Software Development Agency

Whether it’s optimising business workflows, connecting APIs or creating stunning user interfaces to interact with business intelligence data, we at 6B have seen a huge increase in the demand for software in recent years. Software is no longer an optional extra; it has cemented itself as a fundamental part of how organisations do business in the modern economy. 

However, not all software is created equal. We, as a software development agency, know this all too well at 6B. When embarking on a software development project, you as a business leader will need to decide between choosing a commercial off-the-shelf solution and a bespoke software solution. So what is exactly the difference between off-the-shelf and bespoke software? Let’s answer this question before we dig down into the benefits that a truly bespoke solution can offer your business. 

Off-the-shelf software – often referred to as commercial software – is a pre-packaged solution that’s available to purchase for the mass market. It’s generic in its functionality and is designed specifically to be that way so it can work across as many different business models as possible – take Microsoft’s Office Suite or Adobe Photoshop for example. It’s in-built tools and features will not be specific to any business or industry, which is a plus for the software developer, but your business may be left with a whole host of features or tools that you have no use for. In fact, you may find out that you need to hire a developer to try and tailor this off-the-shelf software to your business’ needs because it is so generic, which kind of defeats the purpose of it as a solution in the first place. 

Now bespoke software is the solution favoured by any good software development agency. Bespoke software – often referred to as custom or tailored software – is created with a specific user in mind. It is designed precisely to meet the specific needs of a single business, with features and tools that are useful to helping that business achieve its specific goals. And because the solution is bespoke to each individual business and that business owns the source code, it can be integrated to fit bespoke or packaged software, used to replace a legacy system, and altered in the future to facilitate scalability. 

Essentially, bespoke software is built complete from scratch. Imagine your dream home; instead of buying a ‘doer-upper’ and undergoing extensive renovation work to make it look and function exactly how you want, you sit down with an architect before anything is built and relay your vision for your dream home and they set about making it happen. In this situation, a software development agency is the architect; they’ll help you design a custom structure from scratch, incorporating everything you want and need into something that resonates with you and your vision for your business. 

And that’s the beauty of bespoke software development. Rather than placing a square peg in a round hole that may do some of what you want but definitely has its limitations, bespoke builds from the ground up to develop something that is truly tailored to your business. After all, your business is unique, so why settle for something that your market competitors are likely to use? Or even worse still, something that a business totally removed from your market uses? It doesn’t make any sense. 

Not only will a bespoke solution from a specialist software development agency offer your better security coverage and help you rediscover your competitive advantage, but it will also give you a solution that can be easily integrated and scaled to facilitate future growth. Yes, the initial outlay will be slightly more expensive than an off-the-shelf alternative, but the money you’ll save in the long run as a result will be more than worth the initial investment.

As technology advances and users evolve, bespoke software has quickly become an absolute necessity in order to meet the complex and growing demands of businesses and their users. Partnering with a software development agency like 6B gives your business instant access to the technical expertise you’ll need to understand and get the most out of a bespoke solution that is tailored to your business. 

Now, it can be tempting to try and do everything in-house, or even hire a team of freelancers to complete your software development project, but we would strongly advise against this. In most cases, the clients we have worked with that have gone down this path haven’t been successful; their in-house team, or team of freelancers, simply lacked the digital expertise to create a solution that encompassed all of their needs, and they ended up opting for a generic off-the-shelf solution that fell well short of what they were looking for.

Hiring a specialist software development agency like 6B means that your business will have a pool of professional and experienced talent to call upon – from designers and developers to quality assurance experts and skilled project managers. Whether we at 6B are briefed to work on ecommerce or blockchain industry projects, we have the practical experience of working on a variety of projects to deliver results. Our refined and varied skill set means we’re expertly placed to advise on the latest trends and technologies you’ll need to make your bespoke solution a reality. As a specialist software development agency, we place an emphasis on the need for our staff to continually enhance their own skills and knowledge through research and development days. As a result, we have amassed a team that are clued up and aware of the current programming languages, technology trends and software they’ll need to implement to provide an up-to-date solution that serves your business’ goals today and in the future. 

Another key aspect of partnering with a software development agency is the reliability and scalability we can offer. Unlike a freelancer or in-house developer who may incorporate more than one job title into their role, we have individuals who are experts in their given field – whether that’s our quality assurance experts, business analysts or software developers. While our team is capable of overlap and is knowledgeable in different areas of software development, they specialise in their specific field and that’s why we employ them. They are masters of their craft and their expertise – especially at the start of a big project or as a startup business – is invaluable and can be the difference between sinking and thriving in such a competitive business landscape. And it’s these tech-savvy individuals that will help your business and team seamlessly scale up or down, depending on the changing requirements of your project; we’re committed to working in an agile and flexible manner and we have done for years now across a range of sectors, so we aren’t phased by any sudden adjustments or changes that may need to be made. 

