In today’s technologically dependent world, having the right software to support your business and your customers is a must. In some cases, an off-the-shelf application is sufficient to do the job. But sometimes, the software you need simply doesn’t exist… yet.

Research firm Gartner projects that spending on enterprise software will grow by another 11.7% in 2022. Making a wise investment with your software budget is essential. How can you know when it’s time to build your own software?

Packaged and custom software each have relative advantages and disadvantages. The best option also depends on the specific context. Here we examine several of the top pros and cons of each to help you make the right decision for your business.

Advantages of Custom Software

• Custom features. When you design and build your own software product, you have complete control over exactly what it does. Which means that you can create the precise features and functionality you need to support your unique workflows and processes. This in turn tends to increase efficiency and productivity.
  

• Competitive advantage. Your competitors can’t just go out and purchase the same software. They’re still stuck choosing between the off-the-shelf solutions currently available to the mass market. With a bespoke application, you can position yourself better in the market and gain a competitive advantage. 
  

• Intellectual property. Owning intellectual property like custom software can improve your business valuation. It can also boost your brand and improve your reputation. Bespoke software creates unique value, for both your business and your customers. You can even license and sell it for additional revenue.
  

• Advanced technology. Building your own software provides you with the opportunity to leverage new and advanced technologies. You’ll have the ability to employ tech like artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, blockchain, and more. There’s no need to wait for outdated packaged software to evolve.
  

• Flexibility. With custom software, you have total control over the product roadmap. No more submitting feature requests and wondering if they’ll ever make the cut. When you decide it’s time to add a new feature, you can add a new feature. If you decide it’s time to go a different direction, there’s no one stopping you.

Drawbacks of Custom Software

• Upfront costs. Building your own software product isn’t cheap. If you invest wisely and build something of great value, it can provide an excellent ROI over time. But you’ll need to have sufficient budget upfront to invest in a high-quality application. If you don’t have that budget, now may not be the right time. 
  

• Time to market. It takes time to build a great software product, often several months or more. If you need a quick solution, you may need to settle for what’s already available, at least for the short-term. It may be possible to shorten your timeline by building a simpler version of your ideal application and gradually enhancing it over time.

Advantages of Packaged Software

• Available immediately. The only wait time you’ll typically have to acquire off-the-shelf software is the time it takes to compare existing solutions, perhaps complete a demo or a trial, and obtain any necessary purchase approvals. What you get may not be a perfect fit for your business, but it might be at least good enough to get by ok.
  

• Lower starting costs. The financial investment required to start using a packaged software product is usually much lower than the cost required to start building one. The sophistication of your business needs and the number of end users you’ll have will typically impact your initial investment cost.

Drawbacks of Packaged Software

• Fixed features. When you purchase an out-of-the-box solution, you have no control over the functionality. If the product doesn’t have all the features you need, you’re usually stuck waiting an indeterminate amount of time for them. On the other hand, if the product includes more features than you can use, you’re still stuck paying for them.
  

• Additive costs. While the initial investment may be lower, packaged software products have costs that can add up substantially over time. For example, you may wind up paying recurring subscription or licensing fees that increase in proportion to a growing user base. You also won’t have control over the timing of upgrades or associated fees.
  

• Lower value-add. When you use mass-marketed software, it gives you no competitive advantage. Your top competitors may in fact be using the exact same product. It’s not your intellectual property, you can’t control how well it supports your business processes, and there’s not much you can do when users aren’t having a great experience.

Is custom software best for your business?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to whether custom or packaged software is best. If you think it might be the right time to invest in custom software, Basecode can help. Contact us to discuss what building a bespoke software product can do for your business.

It may have worked for fictional character Ray Kinsella in the film Field of Dreams. But in real life, building something incredible does not de facto mean that our ideal target audience is going to magically show up, brimming with a strong desire for it. Building, marketing and launching a product needs to be a strategically planned and unified endeavor.

Don’t make the mistake of relegating your software product launch to an afterthought. You need to know up front who your product is for, how they’re going to find it, and why they’re going to recognize its value. You need to be crystal clear on which standards your final product will be held to, and how you’ll know if you’ve met them. And you’ll need a plan for triaging and mitigating any problems that arise when your application goes live with real end users.

Research firm Gartner found that only 55% of products launch on schedule. It isn’t good enough to quickly cobble together a launch plan, even well in advance. For the best chance of success, you need a comprehensive and thoroughly researched plan and process.

What is a product launch?

A product launch is much more than just the activities that will take place on your launch date. A product launch encompasses all of the plans, methods, processes, and strategies around bringing a new product to market. It runs the gamut from defining your ideal end user at the beginning of the project to implementing support structures for that end user post-launch.

How can you plan a successful launch?

An effective product launch is achievable with the right preparation. Here are some of the key ingredients to include in your launch strategy. 

Create a launch plan and checklist

Your launch plan should include a solid overarching strategy - and delve into the level of granular detail needed for its execution. Carefully define specific and measurable success criteria so that you can clearly benchmark your progress against them. Create a thorough launch checklist delineating each task and when it will be completed. 

Here are examples of the content to cover in your launch plan and checklist:

• Key goals and deliverables

• Launch timeline and milestone dates

• Product features and functionality

• Quality assurance testing

• Marketing and promotions strategy

• End user support systems

• Sales and upsell strategy

Verify that all requirements are met

It is essential to ensure that all of your key product features have been built and tested before your launch. Thorough quality assurance testing should be conducted both throughout and at the completion of your product build.

User experience testing should also be conducted. If feasible, consider soft launching to a beta group first to capture valuable feedback from real end users. Make sure to also conduct any necessary legal or regulatory compliance checks.

Execute a sales and marketing strategy

Your product launch isn’t just about releasing your product, it’s also about generating a user base eager to pounce on it. Validating the need for your product and defining your ideal user should be part of your strategic planning before anyone ever writes a line of code. Start marketing early, long before your product goes live. 

Announce your launch several weeks in advance. Take great care in naming, pricing, and branding your product. If possible, align your launch date with strategic marketing opportunities, like a relevant major event. Craft a strong sales strategy, focused on acquiring new customers as well as retaining and upselling existing users.

Implement post-launch support systems

Another key element of your launch planning should be to implement the necessary resources and support systems to help your users successfully onboard and receive a fast resolution for any major issues that crop up. 

Create clear user documentation, focusing first on the most common and important use cases. Put systems in place for your users to provide feedback and report problems. Acquire and deploy the right resources to fix major bugs quickly and track and prioritize feature requests.

Build a product worth launching

Even the best-planned product launch won’t succeed without a great product. Looking to partner with a team of experienced software professionals to build and launch a product that will delight your target audience? Basecode can help. Contact us to learn more.

Code bugs. Painfully slow applications. Abrupt system crashes. In this day and age, we’ve all experienced these problems from a user perspective. And nothing destroys our high opinion of a software product faster.

No one wants to deal with the hassle of spending an hour on a customer service line trying to recover their lost financial data or figure out why their box was shipped to the wrong address. And no one wants to be on the receiving end of that phone call.

Worse yet, no one wants to live the nightmare of losing all their customers to a competitor after they had a lousy user experience. And startups have failed for this very reason. The people who use your product need to have confidence in it.

If you’re thinking about building a custom software product, quality assurance is not something you can afford to overlook. A low-quality product is a short-lived product. If you’re going to build something, build it right.

What is software quality assurance?

Software quality assurance (QA) encompasses all methods used during the software development process to scrutinize and improve the quality of the product. QA testing should be strategically planned, scheduled, and implemented throughout the project.

As Joe Montvelisky noted in Forbes, “the job of a tester is to provide business value by finding the issues that the team needs to solve before the product is deployed to production.” These issues can include code bugs, security flaws, performance issues, and much more.

What should you test?

Ideally, anything that can be tested should be tested. In a reality of limited resources, be sure to focus on the most pivotal components and features of your product. Here are some key things to consider testing when mapping out your QA strategy.

Performance. Test your product’s speed and response time. Examine what type of load it can handle. Check performance on various browsers and devices.

Reliability. How long can your product run before failure? What causes it to fail? How often do you see errors occur?

Compatibility. Make sure your product is compatible with any platforms, systems, or applications with which it needs to interface.

Security. Know which security standards your product needs to meet and thoroughly test to ensure that it meets them.

Usability. Conduct user testing. Ensure that your product provides a great user experience in a real user environment.

Maintainability. How easy will your code base be to maintain? How long is the code? Is it well written and easy for a new developer to understand?

Best practices for QA

Software quality assurance isn’t just about what to test, it’s also about how to test. Understanding QA best practices will ensure that you’re adequately covering your bases. Let’s take a critical look at what to include in your QA strategy.

1. Agile methodology with continuous integration and delivery

Using an Agile cycle of continuous code integration and delivery (CI/CD) will allow you to easily test often as you iteratively add small increments of new code to your product. Agile development also pairs well with shift left testing, in which testing is started earlier in the development process than what typically occurs with a waterfall approach.

