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Many modern technologies are now designed in a way that makes them obsolete within a few years. Cell phones, TVs, and even software can quickly become unusable and require expensive upgrades or replacements. This "planned obsolescence" can understandably create reluctance in business owners to invest in the latest software trends.
While a lot of out-of-the-box software works this way, there are software solutions out there that have the ability to evolve with a business's ever-changing needs. These more flexible solutions eliminate that "stuck" feeling business leaders get when their software no longer works for them.
Let's take a look at how these future-proof software solutions create lasting success without the need for endless replacements.
Why Future-Proof Software is Crucial for Growing Business
Both business and technology are constantly changing. Businesses must keep up with current cultural trends to stay relevant to customers, come up with novel business ideas of their own, and incorporate new technologies, so they don't lag behind competitors-all while trying to increase revenue and keep their employees engaged. All of this requires flexibility, adaptability, and ongoing efficiency.
Out-of-the-box software solutions can get a new business up and running in most cases, but most businesses are going to require a more scalable software architecture over the long-term.
For example, when a business comes up with a new idea or begins to expand, new KPIs need to be tracked. Custom software designs can help ensure that a business measures the right KPIs when new sources of revenue are introduced in order to get useful insights.
A related example involves one of our clients: A bank that was rapidly expanding through business acquisitions. The bank found that generating insights became more and more difficult as these changes took place. On top of the increasing numbers of customers and products, there was also the task of extracting data from acquired business's systems. This resulted in our client relying on over 50 small database applications to meet their reporting and analysis needs.
We carefully considered our client's complex needs and designed a solution that included reporting and analysis tools which enabled self-service reporting, allowing team members to generate and analyze insights more efficiently and effectively than the bank thought possible. In addition, new forms of visualization were offered to assist users in understanding the insights that they generated. This allowed the bank more flexibility as it continued to expand.
On the other hand, most out-of-the-box software offers generic one-size-fits-all solutions, and many companies find themselves inventing workarounds to include features that they need but don't have. As a business grows, these just pile up, making everything less efficient.
The Custom Software Design Principles That Create a Resilient Product
So, how do you create a custom software design that also stands the test of time?
A good software partner helps businesses implement effective, long-lasting solutions using a set of design principles meant to help the software evolve. At CSG, these include:
Integration Readiness
Integration readiness allows seamless integration of new software with a business's existing systems, enhancing functionality and data consistency. Certain requirements, like APIs, data formats, and protocols, guide the development and testing of the integration. If changes are made to existing systems, these can also be integrated into the software.
Modular Design
Modular design allows different functions to be organized into different modules. While all modules are designed to work together in a seamless, cohesive manner, they can also be tested and changed independently or added and removed when needed without affecting others.
Scalability
Scalable solutions are designed to grow with a business, adapting to new requirements and increasing volumes. For example, this can include a data infrastructure that can handle increasing volumes of data without compromising performance.
Adaptable UI/UX
Custom software should fit like a glove, and this requires utilizing user feedback to adapt to the needs of different users and roles. Users should be able to customize their interface and the software should have specialized features and data needed to complete tasks and adapt when a user's tasks change.
Governance Hooks
Software governance hooks-a framework of policies and processes that control software operations to align with business goals, manage risks, and ensure compliance-are integrated into the software, which can be changed when processes and policies change.
Continuous Optimization
Real-time monitoring is used to detect problems and implement continuous optimization to enhance solution performance and adapt to changing business needs.
The Agile Discovery Process That Leads to Business Goal Alignment
At CSG, we use the Agile methodology to ensure flexibility, responsiveness, and resilience in software projects. According to the 17th Annual State of Agile Report, 71% of survey taker organizations use Agile in their software development lifecycle. And there's a good reason for its widespread usage: It works.
CSG's custom Agile process allows for constant evolution and optimization that makes software a seamless, indispensable asset to your organization that also evolves with your goals. We've seen this process produce consistent and long-lasting results for numerous clients. Here are a few of our case studies, showing our process in action:
- Discovering that an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) needed data about patients in order to make sure they received the right treatment. CSG helped the ACO access necessary information with a data warehouse, which led to improved quality scores and higher quality care for more people.
- A newborn photography company saw the opportunity to use their own data to improve retention of their staff and contractors and potentially use that data to create new revenue streams. CSG helped develop a solution and taught their team to develop their business analytics skills. In an ongoing journey, the company is implementing strategies to address employee retention and enhance their market share.
- CSG helped a marketing agency discover that it was overly reliant on processes that hadn't been updated for a long time, slowing down the processes and increasing the likelihood of human error. CSG helped the agency completely transform their workflow with a future-proofed technology framework that will provide downstream benefits for the development of future client-facing and internal systems.
Right from the beginning, the Agile discovery-first process ensures the above design principles are aligned with business goals and implemented in a way that fits with your business needs. We start the journey with an in-depth consultation to understand your business challenges, goals, and requirements, where we discover what you need, now and in the long run. From there, we plan, test, gather feedback, and revise until we get it right.
If you're ready to stop worrying about software longevity and try out a future-proof software solution that continues working for your business throughout its many evolutions, contact us today.
