For enterprise companies, custom software solutions are an important part of how the company works internally and how service or a product is provided to their target audience. Yet custom software development is changing. With the roles of the CIO and CMO blending and exchanging responsibilities, there is difficulty finding the right IT talent to successfully deploy custom solutions for the business. As a software development firm with locations in Kansas City and Denver, there are certain things C-Suite and others need to understand about how custom software development is changing.
Rapid developments in technology are causing the requirements to build custom software solutions to be more strenuous. Mobile is a huge player in custom development and the technology is constantly growing and evolving. It is hard for IT professionals in-house to keep up with these developments and even more difficult for IT leaders to do so, according to an article on CIO.
The infrastructure needed to support custom solutions is quickly moving into cloud architecture in combination with open source technology, according to Forrester. IT leaders and their teams need to be constantly learning the processes for better, more advanced and comprehensive infrastructures, utilizing open source and cloud computing while reacting when these technologies affect IT control points.
Controlling these continually evolving factors means that an expert, enterprise-level experienced team needs to be involved in creating a custom solution that is fluid with the ability to adapt to the changing environments and infrastructures. This has to be done while still providing a user experience that is responsive and unique in its ability to deliver on needs. Additionally, the development team needs to be able to deliver enhancements and features rapidly while maintaining a smart automation system to keep the updates rolling.
Because of these demands and changes to custom development, the roles of the CMO and CIO are shifting. A wider range of skills are needed from the language required to deploy mobile, cloud and open source projects to integrating into business systems, processes, priorities and preferences. The CIO alone is no longer able to completely manage and decide on all aspects of software development. The CMO is also needed to see how this technology can be utilized in multiple applications and processes. Together, the CMO and CIO can choose to either build an IT team or outsource to a development company that will meet all of the needs of an ever-changing custom software development space in a way that benefits their business directly.
Building a team in-house for custom software development projects can be costly and their skills are quickly dulled as technologies develop and there are not enough resources in the company to help them continue their education. This is where the CMO and CIO should decide if an outsourced IT solution is more beneficial, according to ZDNet. Most outsourcing companies, like Twentyseven Global, ensure their team’s skills are up to date with the latest technological advancements and are a more affordable option for infrequent development projects and current technology advancements.
With rapidly changing technology, the future of custom software development points to a partnership with the CMO and CIO. With this partnership, the C-Suite should choose an IT team that understands the playing field is changing and is keeping up with skills to ensure clients have the latest solutions at their fingertips.