2. Strategically plan and document the QA process

Your QA process should not be haphazard or thrown together at the last minute. Plan out a detailed testing strategy before your developers touch their keyboards. Start with the overall approach, clarifying precise standards, requirements, objectives, and deliverables. Outline each test scope and conditions, and the workflows to be followed.

3. Risk-based testing

A strong QA plan should cover your code base as comprehensively as possible. But it’s simply not feasible to test 100% of your product functionality every time a new line of code is written. You’ll need to prioritize testing what is most essential. Risk-based testing identifies the greatest risks and tests against them.

4. Automated testing

Automating a significant portion of your testing will allow you to test more often with less reliance on human resources. A number of testing automation tools are available to assist. Automated testing is generally most effective when run both at the time of each initial code commit and at regular intervals for a broader code sweep.

5. Regression testing

Sometimes the new code added to fix a bug or enhance a feature breaks another part of the application. Regression testing checks to make sure that recent code changes haven’t regressed some part of the application’s functionality or performance. This type of testing should be scheduled either daily or on some other frequent ongoing basis.

6. Exploratory and ad hoc testing

Employing some manual forms of code testing in conjunction with automated testing will help maximize your QA coverage. Exploratory and ad hoc testing are two techniques that allow testers to go beyond the script and catch tricky issues that slipped through the cracks. Automation is still no match for human intuition.

7. Usability testing

A software application that performs well technically can still be a failure if it’s too cumbersome for the end user. Usability testing simulates the real user environment and examines the interactions between test users and the application. Areas of greatest friction can be identified and addressed to ensure a good user experience.

8. Smoke testing

Continuous testing of your code throughout the development process is essential to catching and correcting problems early. But some issues can still go undetected, and those at the systemic level can prove especially insidious. Smoke testing is conducted at the end of a product build to inspect the product’s functionality and ensure overall stability.

9. Utilize a robust test management system

An effective QA process needs to be supported by best-in-class test management tools. The right QA management system will facilitate both the planning and execution phases of your testing. Key performance indicators, test cases, and results will be seamlessly tracked and reported, and collaboration made easy.

10. Write effective bug reports

When code bugs and other errors are detected, it’s essential to document and process them in an efficient manner. Effective bug reports need to include a clear summary of the issue, specific steps to reproduce it, screenshots when possible, and potential solutions. Having excellent documentation will minimize the time to resolution.

Build a high quality product

Looking to produce a high quality software product? Basecode’s team of software experts can help. Contact us to find out more about how you can partner with us to build a reliable, high-performing product.

Operating more efficiently than your market competitors can provide you with a significant competitive advantage. What’s more, even a small increase in efficiency can compound over time, cutting costs and boosting productivity. When it comes to running a successful business, efficiency is not something anyone can afford to overlook.

What are your current bottlenecks to greater efficiency? Are your existing software systems dragging you down? If you’re using off-the-shelf software that was designed to do a “good enough job” for a mass market user base, chances are you’re not operating as efficiently as you could be.

If you and your team have been wasting valuable time and effort battling cumbersome software that doesn’t fit your workflows, you’ve been sacrificing efficiency. If you’ve had to adapt your business processes to fit within the constraints of technological tools, it might be time to consider a better alternative. It might be time to build your own custom software.

There are a number of ways bespoke software can increase efficiency in a business. Here are some of the top advantages to consider when assessing the impact you could achieve for your own company.

Better software-business fit

When you design and build your own software, you can tailor it to your exact business requirements. This has a number of benefits as compared to using an out-of-the-box solution that forces you to adjust your business processes to fit the software.

When your software is built to support your workflows in an ideal manner - and does exactly what you need it to do - processes become faster and simpler to manage. You can achieve greater precision and control, and it’s easier to comply with policies and regulations. Workforce productivity increases and costs are likely reduced, as there’s no need to pay for unused extra features or per-user subscription fees.

Seamless systems integration

If you’re like most people, you know the pain of having to access multiple disparate software applications throughout the workday in order to locate or extract the exact information you need at any given time. Multiple open browser windows on your monitor, toggling between apps on your phone… it can all add up to a major waste of time.

When you’re using pre-packaged applications, there is limited ability to integrate systems without hiring a developer. With bespoke software, you decide which systems should be connected via means like APIs (application programming interfaces), minimizing app logins and time spent importing, exporting, and compiling data.

Advanced custom reporting

Another benefit of having better systems integration is gaining improved data reporting and analysis capabilities. Having more information accessible through a single dashboard means less cobbling together of information from multiple sources, and less time spent sorting out any inconsistencies or discrepancies.

Building your own software also means having the opportunity to build your own reporting tools to pull and evaluate the data you need most - in the exact formats you need it to be in. You can design data systems that facilitate more accessible, accurate, organized, and reliable data. And better data means better decision making for your business.

Repetitive task automation

A variety of time-consuming manual tasks can be automated by custom software. Form input boxes can be appropriately auto-filled, emails can be instantly triggered, notification pop-ups can provide users with pertinent information at the right times, and more.

Automation reduces the opportunity for human error and increases productivity. It allows your workforce to focus on what they do best and to spend more time and effort on key activities and initiatives that can’t be automated.

Improved user experience

With off-the-shelf software, there’s no control over user experience (UX). You can submit requests for UX improvements and feature enhancements, but there’s no guarantee if or when they’ll be added by the engineering team.

When you build your own bespoke software, you have the opportunity to orchestrate your own ideal user experience. Your product will not only be built specifically for your business, but also for you, your team, and your customers. This means that customers can be served better and faster, and everyone can enjoy a delightful experience with your application.

Are you looking for greater efficiency?

Basecode’s software experts can help you design and build a custom software product that ideally fits the needs of your business, your team, and your customers. Contact us today to learn more about how bespoke software can increase efficiency for your business.

According to research firm Statistica, there are over six billion smartphone users in the world today - and that number is expected to continue to increase substantially in the coming years. This is great news for mobile app creators.

However, there’s still a catch. You could build the world’s greatest app, eagerly launch it out into an enormous market of mobile app users... and realize that no one is using it because no one actually knows that it exists (ouch).

In order to grow a large user base, you need a way to get the word out. In short: you need a marketing plan. Developing a sound marketing strategy can be a bit intimidating if you have little or no prior experience with marketing mobile apps. Fortunately, a plethora of battle-tested and successful app marketers have blazed the trail and left a map to follow. 

Here are several tools and tactics to consider including in your mobile app marketing arsenal.

1. Start with a strategy

Start marketing early, well before you actually launch your app, and begin by developing a strategy to guide your efforts. Create ideal user personas so you’re clear on who it is that you’re marketing to. Once you begin to build your user base, don’t forget to market to them for retention (and upsells if applicable) too.

2. Build a strong web presence

Take time to design a great website landing or sales page for your app, and make sure it’s obvious what your app does and what your unique value proposition is. Consider including an explainer video or at least some high-quality screenshots. Do SEO (search engine optimization) for your site to make it as easy as possible to find.

If you have the resources, also consider adding a blog to your website, or even guest blogging on some other sites. A blog can substantially improve your SEO results, as well as your credibility. Guest blogging will also get you in front of a broader audience.

3. Get active on social media

Create an account on every major social media platform and post about your app regularly. There are several great posting automation tools out there that can help save you time. If you create a video, include it in your social posts and upload it to YouTube. Also, consider pitching podcasters for interviews, it can lead to great exposure with your target audience.

4. Utilize the app store

There are a number of marketing tactics you can employ right within the Apple App Store or Google Play. For starters, make sure to do good ASO (app store optimization), including choosing the right keywords and categories, highlighting top features and benefits, and adding high-quality visuals like screenshots.

Find out what it would take for your app to get featured in the app store. Once you start getting users, proactively ask them for in-app reviews. If applicable, consider running promo discounts on in-app purchases.

5. Conduct targeted outreach

Make a list of influencers, publications, and writers who are popular with your target audience. Reach out to them to inquire if your app could get covered in an article or some other type of piece. Contact independent app review sites and ask them to check out and review your app. Also, see if there are any app awards you’re eligible to apply for and throw your hat in the ring.

6. Get in the press

Publish some well-written press releases. If it’s within your budget, consider hiring a PR firm to perform some extra press outreach just before and after your launch. For an extra exposure boost, you could also contact local or national news media and inquire if your app can get coverage, possibly even via tv or radio channels.

7. Build an email list

Building an email list can be a very effective way to market to your existing audience. Launch a newsletter and make sure to add a signup link on your landing page. Use your email list to stay top of mind, announce exciting updates and send promo offers. Get clear on your brand voice and utilize your list to build your brand and strengthen your relationship with your users.

8. Use paid advertising

There are numerous channels at your disposal for paid advertising. Create an ad budget and prioritize advertising in the places you’re most likely to reach your target audience. Consider running ads via popular platforms like Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn - as well as app store ads. Hiring a first-rate copywriter and designer for your ads will help maximize your results.

9. Enlist users and partners

Consider utilizing your existing users in your marketing strategy, and also forging some strategic partnerships with other companies. Methods to consider include starting a referral program, a loyalty program, or an affiliate program. Such programs have great potential to get the word out when run effectively and backed by a sound strategy.

