Custom Application Development Costs: Talking Budget
Given the complexity of custom application development, you might think that the most vexing part of the process was the initial prototyping, the testing, or fixing bugs. In our experience, however, that’s not usually the case. It’s actually the conversation about the budget. Custom application development costs can vary by orders of magnitude, and there’s a dance between the resources needed, the value provided, the final price tag, and the amount your budget will afford.
Sure, it can be difficult to talk about budget and spending when trying to get something as complex as a piece of software custom-made—Having that conversation often feels like you’re giving away your last bit of safety in an area with few guardrails. However, we believe it doesn’t have to be this way. Here are some tips for considering your budget to get you where you need to go without falling off the budget cliff.
Have You Laid Your Groundwork?
Before talking specifically about what goes into a budget, we have to take a step back to think about the whole development (and purchase) process. Construction is a valuable metaphor here. Several things must happen before construction companies break ground on a new project. First, the site must be surveyed so that those making decisions are working with complete and accurate information. Next, the site may need to be remediated before work begins (e.g., a new retention pond needs to be built, or the soil needs to be drained of excess water so buildings won’t sink in it). Finally, experts must be engaged to draw up site plans, including plans for specific buildings, and then review those plans for structural integrity.
If you were to hire someone to build you a home, and the next day, they were on-site pouring a foundation, you would be right to be worried. For some reason, companies sometimes expect custom applications to work the same way. After briefly describing the problem, can’t the work begin? Well, actually, no, it can’t. Without the proper analysis of ‘the site’—i.e., your existing software and processes—the odds aren’t great that the developer’s solution will solve the real problem. The better a developer understands the context around the problem, the better they will be able to deliver a solution that not only fixes it but doesn’t compromise any other systems in the process. And while that step is essential, it rarely comes up when companies consider building a custom application.
Are You Solving the Right Problem?
Even if your analysis of existing conditions is spot-on, a project will inevitably fail if it doesn’t address underlying problems. Returning to our construction metaphor, say you had a house with a flooded basement. You could purchase a pump to drain the water, but if the flooding worsens over time, the pump would eventually be overwhelmed…and your home would flood, too. The pump solves the superficial water problem, but it does not solve the real issue: Water getting into the basement in the first place.
At Skeleton Key, we like fixing root-cause problems versus merely treating symptoms of an underlying issue. In software, that can mean that the situation you find the most troublesome isn’t always what you need to fix first or directly. Often, by resolving an underlying issue, the symptom you identified as ‘the problem’ disappears. For example, a slow program could be due to an issue with the underlying database. Fixing the database might speed up the program and give you the confidence to add new features you’ve needed.
Other times, fixing the obvious problem gives you breathing room to address more serious underlying issues. For example, remodeling an application might make it usable enough while you redesign and rebuild the entire system.
Tips for Having the Budget Conversation
Laying the groundwork and solving the right problem form the context for the budget conversation—without that context, the budget conversation will always misfire. But with that context in hand, you can now have an open conversation about budget…and how to make the project and the budget “fit” appropriately.
Custom Software Means Custom Pricing—So Be Honest About Your Budget
Building custom software is like building a custom home: The more you add to it, the more expensive it will be. As custom developers, we enjoy flexibility that other companies might not. We can agree to not build features to lower the overall cost, or postpone building them until they are truly needed or can be funded. We often have the flexibility to build a project in a way that meets your budgetary constraints, even if that means forgoing some of the ‘bells and whistles’ in the first round(s). On the other hand, it also means that we can continue to work on your project over time to make improvements as your budget and cash flow permits, and continually add more value as we do so.
Who Are the Key Stakeholders? Get Them Involved from the Start.
One of the recurring patterns we encounter in our work is that as we dig deeper into the underlying problem that needs to be solved, the project’s scope will need to shift. And when the scope shifts, new people will need to be informed—and some will need to sign off on the changes before work begins. Casting a wider net at the beginning and bringing in more people and their perspectives can help reduce potential friction at later stages, reducing the overall spend.
Does it All Have to Be Done Now? Create a Roadmap.
Another great part of custom applications is that we control the schedule in partnership with you. Sometimes a project is just too big to be done all at once. And we get that. So, if possible, we’ll break it up over time to keep the spend manageable, while still providing benefits for your company. That might mean tackling a different part of the problem across months, quarters or sometimes even years. We can adapt projects to your needs, providing options you might not expect.
How Skeleton Key Can Help
We know discussing budgets can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. At Skeleton Key, we want to get you the right fix for your biggest problems, and there are a ton of levers we can pull to help make it a reality. We’ve helped many companies like you take on their biggest challenges and transform their operations. Ready to get started? Contact us today to learn more about what we can do for you.
