Coming up with a new software solution is always exciting, especially when you know that it addresses the needs of your business. However, the next step is more important. You need to turn your idea into a proper project. Whether you are hiring a development company or you are using your own development team, it’s helpful to understand the custom software development process.  

The requirements of developing a custom software

When developing customized software, your developers aim to create a custom application that improves the employee productivity as well as efficiency of the business. Additionally, they devise an app that communicates HR benefits, engages with employees, and generates better workflow automation. Besides, they need a dashboard to improve project flow as well.

The project of developing custom software for your business includes many steps. They are all important and necessary phases in the whole process. Each of these steps needs you to spend quality time with a lot of discussions and a detailed plan. Let’s see what the steps are.

The custom software development process

As we already mentioned, the custom software development process includes a few phases, including. 

Step 1: Understanding requirements and scope

So you have an idea, you know what you need and require for your project. These needs should be noted and discussed in some meetings with your development team or a development company that you hire. 

These meetings help you understand more about the requirements of your custom software development process. This is when you focus on the particular goals that your software needs to achieve, who will be using it and why, etc.

When all the requirements are addressed and discussed, the development team or company can choose the most efficient approach for the project.

Step 2: Analysis of requirements and brainstorming

The development team needs a thorough review of all the information in the first step so that they can address the specific needs of your business. 

Some documentation might be needed in this phase in order to provide insight knowledge about the business. The final solution for the project will be based on this step. Both the development team/company and the owner of the business must agree on the solution before moving on to the next phase.

This phase is to avoid any misunderstandings between the two parties and create a roadmap for the development process. 

Step 3: Coding and design

The custom software development process needs a unique approach to your business’s requirements. In this phase, the software’s architecture is designed with all modules specified in the solution from the previous step. 

The design is based on some aspects like your budget, resource availability, design modularity, risk assessment, and others. 

Step 4. Development and implementation

This step in the whole process is usually the longest one because the development team/ company needs to build the actual solution in line with the design considerations.

In this step, the developers need to make sure that all components are in place, including system requirements, the architecture, and the wireframe.

Along this development process, every member of the development team must report any issue that they encounter. If the issue is solved immediately, the process will take less time and effort to complete. It also improves the smooth functioning of workflows and enhances the productivity of the team.

Step 5. Testing 

When the development of your software is completed and it’s ready to be released for the first time, you need to test it a few times. This testing phase includes various types of functional and non-functional testing done by the development team. 

All the developers, employees, even loyal customers must be involved in this phase to point out features and functionalities that should be improved, errors that need to be fixed, etc. All the functions and features of the software must be tested, including its security and scalability. 

You are only done with this step once the quality of your software matches the original requirements.

Step 6. Training, deployment, and maintenance

After when the software is released for public users, the development team/ company still needs to keep an eye on it and support the software/app as well as maintain it. The training needs to be provided for users so that they know how to use the software properly. 

In conclusion, developing custom software can solve a lot of problems for a business. You need to have a bright idea, find the right development team from Omatech for your custom software development process. As long as your team is experienced and skillful, the process won’t be complicated. Whether you have your own team, or you hire a development agency, you should learn about all important phases in the process to know how your team is doing and what to discuss with the service provider.