As well as providing your business with reliable professionals that can scale at pace, a software development agency will also take care of the entire project management side of things. You may have overseen and managed various projects in the past, but keeping a technical project of such size on track is an entirely different prospect. Through hiring an agency that specialises in these types of projects, you alleviate the pressure from your own internal team; an agency like 6B has dedicated delivery and project managers that will gather the unique requirements of your business, analyse them against the proposed solution that we can offer, and ensure work is carried out in accordance to an agreed timescale and budget. The development lifecycle will consist of many phases – our delivery and project managers are the bridge between our work and your business, ensuring deadlines are met and what is produced is of the highest quality. 

To summarise, a software development agency like 6B will be the driving force behind your bespoke solution being built at speed, in accordance to your requirements, and in the correct way at the first time of asking. 

As a software development agency, we’ve witnessed businesses become more reliant on the software they use in recent years. The software that companies choose to use is critical to how their business performs. Bespoke software is exactly what it sounds like – it’s specifically tailored to your business and how it operates. Think of bespoke software much like a tailored suit – it fits like a glove because it is made for your exact specifications. 

As such, we believe that bespoke software offers a myriad of benefits that commercial off-the-shelf solutions simply cannot compete with:

Tailored solution

Being a software development agency, we at 6B are convinced of the many benefits bespoke software offers, and none of those benefits are bigger than the fact bespoke software is fully customisable. It’s a software solution that will run exactly how you want it to for your business, with unique features incorporated into the build of how it operates. As a business, you’ll no longer have to settle for the limitations that off-the-shelf software brings, and there won’t be any useless add-ons that provide no benefit as you will have been heavily involved in the design of your software solution. 

Competitive edge 

Whether you’re in need of a new system to interface with accounts, or want to expand on your existing bespoke software, 6B’s work as a software development agency can help you stand out among your market competitors. Take ecommerce pages for example, have you ever noticed how so many of them look the same? We can guarantee that’s because they are using the same mass-market software package that’s available to everyone. By using a bespoke solution that’s different in design and functionality, you’re establishing your business as different to the rest of the pack and offering your customers a more personalised experience. And that can only be a good thing, right?

Highly scalable, highly adaptable 

Bespoke software solutions adapt to the growth of your business, making the process of scaling up a seamless one. Unlike generic commercial solutions that a rapidly growing business will outgrow in no time, they can accommodate process changes, increased workloads and additional integrations. With bespoke software the sky’s the limit for your business as the flexibility they offer allows you to pivot and diversify where necessary to meet new demands and evolving customer expectations. 

You get what you pay for 

Although the initial cost is higher when compared to commercial off-the-shelf solutions, in the long run it will prove less expensive as licensing, upgrade and subscription costs will no longer be required. Also, costs such as customisation, setup and support are fully transparent with a bespoke solution – so that cheaper, more limited software option may not be the most cost-effective solution after all for your business. 

Integrate seamlessly

When using your own software that has been tailored specifically for your requirements, there is no downtime associated with integrating with legacy systems. At 6B, the bespoke software that our team of developers design and build is done so with your existing programs, systems, and software in mind. The software that we create for you will in effect be an extension and improvement of what you’re currently using, as opposed to something completely different and not compatible. 

Total control  

As a software development agency, we work collaboratively with your business throughout the entire development process. This allows us to incorporate specific feedback, features and adjustments you would like to see in the finished product before it’s ready to be implemented. And your business will have complete control over how quickly the new software is released, so as not to overwhelm your staff or the way you conduct business. Plus, once development has been finalised, you will own the software fully and will be able to make unilateral decisions on how you use it and if you want to alter anything, which won’t be the case with mass-market software. 

Enhanced security 

Our expertise as a software development agency means that our developers are able to craft custom security solutions that are unique to every piece of bespoke software we create. Ultimately, this means that the software solutions we create will be less susceptible to hackers. From a hacker’s perspective, it’s far more efficient to learn how to break into the same software utilised by multiple companies than it is to attempt to penetrate custom software used by one company. The security measures 6B put in place are an essential component in the design process and are integrated in the system itself, rather than being an ‘add-on’ at a later stage.

Return on investment

Your return on investment will drive many decisions within your business, and the decision to choose a bespoke software solution is no different. Not only will it be tailored to how you do business and what goals you want to achieve, but it will also help to automate processes which will free up valuable resources, as well as eradicating human errors to save you money in the long run.  

Speak to developers directly

Instead of calling an automated helpline that is designed to answer the queries of thousands of businesses and customers who use an off-the-shelf software, bespoke software will put you in contact with the developers that designed it. This means that should you have any questions or issues with the software once it has been released, you can speak directly to the people who know it inside out. The developers you speak to will have a thorough understanding of how the software is supposed to work and you’ll receive a constructive response.