10. Establish a physical presence

When you’re marketing an app, it’s easy to get a bit of tunnel vision and focus exclusively on digital channels. But just because you have a digital product doesn’t mean that you’re limited to only digital marketing. Establishing a tangible non-digital presence can be quite effective as well. Consider throwing a launch party, or giving out branded swag like t-shirts and mugs.

Build an app worth marketing

There are no great marketing results without a great product. Looking to build a high-quality mobile app that provides your target audience with an exceptional user experience and tons of value? Basecode can help. Contact us to learn more.

The future of trade is frictionless.

It’s a great time to build a native mobile app. Consumer demand for mobile apps is strong, and growing. According to research by Statistica, mobile app downloads increased more than 50% between 2016 and 2020, surpassing 200 billion. That’s a lot of mobile app usage - and the numbers continue to trend upward.

Launching a mobile app can lead to new customers, more revenue, and even a significant competitive advantage. But it can also be a bit daunting if you’ve got a great idea for a new app but you’re not an expert at the technical side of building one. Partnering with a third party team of software experts who are already familiar with app development best practices can be a great solution if you don’t have the technical expertise you need in-house.

What is native mobile app development?

Unlike web applications that run via an internet browser, native mobile applications are built to run specifically on mobile devices like phones and tablets. The two most popular mobile operating systems in use today are Android and iOS. In fact, according to Statcounter, as of October 2021 Android and iOS combined share over 99% of the world’s mobile operating system market.

Android and iOS differ structurally, so developing for each operating system requires a different tech stack. Java and Kotlin tend to be the most common coding languages used to build Android apps, and are often used alongside other tools like Android Studio. Objective-C and Swift tend to be the popular languages for building iOS apps, and are typically used in conjunction with tools like Xcode.

What best practices should you follow when building your app?

When you decide to move forward with building a mobile app, it’s important to lay the right groundwork from the beginning to make sure you get the best return on your investment. Here are several best practices to keep in mind while planning and building your app. 

1. Start with a strategic plan

Imagine going on a road trip without any GPS and only a vague idea of your final destination. How likely do you think it is that you’d wind up where you wanted to be? Building a mobile app without conducting thorough market research and developing a solid strategic plan is like trying to drive to a destination you’ve never been before without any directions.

Always plan first. Research your target market to make sure your app will solve an important problem. Define your unique value proposition and design with it in mind. Establish a clear picture of the resources you’ll need, the timeline you’re looking at, and how you’ll move forward with each stage of the process.

2. Pick the right platform

You may ultimately envision your app in the hands of both iPhone and Android users, and that’s a fantastic goal. But because each operating system requires applications to be built using different technologies, you’ll need to pick one to start with first. After your app is a success on one platform, you’ll be better positioned to move forward with replicating it on the other one.

Go back to your market research and see if you can determine whether iOS or Android is more popular with your target audience. Once you’ve made your decision, be sure to follow all of the recommendations in the Apple Developer Guidelines or the Android Developer Guides to make sure you’ll be good to go when you’re ready to submit your app.

3. Build an SLC application

Once you have your strategic plan and positioning nailed down, and you know which platform you’ll be building on first, maximize your likelihood of success by designing and building a Simple, Lovable, and Complete application. An SLC app is similar to an MVP, but with a special emphasis on building a simple product that performs its job so well it delights your users.

Your unique value proposition should be at the core of your application design. At the same time, avoid building anything that’s more complicated than necessary. Aim to create a product that’s only as complex as it needs to be in order to achieve your users’ primary objective as frictionlessly as possible.

4. Keep UX top of mind

User Experience is key to the success of your mobile app. If people don’t enjoy using your app, they simply won’t. They’ll delete it and look for another solution that’s less of a hassle. Fortunately there are a number of things you can do to help users have a great experience and make them want to stick around. Here are a few of the most important things to focus on:

• Speed - users expect apps to deliver the goods fast, so make sure that yours does

• Responsiveness - your app should look great and perform well on all device types

• Intuitiveness - it needs to be easy for new users to navigate the interface

• Accessibility - users of all abilities should be able to operate your application

5. Include security features

Carefully consider which security features you’ll need. Will users be inputting personally identifiable information? Will they be giving you their credit card number or other financial data? What about health data, legal data, or other highly regulated information? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you’ll definitely need to implement security measures.

Consider which authentication method will be most appropriate for your users to securely log into your application. Will there be a need for encryption during data transfer? Where will user data be securely stored? Which anti-malware tools might you want to implement? Protecting your users from cybercrime needs to be a top priority.

6. Use Agile methodology

Using Agile methodology in your application development process will allow you to break a large dev project down into small cycles and perform continuous testing and integration with your code. You’ll be able to catch errors quickly and incorporate feedback efficiently. Conducting user testing will tell you what needs to be done to further improve UX.

Crafting thorough technical documentation for your Agile development process will help ensure that everything stays aligned with best practices. Also creating comprehensive product documentation for developers can be enormously helpful with future maintenance and updates.

Looking to build an awesome mobile app?

Are you ready to move forward with building a mobile app but lack the in-house expertise to execute the project? Basecode’s team of software experts can help you build a Simple, Lovable, and Complete application in line with industry best practices that solves your customers’ problems in a delightful way. Contact us to learn more.

Technical debt can tear us apart.

If you’re going to build a software product, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the concept of technical debt - and understand how it can impact the future of your application. So what exactly is technical debt, and why should you care? 

“Technical debt” is a term used in the software community that refers to the cost incurred when you employ software development practices that are less than ideal. It can appear in many forms: buggy code, poor documentation, design shortcomings, architectural deficiencies, database issues, security holes, underutilized technologies, and more. 

Being smart about your approach to technical debt can potentially provide a significant competitive advantage. According to research firm Gartner, businesses that proactively manage their technical debt can achieve service delivery times more than 50% faster than competitors who don’t make such efforts. 

Why does technical debt happen?

Technical debt can happen for a number of reasons, some inadvertent and others quite intentional. Understanding why it happens is essential to effectively mitigating it.

Sometimes technical debt is created by accident due to a lack of skill or experience. For example, a developer coding with an unfamiliar language or tool might struggle to cobble together a workable solution and in the process produce a code base that is difficult to understand or maintain.

In many cases, however, technical debt occurs when an experienced team is working against a tight deadline or on a limited budget and this forces them to cut corners in the development process in order to deliver the product on time or within budget.

How much technical debt is acceptable?

The amount of technical debt you’re going to incur is, to a large extent, a judgment call. If your software team has the right expertise to do the job well - and you give them adequate time and resources to do the best possible job - it’s reasonable to expect that you’ll have minimal technical debt in the end.

On the other hand, if you’re working with limited resources, or if you absolutely need to get your product to market in the shortest possible time, you might decide that taking on a higher level of technical debt is an acceptable tradeoff. Whatever you decide, just be sure that you understand the long-term consequences so you can make a wise and well-informed decision.

What steps can you take to minimize technical debt?

Various tactics can be used to reduce the extent and impact of technical debt when you build a software application. Here are some key things to keep in mind.

1. Prioritize well and keep it simple

Keeping things as simple as possible minimizes the number of places where technical debt can creep in. Start with building a simple, lovable, and complete product with the minimum features necessary to perform its job well. More features can always be added later.

Evaluate where quality is most important, and prioritize accordingly. For example, if bug-free code is a top priority, make sure that all of your code is expertly written according to best practices and thoroughly tested. If speed is essential, find out which technologies to invest in to make sure it is maximized. If security is of the utmost importance, put your resources there.

2. Find the right experts for the job

If you want to keep technical debt to a minimum, make sure you have professionals with the right skills and experience building your application. If you don’t have people in-house who understand the best practices, methodologies, tools, and technologies required for your project, find an experienced software team to partner with. 

A first-rate professional software firm will be able to strategize, plan, design, develop, deploy, and maintain the type of software product you want to build in line with industry best practices. This applies not only to creating an excellent product technically, but also to documenting everything well, employing great project management techniques, and more.

3. Use Agile methodology and test everything

Agile project methodology is an iterative approach to software development in which the development process is broken down into short cycles or sprints. This method makes it easier to catch technical problems quickly, incorporate feedback effectively, and in many cases, get the product to market faster.

Frequent, repetitive testing is a key component of the Agile approach - and also an excellent way to reduce technical debt in the form of code errors. Implementing automated testing to the extent possible can be a great way to reduce the time and effort required for the testing process.

4. Plan how you’ll tackle your technical debt

With careful planning and mitigation tactics, you should be able to minimize the amount of technical debt you incur. However, even in a best case scenario, due to multiple factors outside of anyone’s control, a very small amount of technical debt is virtually inevitable. 

Planning early on how you’ll address your technical debt down the road can significantly reduce any negative impact on your business operations. For example, if you know you’ll need to do additional code testing and refactoring, flesh out your documentation, or add additional security features, you can create a timeline and budget for addressing the issue - and keep a close eye on it in the meantime.

Minimize your debt risk

Looking to avoid the hassle and expense of remediating unnecessary technical debt? At Basecode we understand how technical debt happens - and how to proactively manage and mitigate it from Day 1. Contact us to find out more.

