Top Five Advantages of Local Custom Software Development

Shopping local has gained momentum as a consumer trend. What’s more, opting for local custom work gives your business a distinct edge, too. Local custom software development offers many advantages for businesses seeking custom products, but we’ve narrowed the list to the top five. Local developers have the benefit of proximity for personal research into both your business and your customer base. When things go wrong, you can reach out to the team with the most knowledge about your system for technical support in emergencies and routine maintenance situations alike. It’s easier to rely on local business that allows for in person visits, and that operate under the same laws and codes as you do. Of course, paying for local service also means feeding the local economy.

Personal Research

Proximity matters when research is involved. When you work with an overseas company, no matter how good the developers may be, their ability to research and understand your company is limited. Photos, reports, and Skype interviews have their limits. Unfortunately, those limits restrict the ability of overseas developers to perfectly integrate custom software into your company’s existing systems and work culture. It’s also all too easy to develop misunderstandings thanks to miscommunication or gaps in your project outline.

Custom software development ought to be based on everything that makes your business unique. A local business can send representatives to your place of business in person. You can go beyond explaining and actually show your chosen developers what you want, and what issues you’re trying to fix. The best custom software development teams will return to discuss the project throughout its development. This allows true collaboration, ensuring your final product goes above and beyond your expectations.

Local Business Means Local Insight

No one understands local consumers like other local consumers. Keep in mind that local software developers may have had previous dealings with your company as a customer. Even if they have not dealt with your business directly, local developers understand what kind of advertising does and does not work in your region. The same developers reside, shop, and do business in your region, so they know which questions to ask and understand how customers expect to interact with businesses. Just as personal research concerning your business has a direct impact on the final product you receive, so does a personal understanding of local consumer habits.

Help Is in Reach

If something should go wrong, it’s important to have someone who understands your system well enough to quickly identify the issue. An overseas development team cannot reach you if you have problems. The only way such a company can access your system is to use remote access, which is inevitably riskier than on-site maintenance.

Most custom software developers offer emergency support and troubleshooting services. Sometimes these services come with the cost of custom software development, and sometimes they’re offered separately. Either way, they’re more reliable than remote service. An on-site representative can analyze both software and hardware factors. The fact that they intimately understand the inner workings of your business only adds to their speed, efficiency, and value.

Reliability

Overseas developers work under different laws and regulations. They must hold their work to different standards. These complications go beyond cultural differences and influence business practices. A local business follows the same laws and regulations you do. They understand the technical and legal aspects of regional business without excessive explanations.

More importantly, they’re accountable to your standards. If there is a miscommunication or you have trouble with a deadline, you can arrange a face to face meeting. Local businesses are reliable because of their physical proximity. A great overseas company may offer great products, but they don’t have the advantages of communication that local businesses offer.

Boosting Your Local Economy

In the end, every business is local, including yours. International business offers many great opportunities, but dealing locally offers security and support you cannot secure through international deals. After all, your business depends on the local economy. When you invest in other local businesses, you shore up the economic foundations that support your own enterprise. Dealing locally rewards your business not only in the short term through a superior product, but in the long term, through a strong consumer base. Local developers will spend the bulk of their earnings locally, and even if you deal with customers across the globe, a local customer base is vital. Dealing locally pays you back.

Dealing with local developers eases burdens and improves products. This goes beyond frustrations with time zones and into the minutiae of business culture and customer sentiment. Proximity matters when you order a service, and although custom software development is focused on creating a specific product, it is also a service. Support is better during and after development. Your business will benefit, and so will your community. Best of all, remember, this list only represents the top five advantages, and there are plenty more.