As technology evolves, it is becoming more important for businesses to implement new and advanced software into their structures and processes. Today, specialty software is used to streamline and enhance almost every part of the business world.
Some software is designed to help businesses with essential tasks, such as measuring productivity, data gathering and analysis, payroll, and employee record keeping. It is also highly beneficial to enhance the customer experience businesses offer through their web and mobile applications.
To ensure they stand out in a highly technological world, increasingly more businesses are now also investing in offshore and nearshore IT development to get access to top developers, more advanced development processes and resources, and better development project outcomes.
But how exactly has the era of software development changed the way we do business? Let’s explore eleven key points:
How Software Development Has Changed the Way We Do Business
- Tracking and Managing Efficiency
When managing large teams, it can be difficult to track and manage productivity. Innovative software developments have made it possible for businesses to monitor employees, manage projects, and analyze productivity. As a result, it has significantly changed employer and customer expectations of work quality both at employee and management levels.
Software has also made it easier for managers and team leaders to monitor projects effectively. Goals can be tracked easier, while issues can be identified early on. This allows businesses to manage projects significantly better.
- Managing Customers
As businesses grow, it can be difficult to manage customers and the way they interact with businesses. This is where a software built for customer relationship management (CRM) can be highly effective. This type of software can help businesses keep track of any contact with customers to sustain relationships and, ultimately, enhance sales.
With advanced software, businesses can monitor activity to learn the interests of their customers to tailor products and services, as well as the customer journey. It can also help identify a decrease in activity and help businesses find ways to reignite leads and customers’ interest.
- Improving marketing efforts
Today, online marketing is more important than ever for the overall success of businesses. As a result, many software types are developed to assist businesses with their online marketing efforts, including social media marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and pay-per-click advertising.
Some software can help define target audiences, generate reports, and track results, while other types can help automate certain tasks. Overall, it can be an incredibly valuable tool to help businesses save valuable time and money on marketing.
- Broadening Customer Bases
Software enables businesses to reach new economic markets fast. Mobile and web applications can be built to target new audiences specifically. This way, businesses do not have to spend large amounts of capital on major marketing campaigns but can position their applications in such a way to enhance organic reach.
- Moving to Cloud Computing
With the development of Cloud software technology, it is now easier for businesses to safely access, store, and share important data online. According to TechRadar Pro, Spending on cloud computing increased by 37 percent between 2018 and 2019, and this figure is only expected to grow in 2020. This software eliminates the need to use bulky and complex hardware to manage and store large quantities of data.
Cloud software solutions are typically user-friendly and can be accessed from anywhere, making it particularly valuable for businesses who work remotely. Businesses can efficiently share data in real-time and increase productivity considerably.
- Better insights
For successful growth, businesses need data-driven insights to understand their customers’ needs. They enable them to enhance their products to match those needs proactively. Certain software developments can help businesses to delve into data to gain relevant insights. Some developments can also be used to obtain predictive insights to determine how customers’ behavior may change in the future. This helps businesses focus on improving their offerings and enables them to put retention campaigns in place, targeted at customers most at risk of leaving.
- Moving to remote working
The rise of software development has made it easier for businesses to work with remote teams. Now, business owners, managers, and team leaders can effectively communicate with their workers in locations around the world.
Communication software, productivity software, and cloud storage have made it possible for projects to run smoothly without teams working from one physical location. This has allowed businesses to save on office spaces, hardware, and other resources required for in-house teams.
- Mobile interaction
With software development becoming more advanced and mobile devices being more accessible, the way businesses interact with customers has changed significantly. It is now easier than ever to communicate with consumers on the go.
With mobile applications, businesses’ doors can stay open 24/7 and consumers can shop when and how it suits them. This easy accessibility offers more value to customers, reduces the cost for businesses, increases customer engagement, and enhances the visibility of brands. Other benefits of utilizing mobile applications include:
- Developing a better connection with customers
- Boosting brand recognition
- Increasing accessibility to products/services
- Improving visibility
- Standing out from competitors
- Tracking Sales
Sales are at the core of all businesses. And for successful selling, businesses have to effectively monitor their sales processes, track costs and sales, and identify ways to make the system more efficient. Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) and Software Sales Performance Management (SPM) are great examples of innovative software that can be used to efficiently track and manage sales. EPM and SPM involve a data-driven approach to planning and continuous analysis to help businesses plan better and maximize performance.
- Enhancing security
According to RiskBased Security, data breaches exposed 4.1 billion records only in the first six months of 2019. As companies move their core business online and sensitive data about companies and their customers can easily be hacked, security software has become invaluable.
Personal and financial data can be protected and weaknesses in online systems can be identified with the right security software. This can help businesses to improve their practices and upgrade their hardware.
- Increased growth
Every business wants to grow fast. But in our technologically advanced world, it is often not possible without the right software in place. Software can be used to gain an extra edge over competitors and achieve business goals more frequently by improving processes and eliminating errors early on. This allows for better control and growth acceleration.
The Future of Software Development
The benefits that software development offers businesses, big and small, have certainly paved the way for a bright future.
With increasingly more businesses taking their core structures and processes online, it is expected that the world of software will only evolve. Tasks will become more automatic and programmed with the creation of software such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) technology, and IT Process Automation (ITPA) software. It may seem like these types of software are only for larger enterprises, but smaller-sized businesses are now increasingly looking into these types of technology for their own processes. As a result, it is becoming more accessible and more customized to suit the needs of businesses big and small.
It is also predicted that increasingly more businesses will invest in custom software. Custom software is specifically designed for a business’s unique needs and can be tailored as the business grows. It can turn concepts into reality to get an advantage over competitors who are still using off-the-shelf solutions.
Choosing the Right Software
It is essential to consider software that will run on your current hardware. Alternatively, you can outsource your software needs, which can help to reduce both your software and hardware costs. IT outsourcing is an effective way to invest in custom software designed specifically for your business’ needs and goals.
In recent years, offshoring outsourcing and nearshore software development has become incredibly popular hiring models as businesses look to find ways to manage more complex software development projects to give them an advantage in their respective fields.
Software Development Can Take Your Business to the Next Level
Doing business has become more complicated today than ever before. With so many competitors, businesses need to stand out in some way. One easy way to get a competitive edge is to invest in software.
Indeed software development can help your business to cut costs and save time through automating tasks, enabling employees to work more efficiently, improving customer service, and communicating better with suppliers and other stakeholders. However, it is always important to consider your objectives and the potential benefits before making the investment.
While off-the-shelf software can be incredibly beneficial, the advantage for your businesses lies in custom software development. However, you may not have the capabilities to develop in-house software on your own. Therefore, it is important to consider outsourcing software development. This allows your business to create a product that suits your specific needs and goals, grows as your business grows, and makes you stand out in an ocean of competitors. It is an effective approach that can consistently give you an excellent return on investment.
