5 implementation examples for market leaders
5 Top Trends in Custom Software Development for Ultimate Digital Experience
26 Apr 2023 / 5min
Custom software development is constantly evolving, with new technologies and trends reshaping the industry. To stay competitive, businesses turn to custom solutions that range from digital onboarding to self-service and B2B commerce. In this article, we explore the latest trends and how they are driving innovation.
5 Custom Software Trends that Deliver a Competitive Advantage
1. Digital Onboarding: The Key to Delivering a Next-Level User Experience
Digital onboarding introduces a new customer virtually to an organization or platform using digital tools. It typically involves identity verification, document, and information collection (i.e. to open an account or start a collaboration), and initial training or a platform introduction. Digital onboarding can expedite, streamline, and automate these activities, increasing customer convenience and satisfaction.
Digital onboarding solutions support complex business logic. They also require seamless user experiences and integrations with other systems. This process is essential for sensitive industries (like banking, finance, and healthcare), as these require strict regulatory compliance. Also, in B2B scenarios, it is crucial to consider access schemas for multiple users.
With digital onboarding, your company can achieve benefits like:
- Improved operational efficiency and cost reduction, as digital onboarding accelerates the onboarding process.
- Increased precision and reduced human error rates, thanks to process automation.
- Enhanced customer experience and increased loyalty, due to the convenience and flexibility of digital onboarding.
- Improved sales efficiency and customer acquisition.
- Strengthened security and data protection through identity verification and advanced technological tools.
- The ability to meet individual customer needs and preferences, thanks to the customization of the onboarding process.
- Progress tracking and continuous process improvement, allowing you to align with customer and business needs.
2. Self-Service Portals: Simplifying Customer Interactions
Self-service portals are websites or applications that allow customers to perform tasks and access information without the involvement of company employees. Through such portals, customers can place orders, check order statuses, update personal information, get answers to frequently asked questions, and much more.
Self-service portals facilitate customer interactions by providing quick and easy access to information and services. Customers can perform tasks at their own convenience and from any device, which increases their satisfaction and brand loyalty. Additionally, self-service portals allow the reduction of customer service costs by decreasing the number of interactions with employees and increasing process automation.
In addition, companies that offer self-service options optimize their processes by:
- Allowing customers to track and manage their own orders and services. This reduces the workload on customer support teams.
- Providing customers with personalized recommendations based on their browsing and purchase history.
- Making information and services available 24/7.
- Improving data consistency by making customers responsible for updating their own information.
- Integrating self-service portals with other software and tools.
3. Tailored B2B Commerce: Meeting Complex Business Needs
B2B Commerce is more complex than B2C commerce. B2B Commerce includes complex processes like group access schemas, quotations, negotiations, deferred payments, etc. It demands a customized approach that accommodates individual requirements. And due to the vast number of variations on business models, finding suitable software can be challenging. For those reasons, B2B commerce is evolving towards self-service functionalities.
Companies want to enable their customers to make purchases and fulfill orders in a more independent and automated way. Thanks to this, customers can quickly and conveniently make transactions, check product availability, view their order history, and download invoices without involving company employees.
One of the most critical trends in the development of B2B commerce is the personalization and adaptation of the offer to the individual needs of customers. Companies offering B2B commerce solutions increasingly use algorithms and Artificial Intelligence to analyze data. Thanks to this, they can better match offers to customers' needs. In addition, e-commerce platforms now allow easy integration with CRM and ERP systems, which enables even better order and data management.
4. Composable Architecture: Support Your Unique Business Model
Composable architecture is an architectural pattern. IT companies use it in software development to create flexible and maintainable applications. It emphasizes modularity, composability, and the separation of concerns by breaking down applications into smaller, reusable components. This approach allows developers to focus on building specific features. Thanks to that, they don't have to worry about how the features fit into the more extensive system.
Composable architecture is particularly useful in custom software development. By breaking the application into smaller, reusable components, developers can more easily modify the software as needs change. It also allows for the quicker development and delivery of new features. This is critical in today's fast-paced business environment.
Implementing composable architecture can bring several benefits to companies. These include:
- Flexibility. Composable architecture modules can readily be combined and scaled. This makes it easy to adapt the application to changing business needs.
- Easier maintenance and development. Thanks to the modules’ independence, composable architecture applications are easier to maintain and develop. This reduces costs and increases efficiency.
- High Performance. Composable architecture allows you to create high-performance applications because the modules are designed to work as efficiently as possible.
- Scalability. This pattern facilitates easy application scaling, which allows software to be adapted to business needs.
- Better user experience. With their flexibility and high performance, composable architecture applications provide a better user experience. This increases customer loyalty and attracts new users.
5. Microservices: Increasing Service Infallibility
Microservices are a software development approach that involves breaking down a large system into various independent services. These services communicate with each other via application programming interfaces (APIs). This approach allows each microservice to be developed, tested, and scaled independently of the rest of the system. It increases the application's flexibility and enables it to adapt to changing business requirements.
The benefits of microservices include:
- Faster and more flexible implementation of new features, without modifying the entire system.
- Scalability - adding new microservices or increasing their number to handle more users or transactions.
- Easier and more efficient identification and resolution of application issues.
- The ability to use different technologies and tools to create individual microservices, which increases their independence from each other.
- Greater system resilience to failures and errors; failures of one microservice do not affect the operation of other system elements.
In 2008, a single error in Netflix's monolithic application caused a massive data loss and led to several days of downtime. At that point, Netflix's architects moved the entire application to microservices. Dividing the application into over 700 microservices – each responsible for one functionality – allowed engineers to change any part of the system with confidence that the application would never completely fail.
Source: https://about.netflix.com/en/news/completing-the-netflix-cloud-migration
In summary, using microservices allows companies to increase the flexibility and speed of their applications, which can translate into greater competitiveness in the market.
Looking for a Custom Software Provider? Choose Quality and Experience
Custom software development can be an effective way to meet your business's unique needs, but it's essential to select a provider with experience and expertise.
When considering architecture quality, look for a provider who follows best practices in software architecture design. For example, the provider should use frameworks that provide a structured approach to software design and development. These include the C4 Model, Architecture Decision Records (ADR), and Domain-Driven Design (DDD). These frameworks can help create software that is scalable and maintainable.
Additionally, it's essential to choose a provider who values development quality, focusing on clear code and following the GitFlow methodology. Quality assurance is also crucial, so ensure that the provider has a rigorous testing process to identify and address any bugs or issues. In cybersecurity, look for a provider who follows OWASP guidelines, conducts regular security audits, has an Information Security Policy in place, and performs penetration tests to identify vulnerabilities.
By considering these factors, you can confidently select a custom software provider. You’ll know they have the necessary skills and experience to deliver software solutions that meet your business needs.