Unless you’re able to read the signs, choosing a path is not quite so obvious.

One of the biggest and most costly mistakes that can be made when building a software application is to accidentally build a product that doesn’t do what you need it to do - and not even realize you’ve made this mistake until thousands of dollars and months of time have been wasted. You absolutely do not want to fall down that hole. 

In some cases people inadvertently build the wrong product because they haven’t done proper market research, or because they haven’t adequately gathered user requirements. But another way you can wind up in this sticky situation is if you build your product using the wrong tools and technologies, only to discover that it can’t perform the way you need it to - for technical reasons.

Understanding which technologies are necessary to build an application that will perform the way you need it to is essential to building a high quality software product - a product that will do its intended job well and delight your customers.

What is a technology stack?

In short, a technology stack is the set of technologies used to build a software product. Certain technologies will be needed to build the front-end of the application, others will be required to build the back-end, and others still may be necessary to seamlessly integrate the two. The technologies you’ll need will also differ depending on whether you’re building a web application or a native mobile app.

Here are some examples of the types of technologies often required in a software tech stack:

• Front-end coding languages

  • Examples: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript

• Back-end coding languages

  • Examples: Ruby, Python, Elixir, PHP

• Mobile app coding languages

  • Examples: Objective-C, Swift, Java, Kotlin

• Code libraries

  • Examples: jQuery, Rails, NumPy

• Collaboration and version control tools

  • Examples: Git, Github, SVN

• Programming frameworks

  • Examples: React Native, Bootstrap, Django, Angular

• Database systems and languages

  • Examples: PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis

• User Interface design tools

  • Examples: Sketch, Axure, Adobe XD

• Web servers

  • Examples: Node.js, Apache, IIS

• Operating systems

  • Examples: OSX, Windows, UNIX, iOS, Android

What to consider when selecting your tech stack

A number of factors should be assessed when deciding which technologies will be best suited for your particular software project. Laying the right groundwork will provide the solid foundation you need to build a successful product. Here are some important things to consider:

1. Functional requirements

The features and functionality you’ll need your software application to provide will be a key driver of which technologies to choose. For example, a large, complex application typically requires a more sophisticated tech stack than a small, simple one. Performance and speed requirements should also be taken into account.

2. Security needs

How secure does your application need to be? Will you be processing payments, handling health, financial, or legal data, or working with any other sensitive information? Make sure you select a suite of technologies that are able to protect your data during all stages of transmission and storage to the extent that you require.

3. Existing tech infrastructure

Don’t forget to account for your existing infrastructure. Will you be adding to a pre-existing application? Do you have other software systems that will need to be integrated? What about hardware? Are you in the cloud? Carefully evaluate your current technological infrastructure to make sure there won’t be any unpleasant surprises later.

4. Development timeline

Some tools and technologies will be faster and easier to build with than others. Consider your desired project timeline, and try to keep things as simple as possible. Don’t use more technologies than you actually need - and don’t use more complex technologies than you actually need either. Also consider incorporating third-party integrations when possible to reduce the amount of code that must be built from scratch.

5. Costs

Some tech tools will come with a higher price tag than others. Depending on your needs, you might be able to use free open source technologies for much of your product development. Another significant factor to consider when it comes to costs is that you’ll need to find and pay skilled developers who know how to use your tech stack. Sticking with common, widely used options can help mitigate such expenses.

6. Ease of maintenance

In addition to evaluating how easy it will be to build your product with certain tools, it’s important to also consider how easy it will be to maintain it down the road. New developers may eventually work on your application. Are the technologies you’re choosing well documented with large support communities? Will you have an easy to navigate code base that a newcomer can understand? Will it be hard to find additional talent with the skills you need?

7. Scalability

Not all technologies scale equally well. If it’s your ultimate goal to significantly scale up the size of your user base, you’ll need the right technical foundation to support that growth. Aim to choose technologies that will be the right fit both today and in the future. But be sure to balance this goal with not making things more complex than they need to be.

Build your app with the right tech

Need an expert to help you identify the best technologies to use for your software project? Basecode’s experienced software specialists have the knowledge and skills to help you choose the right tech stack to build your application. Contact us to learn more about partnering with us on your project.

Small risks at the Yosemite National Park.

Building a new custom software product is an exciting endeavor - but there’s also a lot on the line. You want to build something delightful, valuable, and enduring. A product that makes people’s lives better. Something your customers will love.

You also want to build your product on time, within budget, in line with requirements, and on par with high quality standards. And you’ve been around the block enough times to know that these types of results don’t just automatically create themselves.

There are a lot of ways in which a software project can get derailed. But fortunately, there are also a lot of measures you can take from the start to reduce the likelihood of this happening.

How can you mitigate risks in your software project?

Understanding the most common risks associated with software projects and knowing what steps to take in order to mitigate them will maximize your chance of a great outcome. Here’s what you need to know.

1. Get the right technical resources in place

Making sure you have the right resources for your project from the outset will help to ensure that your project starts - and finishes - strong. Getting the right technical resources means getting both the right people and the right tools. 

When it comes to people, you’ll need a team with the knowledge, skills, and expertise to strategically plan, design, and develop an excellent application. If you don’t already have the human resources you need in-house, it’ll be well worth the investment to partner with a custom software firm. 

Using the right technology stack will also be critical to success. A tech stack is the set of specific tech tools used to build a software product. It includes things like frontend and backend coding frameworks, databases, and programming languages. Certain tech stacks will be more appropriate for specific types of projects. An expert dev team will know when to use what.

2. Strategically plan before you build

It’s essential to have a solid strategy in place before jumping in and starting to build. First and foremost, you’ll need to make sure the project is viable. Have you already validated your value proposition and market? Have you thought through how you will acquire new customers? One of the biggest mistakes to avoid is creating a product no one actually wants.

The viability of your project will also depend on factors such as timeframe, budget, and the ability to meet all essential business requirements, including any relevant regulatory requirements (HIPAA, etc.). The more thoroughly you plan in advance, the smoother your project will run and the better your outcome will be.

3. Implement a strong communication system

Miscommunication has the potential to cause major problems during a software project. Lay the groundwork for effective communications by establishing a comprehensive list of stakeholders who need to be involved in communications at the beginning of the project - and updating that list as needed.

A software team member (typically a project manager) should track important progress metrics on an ongoing basis and make progress reports to key stakeholders at regular intervals. And remember that communication is a two-way street: frequent feedback from all relevant stakeholders should also be provided to the dev team throughout the project. 

4. Use an agile methodology and test continuously 

Software teams who use an agile methodology plan, build, and test iteratively in short sprints. There are a number of advantages to this approach. Problems can be caught sooner, there is greater flexibility for changes, and an agile methodology minimizes the risk of building too far in the wrong direction.

Continuously testing and integrating new code will help to ensure that the code is sound. It is also important to monitor that the code is well written, and all code and data should be backed up frequently to ensure that nothing is accidentally destroyed or irreversibly damaged. Data security measures should be implemented as needed.

5. Build a Simple, Lovable, and Complete (SLC) product

A Simple, Lovable, and Complete (SLC) product is a modern evolution of the classic Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Start by building a simple application that can perform one job very well and provide a great user experience. Design your product with your customer’s emotions in mind, and focus on delivering as much value as possible.

Once you’ve built a complete product that is delightful to use and solves one important problem very well, get it out into real users’ hands. With a solid product out in the market and revenue rolling in, you’ll be in an excellent position to add additional features and functionality later - if you wish.

Build your custom software with an expert team

Looking for a highly skilled and experienced team of software experts to help you plan and build an exceptional product? At Basecode we have extensive experience planning, designing, and building Simple, Lovable, and Complete software products using agile methodologies and other risk mitigating strategies. Contact us to learn more.

Early on in your software project, it’s important to focus on creating a simple, loveable, and complete product that solves a real problem - and getting it to market fast. But that doesn’t mean it’s too early to think about scalability as well.

In fact, not thinking about scalability until after your product is built and launched can be a costly mistake. Choosing a scalable system architecture and infrastructure in advance will help ensure that you’re well positioned to succeed when it comes time to scale your custom software.

What does it actually mean to scale a software product?

Scaling a software product means taking steps to ensure that the software has the capacity to handle an increasing number of user requests, and an increasing quantity of data. If it’s a customer-facing application, you may be experiencing growth in your customer base. If it’s an internal application, your team, complexities, and operations may be growing. 

Either way, increased user demand means increased strain on existing resources. The challenge then becomes figuring out how to scale your product quickly and cost-effectively, without degrading performance or user experience. 

Laying the groundwork to scale successfully

Here are a couple of key questions to consider when designing your software in order to set yourself up to scale as smoothly as possible when the time comes.

1. How will you store an increasing volume of data?

As your user base expands, you’ll need more memory space and increased response capacity. This means that you’ll need to either scale your system vertically by adding more power to your existing servers, or scale your system horizontally by purchasing additional servers. Vertical scaling has greater limitations, so it’s generally safest to prepare to add servers down the line.

