COTS (Commercial Off the Shelf) vs Custom Software Development: Does your business really need a tailor-sized solution?
Topic of Content
- Introduction
- What is COTS (Commercial Off the Shelf)?
- Advantages of Commercial Off the Shelf
- Disadvantages of Commercial Off the Shelf
- What is Custom Software Development?
- Advantages of Tailor-made Software
- Disadvantages of Tailor-made Software
- COTS vs Custom Development – Which is Better for Your Business?
- Conclusion
Nowadays, almost every organization uses one or the other software solution to fulfill business requirements. And with multiple software products available in the market, choosing the right one is always a difficult task. Besides, the company has to think about their customers’ needs while choosing software. In the software development world, you have two major options when you are deciding how you want to deploy the solution. One is a custom software and the other one is COTS (commercial off-the-shelf software).
It is very essential to understand the difference between the two COTS and custom development. You can explore more on their differences, similarities, and advantages of COTS and get benefitted from custom software development. If you are looking for something like an ERP or CRM system that offers custom solutions, then you can hire a custom software development company. And if you want to use the readily available software, all you need to do is look for the well-suited product for your business and purchase it. To get a more clear idea about both these concepts, we will learn more about COTS and custom software in this blog and decide which is better.
What is COTS (Commercial Off the Shelf)?
Commercial off-the-shelf, well known as COTS is nothing but a simple term that references all the non-developmental items (NDI) that are sold in the commercial marketplace. Besides it also references used through government contracts. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) has set up all the rules of COTS.
A COTS product is generally a computer software or hardware product that is tailor-made for specific uses and made available for the general public. Such commercial products are designed in such a manner that anyone can easily use them. One of the best examples of a COTS product is Antivirus Software or Microsoft Office. Basically, a COTS product is nothing but a simple product available off-the-shelf which doesn’t require custom development before its installation.
Advantages of Commercial Off the Shelf
Here are some of the top advantages of COTS –
- Quick implementation
- The cheaper option
- Enables the access of reviews
- Provides advice from existing users’ experience
- Updates come with the products
- Pre-existing solutions available
- Can offer more functionality than one requires
- Comes with software support
Disadvantages of Commercial Off the Shelf
Here are some of the top disadvantages of COTS –
- Can become more expensive after sometime
- No control over the software
- Can be inflexible to change as per your requirements
- Impossible or inflexible to change should you need it
- No control over Application
- Extra cost for upgrades
- Too many functions and features
- Maybe unfit for your work process
- May have integration issues
What is Custom Software Development?
Custom software development is a very simple process of designing software applications that meet the firm’s requirements. Unlike COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) software, custom software offers options that are usually targeting specific issues. Besides, COTS are only meant for in-house use, one can’t resell them. For instance, Microsoft Office. In contrast, custom software that can record a patient’s details can be used and resell.
Bespoke software is the other name for custom software. The development process of the Custom or Bespoke software is similar to that of traditional software. But besides the methodologies being similar, in custom software development, the efforts are often more focused and unique. And the reason behind it is that tailor-made software offers modernization and personalization to businesses.
Advantages of Tailor-made Software
Here are some of the top advantages of Custom Software –
- Efficient and high-quality business methods
- Enables minor adjustments at any time
- Ability to choose a hardware or software complex
- Offers solution for all possible issues
- Thorough testing before installation
- Low risks and high data security
- Minimum discrepancies between the customer’s needs and program functionalities.
Disadvantages of Tailor-made Software
Here are some of the top disadvantages of Custom Software –
- Custom application is generally associated with high costs which not all can afford.
- Custom software development limits the usage of technology.
- The design, implementation, and setup of custom software require a lot of time.
COTS vs Custom Development – Which is Better for Your Business?
Let’s go through some important points which give a clear idea of which type of software development is better for which size of business.
- Startup
The majority of the small businesses prefer to save money at their initial phase and not buy the software. Startups generally try to solve all their problems by using COTS products like Excel instead of using a CRM system.
The main reason behind it is that startups wish to expand their rental space and hire additional units for managing office records. By taking such initial steps, every startup can improve their working measures, boost productivity, and also reduce costs. And COSTS can definitely offer affordable choices than custom software in such situations.
The founder and CEO of Varsity Tutors, Chuck Cohn describes one thing in his Forbes article that a small firm must start with off-the-shelf software till they require more customization, compatibility, and additional functionality with some application or component.
However, when a company requires additional functionalities and customization options, they can look for plug-ins and ready-made applications that are easy to integrate.
- Mid-sized Company
Successful emerging companies usually evolve and grow faster than the expectations of their management. And for such companies, efficient scaling is only possible if their software can help them in meeting all their needs faster.
Basically, custom-developed software can become a very huge competitive advantage and enables businesses to work faster with some amazingly unique features. And this can replace several programs or can help in integrating various programs that can easily work in different jurisdictions.
There are some ambitious businesses that try to foresee potential issues and market situations so that they can instantly react to rapidly changing situations. And in such conditions, out-of-the-box software maintenance ideas can become a perfect option for further development.
If any technical issues arise then the firm will be completely dependent on the software vendors’ technical support team. And in such cases, the vendor can either change the price of custom software development services or decide not to waste more time in solving the issue.
After having a glance at all the situations, it seems like using custom software means having a tailor-sized program. But one must also see to it that the track record of the hired custom software development company is better when it comes to providing maintenance and technical support.
There are some risks associated with custom software like a development team requires a clear in-depth understanding of your firm to offer the best result and without that, the product might not meet your expectations. But when it comes to mid-size companies or developing companies, hiring a custom software development company to get the tailor-made applications is the better option than going with COTS.
- Enterprise or Large-Scale Businesses
When it comes to managing large-size businesses or enterprises, the only option is to go for custom software development and not commercial off-the-shelf software. The main reason behind it is that large-scale organizations do not have options and time for experimenting or risking the stability of their business processes.
The inner working system of the enterprises is usually colossal and follows a well-functioning mechanism to efficiently maintain the system. But then, why do large organizations prefer to have custom software development services while they are busy developing in-house solutions? The answer to this question is that they need to reallocate the in-house resources into extra tasks which can affect the current work. So by pulling off managers and specialists from the existing tasks and delegating their tasks to other employees can become a long-time process. Therefore, to have a competitive advantage over their competitors and to continue their work process at the same pace, enterprises prefer to hire a custom software development company.
So, choosing custom software over commercial solutions can be the best option for enterprises. And the main reason for this is that COTS might foresee every organization’s uniqueness and might not have the same efficiency as custom software.
Conclusion
As seen in this COTS vs custom development blog, both COTS and custom software have their own benefits and drawbacks. But if you are the owner of a startup or a developing company, using ready-made products can be the perfect solution as they can save a lot of money. But if you are the owner of an almost developed or large-scale company, choosing custom software development is the more suitable option as they can offer unique features as per your requirements.