The best questions to ask a developer about custom software development

So you’ve started to think that custom software development might be the best option for your company?

Not one of those elaborate 10,000 piece puzzles that take ages to put together.

You’ve watched for a while as processes stall and work gets delayed.

Plus, you’ve seen staff become more dejected as they get tripped up and try to work around commercial software that just doesn’t do the job anymore.

And you’re wondering how you ended up with such a complex software stack.

But committing to custom software development is a big decision.

If you think you’re ready you can always get in touch with us and we can see how we can help.

Sure, if you get it right, choosing a custom software development partner can result in magic for your company.

But get it wrong, and you’ll end up with something worse than you had.

Plus the extra costs of putting everything right.

To help you with this decision, here’s a couple of questions you need to ask your potential custom software developer before you sign on the dotted line.

We’re happy to take the time to answer them if you want to get in touch with us.

What languages do they use for programming?

Software development moves and changes quickly.

New development languages that are all the rage right now, might not be around in a few years. Which would cause you big problems.

Other languages like .NET or Javascript are so widespread that they’ll always be around.

Make sure your custom software developer works with a development language that isn’t just a flash in the pan.

Have they worked with someone in your industry before?

This shouldn’t be a dealbreaker.

Unless you’ve approached an industry specific customer software developer, there’s a chance they’ve never worked in your industry before.

But if they have, at least they have a basic understanding of what will work for you and could even help steer you in the right direction.

Who owns the copyright/IP on the software once it’s built

This doesn’t have to be as awkward conversation as you might think.

Obviously as the company paying for the software you’ll want to own all the rights to it once it’s deployed.

Just ask your potential developers and if you’re not happy with the answer, move on.

How will they get the information they need?

Understanding how you’ll be using your custom software is a crucial part of the development process.

It helps developers understand the basic functionality you’ll need.

Ask your possible software developer if they have a process for gathering this information.

If they don’t, it should raise a red flag.

Do they use logging in their software to record issues

The best software has automatic logging built in so that developers can easily understand why things have gone wrong.

Did a particular action lead to a problem?

If your custom software creates action and issue logs, you’ll be able to fix problems much quicker.

Do they have internal resource for deployment (or will you be expected to do it)

Once your custom software has been developed, will your development partner be handling the initial deployment, integration and testing?

Or will you be expected to do all that yourself?

What’s their software development process?

How your custom software is developed is another major factor that will guide you towards the right provider.

For instance, we use the agile software development model which means the entire development and deployment is a process of development, testing, evaluating and improving.

This ensures that by the time we get to the deployed product, we’ve identified and fixed major problems.

Then it’s just a case of ongoing maintenance.

Other providers might just develop the product and only run tests once it’s deployed.

What support will I get once my software is deployed

Deploying your custom software isn’t the end of the process.

If anything, it’s just the beginning.

Once your software is deploying you’ll continue to develop, improve and adapt it to fit around your business.

Will your custom software developer provide this support?

Or are you expected to go it alone?

How much will the project cost?

This is a pretty obvious question, but make sure you understand exactly what you’re paying for in the costs.

You don’t want the shock of discovering hidden fees.

If you can get the answers you want to these questions, then you’ll be much more confident in your decision to go down the custom software development route.

If you want more information on custom software development, how it can improve your business and how Meta-tec can help you transform what you do through custom software, get in touch