You may also want to consider going the route of cloud storage. The cloud has greater storage capacity, and is generally known to provide superior system availability. Most cloud storage providers also allow you to pay for only what you need, and increase as you grow. If you choose the cloud, though, be mindful of security and data control issues.

Consider also which type of database you will need for both your current and any anticipated future data. For example, will you need a relational (SQL) database, a non-transactional (noSQL) database, or both? Also, be sure to put a reliable process in place to backup all of your data on a regular basis.

2. How will you handle an increasing number of requests?

Implementing a solid networking infrastructure, in the beginning, can save a lot of headaches later on. Your network is the structure supporting the transfer of your data between each node and device. If end-users will reside in disparate locations, consider setting up a CDN (content delivery network) of distributed servers so that data is located closer to the delivery location.

Strategically adding APIs (application programming interfaces) to your software application can also do a lot to help smooth the scaling process. An application programming interface is a special type of software program which allows two different applications to communicate with each other and exchange data.

Setting up an efficient data caching system can also do a lot to help reduce your system’s processing strain. A cache is a form of temporary data storage that has a faster response time than long-term storage. It’s not feasible to store too much data in a cache for too long, but placing some of your most requested data there for a time can greatly improve performance.

Also, consider using asynchronous processing wherever possible to break system processes down into smaller components that can be run both independently and concurrently.

Scalability is achievable with the right plan

At Basecode we care about building best-in-class bespoke software products that impeccably support your business - both now and in the future. Contact us to find out more about how we can help you build and scale a remarkable application.

Space Shuttle Columbia's STS-4 mission launched from Kennedy Space Center on June 27, 1982.

The time will arrive when you’ve planned, designed, and built a great software product. It’s a huge accomplishment, and you’re excited for what the future holds. But there’s one more important step in between your ready-to-launch product and your future success: the deployment phase.

After investing in creating a high quality product, that last thing you want is to get derailed during the home stretch by a poorly implemented rollout. Your deployment process must be carefully planned and executed in line with best practices in order to maximize both its efficiency and the likelihood of a successful outcome.

What is deployment planning?

A deployment plan clarifies and outlines the process through which each deliverable of a software project is rolled out into the real world. It addresses factors such as pre-release considerations, required resources, potential risks, and anticipated timelines.

An expertly crafted deployment plan is detailed, comprehensive, and results in the release of a stable, reliable, and delightful product. It also sets the stage for a streamlined delivery process and a great customer experience.

What steps should a good deployment plan include?

There are several steps integral to a successful product deployment. Adequately addressing each one will maximize not only the chance of a smooth deployment experience in the present, but also your product’s success in the years to come.

1. Set up risk mitigation safety nets

A final backup snapshot of the application code and database will need to be completed, and thorough testing conducted in order to be 100% certain that the backup can be deployed at a moment's notice. A fast and reliable deployment process should also be put in place for any necessary future patches. Security features must be implemented and tested as necessary to guarantee the protection of sensitive data.

2. Determine which resources will be needed

The resources required for successful deployment will usually span the categories of hardware, software, and people. Will new equipment like servers or IoT devices need to be purchased? What about support systems like a project management app, or integration software? Will technical support personnel, power users, or other product champions need to be trained to aid in deployment, onboarding, or maintenance?

3. Obtain all necessary approvals

Final verifications and official approvals will need to be sought from all relevant stakeholders. A legal review may need to be conducted in some cases, especially if any data is protected by HIPAA or other government regulations and privacy laws. Deployment should only proceed once the green light has been received from all parties identified as required to sign off on the live rollout.

4. Create a deployment schedule and timeline 

Each step of the deployment process will need to be carefully scheduled and mapped out. The schedule and timeline should be shared in advance with all affected internal stakeholders. The technical deployment process itself should ideally be automated to the extent possible, in order to increase speed and reduce errors. Builds will need to be submitted to Google or Apple at the appropriate time, if applicable.

5. Set KPIs and monitor performance

Set up and track your most important metrics in an analytics dashboard so that you can measure how well your new product is performing against them. System monitoring tools can also be implemented in order to let you know how well your new software is performing in regard to factors like speed and memory usage - plus if something breaks, you’ll want to find out immediately so you can fix it.

6. Prepare a robust onboarding plan

When you deploy a new software product, all users are new users. Carefully map out who will need what level of training. Craft a strategic and detailed onboarding plan which will help each user achieve their goals and receive value as quickly and easily as possible. Establish a system for training and onboarding additional new users in the future, and refine it as needed based on user feedback and new feature additions.

7. Implement features to guide continuous improvement

Integration of a chat function is a great way to both implement a user feedback system and establish a vehicle for immediate support when an issue pops up. It’s also a very good idea to set up analytics to compare your application’s actual to expected usage. For example, a heatmap system can be implemented to see where users are clicking and what content is viewed most often.

Interested in partnering with an expert deployment team?

Basecode’s team of software experts has ‘boots on the ground’ experience with successful software deployment planning and execution. Contact us at https://basecode.ca to learn more about how we can help you plan, design, build, and seamlessly deploy a best-in-class software product that delights and amazes your ideal customers.

Your product needs to stand out in an amazingly complex and distracting world - and perhaps in an amazingly crowded market as well. According to eMarketer, worldwide digital ad spend alone is projected to grow 17% in 2021. That’s a lot of advertising dollars to compete with.

Whatever problem you solve, chances are your ideal customers have multiple solutions to choose from. Your biggest competitor might even be the status quo of inaction. 

You know you have a great product that solves an important problem. But how is it possible to grab the right people’s attention? How can you let the people who stand to benefit most from your product know about the great value you have to offer?

This is where crafting and sharing a compelling unique value proposition comes into play.

What is a UVP and why is it important?

Your UVP (Unique Value Proposition) is a statement which describes how you uniquely solve your customers’ problems. It is sometimes alternately referred to as a USP (Unique Selling Proposition). A well crafted UVP clarifies the top benefits your product offers and how you are different from your competitors.

Your UVP tells your prospective customers why they should do business with you by letting them know what sort of value to expect from your product. Creating and prominently marketing a compelling UVP can make a significant difference in how many people you attract and convert into customers.

How to identify your product’s UVP

A true UVP is more than just a tagline or positioning statement. Offering unique value means deeply understanding your customers, their problems and desires, and how you can help. Your UVP should be data-driven, tested, and refined over time. 

To identify your strongest and most compelling UVP, begin by clarifying who your ideal customer is and what is the largest and most painful problem you can solve for them. List out all of the relevant features and benefits of your product. Identify the most important and valuable benefits you offer, as well as everything you do differently from your competitors.

Here are a few examples of some different types of value that you could choose to emphasize in your unique value proposition. Whichever UVP focus angle you choose, make sure to specifically tailor it to fit your customer, market, industry, mission, product, and unique strengths. Specificity is compelling. Being vague and over-generalizing is not.

Highest quality product. If you choose this angle for your UVP, explain exactly what it is about your product that makes it superior. How is it better? What will people gain with your product that they won’t get anywhere else?

Most effective process. If you want to differentiate based on a unique process, clarify exactly how your process works and why it produces the best outcomes. Why should people care about using your process?

Fastest results. Another way you can provide value is to solve a problem faster than other alternative solutions. Be specific about how much time your product can save and which benefits the time savings will provide.

Best value for the price. Competing based on price can be a slippery slope. But there’s a difference between being the cheapest option and offering the best value for the price. Be explicit about exactly why your price is such a great deal.

Most enjoyable experience. Many people are willing to pay more for a great experience. This could be their experience using your product, interacting with your company, or both. Let people know why they’ll have the best experience with you.

How to write a UVP statement

It is essential to clearly convey your message to your audience using language that they understand. Conduct customer research to make sure you are actually using the right language in your messaging. The way you talk about your product and the way your customers talk about it might not be the same. Find out which words real customers are using to describe your product and its benefits.

Your goal is to generate a succinct statement which both describes what your UVP is and why your ideal customer should care (i.e. what’s in it for them). Feature your UVP statement prominently on your website and other marketing materials, and be prepared to discuss it in depth during conversations.

Here are the key components of a strong UVP:

Explains why your product is relevant. What problems does it solve, and how does it solve them?

Explains why your product is different. How is your solution unique, and why is it superior to other alternatives?

Explains the value of your product. What specific benefits and value will customers attain from using your product?

Examples of strong UVPs

Nailing an effective UVP is not an easy task, and many companies continue to struggle in this regard. While no value proposition is perfect, some brands have successfully managed to craft a strong UVP for their product. 

Here are a few examples of compelling UVPs developed by real brands:

Digit: Take the worry out of your money. You don’t have to think about saving or investing money anymore. Digit does it all for you.

Gengo: Professional translation within hours. 97.6% customer satisfaction. 

Scribd: Endless entertainment and knowledge. Read or listen anytime, anywhere.

Unbounce: Boost your conversions. Boost your relevance. Boost your confidence. Spend less time building, more time converting. The new SmartBuilder lets you tap into AI insights and over 1.5 billion data points to light up new conversion possibilities for your small business.

