Custom software development is the designing of software applications to address the needs of specific user group within an enterprise. It is specifically designed to meet the needs in a more comprehensive way than traditional off the shelf softwares.

Here are 5 best practices to follow while developing custom software application in Dubai

1. Define Your Present Process and Future Requirements

To develop anything, including software, it is crucial to define your present process, your expectancies, and your measurement of performance. Hence make sure you are aware of the following

• The current process followed by the company. Do not assume, consult the experts who know the actual working.
• What is the reason behind the shift? Do not assume things will get better. Get all the stakeholders on board and test the theory.
• What is the desired result? Picture how the product would look like and the other processes you want the software to support.

2. Bring in the Experts

Custom software can be built by the following people.

• Your internal IT department
• Contract employees hired specifically for the job.
• Software development vendors and companies in UAE

The issue with hiring your own IT team for enterprise software development in UAE is that, first, the daily obligations for the company will be given higher priority so naturally this could slow down your custom software application development. Second, your team may not be skillfully equipped or experienced in development.

Hence it makes perfect sense if you decide upon outsourcing the process. You could collaborate with teams that have successfully developed and deployed other custom software applications. You may also find other software development companies in UAE who have already build applications for your industry.

3. Make A Viable Plan with Benchmarks

Set up a team that comprises of developers, subject matter experts, and someone to lead and guide the project as a whole. Together create a plan of action. Ensure it is achievable; it would be foolish to think that you can create complex workflows and ship the product in a week.

Break down the project into achievable goals to keep the project on track. These goals would act as landmarks of development that should be completed at a certain time and budget. You can assess the progress at each scheduled benchmark, to analyze if you need to make changes to your planned timeline or budget.

4. Conduct Suitable Testing

Before you deploy the new software across your entire organization, test it sufficiently. Testing is usually executed at two levels

Level 1: Technical testing done by developers. Only the foundational elements are tested.

Level 2: User Testing done by business beta users to understand if the software is working as expected.

5. Document the Entire Product Development

It is incredibly important to document at each stage of development and deployment. The document act as an essential piece where it is clearly defined what the project entails, the major milestones, date of expectations. It also should contain a test plan and a thorough checklist to ensure that the software is fully tested before deployment.

It may also contain an implementation plan, training plan as well as user documentation so that users are given a detailed step by step plan on how to use it effectively.