One size doesn’t fit all: it’s a smart business move to customize a tool to fit your business needs
There are as many off-the-shelf IT and software solutions available as there are business problems to be solved. These standard solutions may address many common problems and look fit for purpose at first glance, however, they can be found lacking when it comes to addressing specific business requirements.
Any standard tool only tends to meet a proportion of a clients’ needs. To address every single requirement, customization tends to be required. Building a customized tool means that your particular requirements can be met without having to compromise on any aspect of functionality, and a customized tool can add value and bridge the gap between commercial off-the-shelf software and your particular needs.
Customization delivers a tool uniquely suited to your business needs
A standard tool that you buy directly from a vendor will be well-built, thoroughly-researched, and functional. It will cover all of the normal features of a software tool of its type, and at first glance it might appear to solve many of your problems.
The phrase ‘the devil is in the detail’ is appropriate here, however. While a standard tool will offer the key elements of mainstream functionality, it will likely not be able to deal with the nuances of individual circumstances. If you have particular software products which need to work alongside each other, for example, or if you need a particular type of specialized reporting, then these elements are likely to be absent.
Customization allows you to gain the functionality of these types of additional elements and produces a tool uniquely suited to your business needs.
A customized tool can promote internal efficiencies
Introducing value add-ons within a software solution to support specific use cases also promotes internal efficiencies. You gain a solution which fits exactly with your particular needs and existing processes and systems. A customized tool may allow data entry in your preferred format for example, or could offer differential levels of access for your particular types of user, or could integrate with your existing IT infrastructure.
The key point is that you won’t have to change your existing processes to fit a new software solution; instead, the customized tool will fit into those existing processes, and make them more efficient. This can mean less time wasted internally on things like duplication of effort and inefficient working practices.
DRMcNatty have an excellent track record in customization
Throughout our three decades in business, we have helped countless companies develop and customize software solutions that deliver against every element of their needs.
For example, delivering improved organizational efficiency alongside enhanced reporting for project scheduling and costs, DRMcNatty designed and implemented a new Project Management Information System which met all of our client’s requirements on a tight timescale. Similarly, using data integration and a customized front end, DRMcNatty designed and built a much improved daily reporting system for a large utilities client. This offered enhanced usability and better management of finances, leading to greater productivity.
Our technical experts have experience in a wide range of industries and have worked on projects of all sizes. We take the time to get to know your priorities and requirements, and work alongside you to design solutions that offer measurable business benefits.
Customization is an investment in efficiency
Choosing a standard software tool may seem like the easy option when considering what’s available, however a standard tool will likely never deliver all the functionality required for projects of any degree of complexity. Choosing an off-the-shelf tool is usually followed swiftly by the designing of workarounds and the purchase of add-ons to solve problems which weren’t anticipated, and therefore the outlay of more money.
Our track record helping clients in the infrastructure sector implement excellent customized solutions speaks for itself. For our clients, choosing to implement a customized solution which works for them is an investment in efficiency which pays dividends in the long-term.