Vidyard: Video built for virtual selling. Vidyard is the key to making remote selling easy. From prospecting to proposals, record and send videos that add a personal touch at all stages of the sales cycle.

Do you want to build a product with unique value?

At Basecode we can help you strategize, design, and build a software product that stands out in the market and offers unique value to your customers. Contact us to find out how we can help you launch a product with a compelling UVP.

You have a great product idea and you can’t wait to move forward on your journey. It’s a very exciting place to be - though also a bit intimidating.

You want to build your software right, and you want to build it with the right people. But what if you don’t already have the right people on your team?

It might be within your means to invest the time, effort, and expense to hire and train the human resources you need in-house… or it might not. Either way, there is a faster and more flexible option for getting your product to market: outsourcing.

What is outsourcing and why should you consider doing it?

Outsourcing means partnering with a third-party provider on a business project instead of handling it in-house. There are several reasons that you might want to outsource your software project. For one, Deloitte’s 2020 Global Outsourcing Survey found that 70% of respondents cited cost reduction as their primary reason for outsourcing.

Outsourcing can make a lot of sense if you have plenty of domain expertise but lack the in-house talent and infrastructure to develop the software you need. The high investment cost of recruiting, training, and compensating an in-house development team - plus purchasing all of the hardware and software resources they need to operate - might not fit with your budget or your timeline.

Or perhaps you already have a pretty solid in-house team but they lack either the specific technical expertise or the extra capacity to take on your new project. Outsourcing can be a great way to supplement your existing resources. It also makes scaling products much more efficient as it can be done on an as-needed basis.

What steps should you take when you’re ready to outsource?

1. Get clear on your vision

What goals are you trying to achieve? What requirements do you have for the final product? It’s best to get as much clarity as possible on these baseline elements before beginning discussions with a potential outsourcing partner.

2. Do your research

Research the software firms you’re considering working with. What sort of expertise do they have? What’s in their portfolio? Do they know how to create and implement a solid strategy? Look for a partner that has relevant experience, positive recommendations, and a successful track record of getting products to market.

3. Understand the technology landscape

Are you familiar with the best tools and technologies relevant to your product? Will you need a mobile product, a cloud product, AI or some other advanced functionality? One of the top benefits of outsourcing is gaining access to the right people, tools, processes, and technologies when you need them. But make sure you understand what you need.

4. Consider your timeline

How flexible is your project timeline? Do you need to get your product to market quickly? If time is a major consideration, be sure to thoroughly understand your partner’s processes and expected timelines. Some firms will be more agile than others.

5. Consider your budget

Get clear on your budget, and consider not only the total cost you’re quoted for the project but also the supplier’s payment structure. Will you be paying a fixed price or will you be charged an hourly or daily rate? How much potential is there for scope creep and other cost overruns?

6. Evaluate the risks

There are certain risks inherent to both outsourcing and not outsourcing. On the one hand, completing a software project in-house when you lack the proper resources or are forced to make a huge upfront investment to obtain them has a high degree of risk. On the other hand, if you decide to outsource be sure to consider any relevant confidentiality issues as well as what you’ll do if the project somehow gets off track.

7. Find the right culture fit

A successful outsourced software project requires good communication and a good culture fit. Find a partner who onboards well, sets up a good communications structure, and values transparency. Plan to stay actively involved in the project, seek regular status updates, and provide valuable feedback.

8. Begin with a solid strategy

Once you’ve found a software firm you’re interested in partnering with, work together to get a solid strategy in place before moving forward with the rest of your project. The strategy phase should include a thorough evaluation of your market and business use case, validation of your value proposition, and laying the groundwork for a clear and successful path forward.

Interested in outsourcing a project?

At Basecode we care about helping you build a great product that provides real value for real customers - and successfully take it to market. Contact us to learn more about how our expert team can help bring your vision to life.

A software development project comprises multiple phases - and typically takes several months in all. Each project commences with two strategy phases: the Discovery Phase and the Design Phase. These are then followed by three implementation phases: the Engineering Phase, the Deployment Phase, and the Maintenance Phase.

Each phase builds on those prior and culminates in a fully functional software product. Strong project management, teamwork, and communication facilitate smooth and efficient transitions from one phase to the next.

Here’s a brief overview of what to expect during each project phase:

1. Discovery Phase

Every project begins with a discovery phase. This is the most important phase, because alignment is created with the business model, value proposition, and operational processes. It usually takes about one month. 

The project strategy will differ depending on whether the project is greenfield or built onto an existing product. Risk factors, investment size, and internal support structures are evaluated, and a validation of the market and value proposition is confirmed

A full 14-point business model assessment is conducted to examine the viability of the project. At the end of the discovery phase a playbook of insights, key findings, and strategies is delivered, along with a set of implementation options.

2. Design Phase

The design phase is where the strategy begins to translate into tactics. Questions around what the product will look like and how it will be used are examined. A full design framework is built, starting with a blockframe visualizing the user experience. 

The blockframe is then fleshed out into a full wireframe which considers the user experience from all perspectives. Next, an interactive low-fidelity prototype is created, including images, graphics, and other brand elements. 

Finally, a high-fidelity prototype is constructed with near-final content. Design specs with precise measurements are created for all different device types, which will be used by the engineering team during the coding process.

3. Engineering Phase 

Now that the strategy phases are complete, the implementation phases commence. The first and most important part of the engineering phase is the creation of the system architecture, including all databases and integrations. 

Next, data modeling is conducted to determine which data will be captured, and which data will be accessible to users. Integrations are set up to link subsystems together, including any desired third-party integrations. This includes planning and building APIs. Tools are put in place for system monitoring and logging. 

The deployment pipeline is set up, including environments for development, staging, pre-production, and production. Mock data and users are added into the staging environment, and a copy of the real data is used in the pre-production environment. A master release goes into production, and fixing production bugs becomes a top priority.

4. Deployment Phase

The deployment phase marks the point where the system transitions into the customer's hands. Final safety nets are put in place, and final verifications and approvals are sought from all stakeholders.

The last review of what production will look like is conducted, and builds are submitted to Google or Apple as applicable for native apps. Any necessary legal review is also conducted at this point to ensure compliance with relevant policies.

5. Maintenance Phase

After deployment, ongoing maintenance is essential to keep the system running smoothly and safely. Customer feedback is collected in order to optimize functionality and correct any operational issues. 

Timely security updates are vital, as each system element has unavoidable vulnerabilities. Additional periodic updates are also conducted to help the system operate more efficiently, effectively and reliably. 

Data snapshots are taken at regular intervals in order to archive and backup data. And simple development additions are rolled out as appropriate.

Are you ready to get started?

Do you want to build your new software product with an experienced team using a thoroughly vetted workflow based on industry best practices? Contact us to learn more about how we can help you design, build and launch a successful product.

Building a best-in-class product with a good cost-to-value ratio - and getting it to market as fast as possible - is the pinnacle of excellent software development. And of course, this is not an easy feat to pull off. Project management is one of the most significant factors that determines which software projects ultimately run smoothly, and which get derailed.

So what exactly is project management? Project management encompasses the coordination and oversight of all human and material resources throughout a full project life cycle. Project managers determine and apply the skills and tools needed to complete a project in accordance with the designated timeline, budget, and quality standards.

Why is project management important?

Great project management leads to the outcome of getting a high quality product to market as quickly and efficiently as possible. Poor project management, on the other hand, can result in errors, costly time and budget overruns, and even the creation of an inferior product.

Unfortunately, strong project management practices still haven’t been implemented in quite a few organizations. According to a survey by Wellingtone, only 32% of professionals are at least somewhat satisfied with their organization’s current level of project management maturity. With a lack of great project management in the market in general, it’s important to recognize what to look for when building out your own product.

What does great project management look like?

A sound software project management process includes employing best practices at each stage of the Software Development Life Cycle:

1. Planning & Analysis Stage

The software project manager first gathers and organizes the business requirements for the product. This typically includes both interviewing stakeholders and conducting market research. Next the requirements are analyzed to determine the feasibility of the project, and if all looks good, the project scope and deliverables are defined.

Defining the project scope includes setting a timeline, estimating costs, and determining which resources will be required to successfully complete the project. Necessary resources include skilled team members, tools, and technologies. Schedules, procedures, deadlines, and key performance indicators (KPIs) also need to be set.

2. Design Stage

The high-level system architecture will need to be designed next. The project manager transforms the requirements into detailed specifications for all components and functionality. The full architecture, from the back-end database to the front-end user interface, must be taken into consideration, including any necessary security features.

A risk assessment will be conducted, and plans formulated to head off potential problems in advance. Some initial documentation may be created, and decisions will be made regarding how the various technologies and team members involved in the project will be utilized for maximum efficiency.

3. Implementation Stage

The implementation (i.e. building) stage is when the coding of the application actually commences. The development process progresses incrementally and iteratively in order to reduce costs and catch problems quickly. The project manager regularly evaluates the project’s progress and communicates frequently with all stakeholders, including the provision of regular status updates.

The project manager also sets both individual and team goals and assigns tasks as needed to ensure that all resources are optimally utilized. Team meetings are scheduled at regular intervals with succinct and action-oriented agendas so that issues are quickly identified and resolved.

