with a software developer.

List Essential and Non-Essential Features You Want

Before you explore the software’s visual aesthetic and decorative design, focus on its functionality. List essential and non-essential features. These should align with your software objectives.

Hiring Software Developers and More

When you first jump into business software development, the primary workforce you need is software developers. After you hire software developers, you want quality control managers, software testers, user acceptance testers, technical leads, product analytics, and customer care.

Custom Software Compared to Off-The-Shelf

There may already be an off-the-shelf software solution that fits your business software development needs. Comparatively, custom software has the flexibility most businesses want, is more likely to align with your goals, and can be optimized and scaled to maximize efficiency.

Prioritize Designing Scalable Software Architecture

The software you build today may not have the resources to be the software you need tomorrow. The answer to this problem is to scale. Your software architecture should be optimized to scale easily to accommodate increased traffic, data, and users as needed.

Consider cloud services or microservices architecture to make scaling easy. Organize code and maintain code structure using frameworks like MVC, aka Model-View-Controller.

Compatibility with Existing Systems

Any new business software you develop should be easily integrated into existing systems, such as CRM or ERP. However, compatibility challenges are not uncommon. Use APIs to connect and sync data between systems and address compatibility issues upfront.

Build Your Most Collaborative Team

A full-scale software development team should have experience, technical skills, problem-solving ability, and the ability to work well together. Team collaboration is important and can accelerate development and improve software quality.

Select the Right Software Development Methodology

Match your software development methodology to what you’ve set out for your project’s scale and flexibility. Whether iterative, linear, and predictable, requiring frequent updates, or having fixed requirements, each would be recommended using a different methodology.

Select the Appropriate Technology Stack

Like the methodology, your technology stack should support your software’s functionality, scalability, and performance requirements. Each stack has advantages, some aligning better with project goals than others. As a starting point, here are three of the more popular.

MEAN – MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS, and Node.js

MERN – MongoDB, Express.js, React, and Node.js

MEVN – MongoDB, Express.js, Vue.js, and Node.js

Prioritize Building Essential Features First

Anything can happen on a software development project, such as changes in budget or schedule. Prioritize developing essential features that meet the software’s core needs. These can then solicit feedback, add features, and optimize resources around them.

Create an Intuitive, User-Friendly UX/UI Design

While software development has little to do with UX/UI design, developers want to be aware of it. Intuitive navigation, responsive design, and tailoring the interface to meet the end user’s needs are all important pieces of the puzzle that could impact development at some point.

Hire Developers Based on Their Specialized Skillset

There are dozens of programming languages and tech stacks out there. Ensure you chase and hire software developers who are experts in what you’re looking to use and who ideally have experience with similar projects. If the specialized skill and creativity are not there, it may be best to hire someone else.

Create a Project Plan for Business Software Development

The last step of starting business software development is creating a project plan. Define precisely the project scope, deliverables, and KPIs.

Create major milestones and a structure for achieving each. Finalize your team and how this collaboration will be carried out. Provide accurate estimates on software development time and costs.