While some large enterprises still rely on off-the-shelf software without bespoke functionality, most businesses are now turning to custom-made enterprise-level software. This is thanks to the business-specific functionality that custom software affords, allowing companies to streamline their workflows and enhance their operations.
So, if you were going to build your own enterprise software, where should you start? In this article, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about creating a solution for your business. Keep reading to discover six key steps to enterprise software development.
What Is Enterprise Software?
Enterprise software caters to medium and large businesses, offering advanced features to streamline processes. It provides tailored solutions for critical functions like finance, HR, supply chain, and more. With scalability, integration capabilities, and robust security measures, enterprise software enhances efficiency and supports complex workflows. It is characterized by its ability to handle large data volumes and offers customization options to align with specific business needs and industry regulations.
How Is Enterprise Software Used?
Enterprise software is an umbrella term that houses many different types of software, each with varying levels of complexity and functionality. Here are just a few types of enterprise software that businesses can leverage in order to boost their operations.
Supply Chain Management
Supply chain management software offers enterprises a way to optimize their inventory, order, and logistics management efforts. This type of enterprise software typically comes with product ordering and database management functionality, giving businesses a comprehensive and all-in-one portal in which to manage their inventory.
Task Management and Scheduling
Task management is an essential part of running a business smoothly, especially in the remote-worker age. Task management and scheduling software allow businesses to clearly create tasks and assign them to employees while outlining their daily workload. As a result, this software can be used to create a smooth work environment that’s conducive to success.
Customer Relationship Management
As businesses grow their customer bases, managing them becomes increasingly difficult; this is where customer relationship management (CRM) software rears its head. CRM software allows businesses to monitor their customer communications, such as emails, customer reviews, and customer order statuses, ensuring strong relationships are maintained.
How to Build Enterprise Software
Hopefully, the above use cases have provided some inspiration for your own enterprise software. So, without further ado, here are the six steps to take when building a solution for your business.
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Identify Your Requirements
As with any software development project, building enterprise software starts with determining your project requirements. If you fail to clearly define your needs, then you’ll end up with more general functionality that may not achieve your desired outcomes.
A simple way to help identify your requirements is to ask what your overall goal for this software is. Do you want to streamline task management or improve communication with customers? The answer to this question will affect your required functionality and design.
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Design Your Software
The next stage is to design your software. This stage involves creating a software design that marries cohesively with your required functionality. For example, if you need database search functionality, you must ensure that you design an easy-to-use search interface for your software.
When designing your software, it’s important to consider proper usability and experience principles, otherwise known as UI/UX design. This includes verifying that clickable elements are clearly visible and images are not in an obstructive place. You should also pay attention to navigation bar elements, ensuring that pages are clearly labeled.
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Choose a Data Storage Method
Because enterprise-level applications tend to deal with sensitive information crucial to the everyday running of your business, it’s essential to choose robust data storage solutions. This could include on-premise servers or cloud storage.
Out of the two options, cloud storage is the most cost-effective, as you do not need to invest in any hardware for yourself. However, cloud storage is not always as secure as on-premise servers since only people in your organization can access the servers used.
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Develop Your Software
The next step is to actually develop your software. If you have the required knowledge to develop software yourself, then great! Otherwise, you should consider hiring an expert software development agency.
When hiring a software development agency, there are several things you should consider, such as quality and relevancy of the project portfolio, software development procedure availability, and post-release support options. After reviewing these items, you’re poised to determine whether they are the right company for your project.
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Test and Deploy
Once your enterprise-level application is developed, you’ll need to run it through rigorous testing to ensure that it functions correctly and contains no obvious errors. After completing the testing phase, you may then deploy your software. This will look different depending on whether your software is for public or internal use.
Deploying internally is as simple as installing your software on your organization’s computers and training employees. A public release, on the other hand, requires you to set up an easily accessible online download point, usually a website.
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Maintain
Contrary to what you may think, once your enterprise-level software is built and deployed, the work is not over yet. The last step is to maintain your software, ensuring that you swiftly fix any bugs when they arise. Remember: no matter how well-developed your software is, it will run into bugs at some point during its life cycle.
As a result, it’s best to hire a third party to conduct regular maintenance checks and fixes as they can become time-consuming and resource-intensive. Hiring a third-party agency ultimately frees you up to focus on more important business tasks.
Enterprise Software Solutions from Idea Maker
If you don’t want the hassle of building enterprise software or lack the required knowledge, you should consider hiring the expert team at Idea Maker. We are experienced in all types of enterprise development, from fintech to healthcare. Schedule a free consultation with us today to learn more about how we can help your business.