4. Testing & Integration Stage

Quality assurance testing is implemented at set intervals and overseen by the project manager to ensure that all requirements are being met and that the code is working properly. New features are gradually implemented and tested via a continuous integration process. Only thoroughly tested code will be sent to production.

5. Deployment & Maintenance Stage

During the deployment stage, the fully tested final product is released to real users. The project manager conducts a project evaluation, including a wrap-up reflection with the entire team. The product documentation is also finalized and released. Once the product has gone live, training and technical support are provided, updates are rolled out as needed, and new features are added as desired.

How will your software project be managed?

At Basecode we understand how critical great project management is to the success of your software product, which is why we always implement project management best practices at every step of the project life cycle. Contact us to find out more about how we can exceptionally manage your project.

Have you ever dialed a customer service number and found yourself on hold for what felt like an eternity? If you’re like most people, it’s easy to recall a time when you encountered poor customer service - and hopefully a time when your expectations were exceeded as well.

Those one-time experiences were part of your overall experience with a company, but there is much greater complexity in the relationship between a business and its customers. Customer experience (CX) is broader than just customer service. It comprises all of the experiences a customer has while interacting with a company’s brand, products, and services.

Every touchpoint a customer has with your company is relevant to CX, including the software your customers use (and the software your employees use to serve them). What’s more, software can be designed to intentionally and strategically improve your customers’ experience.

Proactively creating a positive customer experience is important because customers who enjoy their experiences with your company are more likely to do a higher volume of business with you, stick around longer, and recommend you to others. In fact, according to research by Bain & Company, businesses that create an excellent customer experience enjoy revenue 4-8% above their market average.

Here are several ways custom software can improve customer experience:

Provide a great user experience

User experience (UX) is the experience your customers have as they interact with your company’s software applications. The UX a customer has is an important part of their overall customer experience.

Designing a great UX means having a user-friendly website or native app. All customer-facing applications must be fast and easy to use. The interface should be intuitive, and the design should be consistent and based on best practices. It is essential to fix any technical issues that arise as quickly as possible. Feature development should be feedback-driven, with a commitment made to continuous improvement.

Increase personalization

The more personalized a customer’s experience is, the more likely they are to feel a strong connection with your brand. Fortunately, there are a number of ways that software can be used to increase personalization.

Software can collect and store a variety of customer data which can later be used to send personalized communications. Customers can be tagged into various segmentation categories for better-targeted offers, content, and product recommendations. Geolocation technology can also be utilized for location-based personalization.

Resolve problems faster

Fast and effective problem resolution is a key component of a great customer experience. Even the very best systems and processes sometimes break, and what happens next is highly important if you want to keep customers happy.

Customer service response times can be shortened by implementing chatbots and other automated response systems. Artificial intelligence can also be used to enhance self-service portals and features. Software can track inquiry response times, record interactions, and flag suspected problem cases for additional follow-up.

Gather better feedback

Customer feedback is the key to finding out what’s actually delighting people and what’s making them run for the hills. And with the right software, collecting and analyzing a wide variety of feedback data has never been easier.

Software can be used to design and administer customer surveys, and collect reviews and testimonials. Live chat tools are another great way to capture valuable feedback at critical moments. In addition to gathering direct feedback, software also has the power to monitor various forms of customer engagement and identify where churn is happening.

Provide memorable experiences

Positive memorable experiences tend to equate with long-term brand loyalty. After all, who doesn’t want to be surprised in a delightful way? But in our modern world, there’s a lot out there competing for people’s attention.

The right software tools can do a lot to aid us in creating memorable experiences for customers. Collecting customer data informs us of what people like and value, so we know what they’ll probably enjoy. Software can also be the delivery vehicle for a pleasant surprise like an unexpected upgrade or bonus gift. Plus an exceptional user experience with an app can be quite memorable on its own.

Transform your CX with custom software

At Basecode we create bespoke software solutions strategically designed to provide a remarkable customer experience. When you partner with us on your software project, we help you align your software vision with your business goals and create a product that your customers truly love. Contact us to learn more.

Our digital world is constantly evolving as numerous new advanced technologies emerge every year. Capitalizing on the best and most relevant technological innovations can be key to optimizing business operations and gaining a competitive edge.

Nearly all organizational processes now rely on some type of software. Software facilitates our communications, stores and organizes our information, and helps us do our jobs with maximum effectiveness and efficiency. Understanding the future of software is vital to understanding the future of business operations.

One major advantage of building your own custom software is the flexibility to design your product to harness the power of the latest and best technologies. And there are plenty of compelling reasons to do so. For example, according to Gartner 56% of CEOs reported that implementing digital improvements has increased their business profits.

Here are seven current technology trends shaping the future of custom software development:

1. Artificial Intelligence

An increasing number of organizations are adopting Artificial Intelligence solutions to facilitate their business operations. As IT systems increase in complexity, AI can be used to automate certain core processes, integrate different platforms, and better manage data.

Automated speech recognition technology, for example, is experiencing particularly high growth in demand as companies implement it to monitor and improve their customer service. AI is also increasingly being used to optimize software development processes via applications such as rapid prototyping, automated testing, and automatic code refactoring.

2. Big Data Computing

As the volume and variety of data collected and managed by organizations continues to grow, big data computing is becoming increasingly essential for most businesses. Bigger data requires more powerful tools for effective management, storage and analysis.

In order to maximize the value of their data, some organizations are turning to data-as-a-service solutions, while others have recognized a need for custom software to automate advanced data analysis at scale. Edge computing (computing done near the data source) is also on the rise as organizations seek to improve speed and save bandwidth.

3. Blockchain Technology

Blockchain is no longer just a finance thing. A blockchain database stores data in a unique manner wherein data resides in a chain of data blocks. Blockchain’s digital transaction ledger can easily be duplicated and distributed across an entire network.

Because distributed ledgers are ideal for storing and sharing large volumes of data, they are now being used for an increasing number of applications in different industries. Complex trades like supply chain management have recently garnered strong interest in blockchain technology to facilitate their operations. As blockchain grows in popularity, there is an increasing demand for the development of complementary software to seamlessly integrate the technology.

4. Cloud Services

The use of cloud computing services rose in tandem with the past year’s explosion in remote work - and it looks like the popularity of the cloud is locked into a continued upward trajectory. Many organizations have found that cloud solutions save on costs, streamline processes, and scale more easily than traditional alternatives.

However, simply transitioning to the cloud doesn’t instantaneously cut expenses or improve performance in and of itself. Cloud systems must be strategically designed, implemented, analyzed, and optimized to effectively capitalize on their potential benefits. Hybrid and multi-cloud adoption is also on the rise, further increasing complexity and the need for advanced security solutions.

5. Internet of Things

The Internet of Things encompasses an entire ecosystem of interconnected devices capable of collecting and transferring data amongst themselves with little or no human intervention. From smart thermostats that automatically adjust the temperature of your home when you sleep and wake to smart dryers that can sense when your clothing is dry, a plethora of IoT devices now exist in daily life with more on the way.

As IoT finds its way into an increasing number of businesses and homes, along with it comes the need for software systems capable of powering smart devices and managing their data. Sensors must be programmed, interfaces designed, and systems set up for connectivity and data processing.

6. Low-code/No-code Development

Efforts to improve the speed and efficiency of software development have propagated the recent rise of low-code and no-code development platforms. Such platforms make application development more accessible to those without strong expertise in a coding language, and may also decrease development time for those who do have coding expertise.

That said, even no-code development still requires a certain level of technical competence, and building a complex application will always require a strong understanding of software development best practices and product requirements. A business professional who is not an expert software developer may be able to assemble a very basic application or add components to an existing application using a low or no-code tool.

7. Progressive Web Applications

Progressive web applications use APIs (application programming interfaces) to deliver enhanced capabilities beyond those of traditional web applications yet are still built with a single code base and accessible on all browsers and devices. Thus they have the broad reach and efficiency of a web application combined with some of the advanced features of a native app.

On account of their many benefits, PWAs have become increasingly prevalent in recent years. However, while they may seem at first glance to be the best of both worlds, a thorough analysis of business needs and product requirements may reveal that either a native application or a standard application is best for a given use case.

Build a better future

Are you ready to put the power of the best cutting edge technologies to work for your business? Here at Basecode, we help you build custom software solutions using the advanced technologies that serve your organization best - both today and in the years to come. Contact us to learn more.

Erratic communications, inaccurate timelines, and cost overruns are all hallmarks of a poorly managed project - and not something anyone wants to deal with. Fortunately, with the right systems in place these hassles can easily be avoided.

A well-managed software development process leverages available resources for maximum efficiency and facilitates a great experience for all stakeholders. An effective and proven project management framework and methodology should be utilized for best results. Agile software development was designed to be just such a solution.

What is Agile project management?

The Manifesto for Agile Software Development was published in 2001 by a group of 17 software professionals. Their goal for the manifesto was to decrease the common inefficiencies in traditional software development methodologies by proposing a set of guiding values and principles for improved processes. These principles then evolved into a full framework for Agile project management.

Agile is an iterative and incremental approach to project management which has become very popular in recent years due to its clear effectiveness across many use cases. Agile projects are broken down into incremental pieces, allowing for frequent and recurring feedback and delivery cycles within short timeframes.

Agile methods vs. traditional methods

The traditional project management approach, also known as the waterfall methodology, maps out the entire project across one large timeline, beginning with an extensive planning and documentation phase. From there the product is fully built out, tested, and released.

With the Agile approach, planning, building, and testing are performed iteratively across multiple short cycles or sprints. Agile allows for a higher level of client involvement and feedback throughout the process. It has greater flexibility than traditional methods, since changes can be made more easily at any point.

A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that Agile projects are 28% more successful than those run in accordance with traditional project methodologies.

Agile methodologies

Within the Agile framework, three methodologies are most widely used today:

Scrum

With the Scrum methodology, a project is broken down into sprints (usually a few weeks in length) with each team member assigned specific tasks. The project owner gathers input from the end users and organizes it into a prioritized features list to guide what the team will focus on in the upcoming sprints.

Kanban

The Kanban methodology visually maps out a project across multiple columns on a Kanban board. A classic three-column board includes space for upcoming features, features in progress, and completed work. Items are pulled between the columns in a continuous workflow.

Scrumban

Scrumban combines the iterative process of Scrum with the workflow of Kanban to capitalize on the benefits of both methodologies. However, some advantages of each method must also be sacrificed in order to accommodate one efficient, unified workflow.

Scrum is generally considered best in cases where solid planning and progress tracking are a high priority, and Kanban is generally deemed best if an efficient workflow and rapid production are prioritized.

Benefits of Agile development

Greater flexibility and control

Agile software projects are more flexible than traditional development projects. Performance and progress are regularly tracked and reported during each work sprint, allowing for continuous refinement and easy reprioritization of features. The process is overseen by a product owner and transparent to all other stakeholders, allowing maximum control over both the process and the final outcome.

Higher quality final product

The micro-focus on each aspect of the software build, combined with frequent quality testing and review, allows for continuous improvement throughout the lifecycle of the project. This emphasis on each incremental result during the project maximizes the likelihood of an excellent overall result in the end.

Better aligned with business needs

The Agile approach ensures that client feedback is included at regular intervals throughout the entire process. This enables the client to weigh in on feature prioritization and ensures that the product is well aligned with business needs. The features are focused on real user needs and provide the highest possible value.

Shorter time to market

With the traditional approach to development, some team members may sit largely idle during the initial planning phase or other junctures as they wait for their assigned tasks to begin. With an Agile project, each large phase is broken down across short cycles, creating a streamlined workflow that increases efficiency and productivity. An optimized workflow ultimately reduces time to market for the product.

Reduced risk and uncertainty

Frequent quality testing and review means that errors are caught quickly and prior mistakes are not repeated. Ongoing refinements during the project also result in greater predictability of all factors, including costs and timeline. Iterative critical review and feedback reduce uncertainty and risk throughout the project.

Find out what Agile can do for you

At Basecode we always use Agile methodology for our software development projects. This ensures that you enjoy an efficient and effective build process, and receive the best possible product in the end. Find out more.

What is your business worth? Great leaders are always on the lookout for innovative ways to increase the value of their organization. While there are many avenues for accomplishing this, the creation or acquisition of intellectual property is one potent strategy for a company to increase its net worth.

Intellectual property (IP), broadly speaking, is essentially any product of the human intellect. IP can be formally registered as a legally protected asset, in which case it can’t be used or reproduced by other parties without explicit consent. The most common examples of legally protected IP are patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.

Should you patent your custom software?

Of the various types of formally protected IP, patents tend to have the greatest impact on market value and are typically the most applicable for custom software protection. Many organizations, both large and small, now acknowledge the value of creating and protecting intellectual property. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, nearly 15 million patents were in force worldwide in 2019.

When you build custom software, your new intellectual property will generate value for your business regardless of whether or not you choose to file for a patent. However, if you expect that your new software will provide a strong advantage in the marketplace, and it seems plausible that your competitors may seek to replicate it, then applying for a patent is likely a good investment.

How does IP provide a competitive advantage?

Intellectual assets like custom software usually provide a competitive advantage in the marketplace by empowering your organization to operate in innovative ways competitors can’t. For example, if your IP allows you to operate at a faster speed or lower cost than others in your industry, you have a significant advantage.

When you have a unique and valuable product, service, or process that your customers can’t get anywhere else, there will most likely be an opportunity to raise your prices accordingly. You may also be able to increase your market share by appealing to new customer segments that were previously out of reach. Differentiating your organization with custom software allows you to gain brand recognition and establish a reputation as an innovative business.

How else can IP be leveraged for financial gain?

Patented IP can also be strategically leveraged to create new mechanisms for financial gain. If you choose to license the use of your custom software to other businesses, the royalties from patent licensing can become an additional revenue stream for your organization - cash flow going straight to your bottom line. Strategic use of intellectual property can also lead to opportunities for joint venture partnerships with other companies.

What’s more, intellectual property actually has innate value simply by existing - even if it is not in use in the real world. The possession of intellectual property can make your business more appealing to investors by signaling higher future earnings potential. And for publicly traded companies, owning IP can increase stock valuation.

Join an elite class of intellectual property owners

Strategically investing in intellectual property like custom software can dramatically increase the value of a business. For example, when Amazon patented one-click order processing in 1999, not only did their customers enjoy a more delightful ordering experience, they also legally blocked competitors from replicating the technology - providing them with an enormous competitive advantage. By the time the patent expired in 2017, their dominant status in the ecommerce market was resolute.

The good news is, you don’t need the resources of Amazon to join the elite class of businesses that own high-value IP. Here at Basecode we can work within your budget to help you create bespoke software that provides your business with just the right functionality to secure your own competitive advantage in the marketplace. Find out more.

Custom software can have an enormous positive impact on your business - when designed and implemented in a strategic manner. You may already have a strong idea of some gaps that need to be bridged, or a wish list of your dream functionality. But before moving forward, it’s essential to do a bit of strategic analysis to ensure that you achieve an optimal outcome.

What type of custom software will provide the most value for your business? Where will you get the largest return on your investment? Strategy + Business’s analysis of top innovators found that the most successful innovators closely align innovation strategy and business strategy.

Here are several key questions to consider to determine where custom software can provide the most impact for your business.

What are the biggest pain points?

Pinpointing the biggest shortfalls or pain points in your current business operations is one excellent way to find out where custom software can provide the most value.

Time - Are some of your business processes taking too long because of limitations with your current software? Is there a bottleneck somewhere that desperately needs fixing? Are your customers complaining about lengthy wait times or delays?

Effort - Where is your team’s productivity not up to snuff? Are they struggling with software that’s outdated, cumbersome, or difficult to use? Have you had to implement extensive training and support initiatives for your legacy systems?

Cost - Are your current software expenditures disproportionate to the value you’re receiving? Are you overspending on licensing fees, forced updates, or extra features you don’t need? Do off-the-shelf solutions not offer a plan that really fits your business?

Which business functions are most critical?

Identifying your most critical business functions or processes is another great way to determine where custom software can have the greatest overall impact for your business.

Data Management - Does your business rely heavily on data entry, reporting, and analytics? Is top notch data security essential for you?

Supply Chain - Do you perform a high volume of order processing, vendor management, or inventory management? Is accurate delivery tracking a major need?

Customer Service - Is exceptional communications management or customer support key to your business success? Do you need a user-friendly customer self-service portal?

Financial Management - Are your current systems for accounting, bookkeeping, or budgeting not supporting your business in the way you need? Are you concerned about auditing or compliance?

Human Resource Management - Does your team manage a high volume of recruiting, hiring, and onboarding? Do you have adequate software in place for employee support systems like timekeeping, payroll, and performance management?

Sales Support/CRM - Is a streamlined sales system essential to your organization’s success? Does your sales team have adequate software to facilitate prospecting, qualification, proposal management, and ongoing accounts?

Project Management - Is efficient project management vital to your business operations? Do you need customized progress tracking, workflow management, and collaboration tools that you can’t get from an out-of-the-box solution?

Where is the greatest opportunity for innovation?

Custom software is an investment in the future of your organization. Beyond the level of just solving an immediate problem, it could actually revolutionize the way you do business.

Unique Processes - Does your business have unique processes that aren’t properly supported by mass-produced software products? Do you need certain functionality that doesn’t even exist?

Streamlining - Does your workflow include complicated or tedious manual processes that could be automated or streamlined? Could a custom software application benefit multiple business functions or provide missing integrations?

Competitive Advantage - What type of custom application would provide your organization with capabilities your competitors don’t have? Is there an opportunity to wow and delight your customers with an elevated customer experience?

Get the most impactful software for your business

Whether you’re looking to solve a painful problem, optimize your most critical processes, or stand out above the competition, Basecode can help. We partner with you to design bespoke software solutions that provide the exact functionality you need to effectively achieve your most important business objectives. Find out more.