Thinking about upgrading your business with new software? It’s a smart move that can really help your company grow. But, there’s one big question you need to answer first: how much will it cost to create this software?
The price isn’t the same for every project and can change based on what you need the software to do. Before you start, it’s important to think about what you want from the software and how it will help your business.
In this article, we’re going to dive into the costs of software development and explore what factors affect the final price. Let’s get started and figure out what you need to know about the cost of bringing your digital tool to life.
Factors that Determine the Price
The main criterion affecting the price is the customer’s requirements. The more precise and clear they are, the cheaper the final cost will be. Edits and changes during development significantly affect the final cost of the product.
If you make an application to order, you need to understand at once what you want to get as a result. Based on the requirements, the performer forms a base of resources necessary for the project realization.
The cost of software development depends on many factors, among which are:
- Complexity of the project.
- Stack of technologies required for realization.
- The number of personnel and their experience.
- The timeframe for creating the product.
- The number of revisions and changes in the course of work.
- Connection of additional systems and integrations.
- Number of functions.
- Adaptability of the system.
This is by no means a complete list of factors. To understand how much it costs to develop a program, we suggest you get a consultation in our company. This way we will be able to understand the tasks and calculate the approximate cost.
Stages of Software Development
Software development services are formed in several stages. Each of them has its own tasks and allows you to clearly understand how the application should be developed, what needs to be taken into account, what goals are achieved.
The more accurate the understanding of all processes, the cheaper and better quality the creation of the product will be. The stages of software development are as follows:
#1: Assessment and planning
Before starting the development process, it’s crucial to have a clear plan. Ask yourself: What am I building? Why am I building it? What are the possibilities? Answering these questions helps clarify your final goal. Without a clear end vision, the development process can get tricky.
It is not enough to understand that a product is needed for business. It is important to understand how it will help the business, what it will do and how it can be improved in the future. This is where the journey of software development really starts
#2: Analytics
Once the basic information is obtained, analytics begins. It allows us to understand not just what we want to get, but also how we can realize it. This stage of software development involves both business representatives and developers.
This is one of the most critical stages at which development requirements are determined and tasks are set. Analytics helps to study competitors, understand the target audience, understand what functions the program will perform, and how it can be implemented.
If in the previous step we answered the question “What to do,” then this stage provides answers to the question “How to do it.”
#3: Design
Once you’ve clearly defined your project’s objectives and chosen the technologies and approaches to be used, it’s time to advance to the design phase. Design goes beyond just how the program looks.
This stage involves creating the application’s architecture, which clarifies how the user interface communicates with the server-side of the software.
Considerations include user-friendliness, the layout of components, security measures, and the development of modules and their interconnections. Design offers a holistic view, providing a detailed understanding of how the software will function.
#4: Development
This stage of software development is technical. Programmers take the technical task, prototype, architecture, and create modules. They translate the ideas into a technical tool. From a programming perspective, this is one of the most difficult and time-consuming steps.
From the point of view of the software life cycle model, if all the previous steps are done correctly, technical development is considered one of the easy ones. Already at the end of this stage, the product can be installed on the client’s computers and prepared for launch.
#5: Testing
As the development progresses, it’s crucial to check: “Have we achieved what we set out to do in the evaluation and planning phase?” This verification comes through testing, the types of which are decided during planning.
A test methodology and rules for evaluating the results are developed. If defects are found, additional work is done to eliminate them. The task of the testing phase is to minimize risks at startup and eliminate visible and probable problems.
During support, regular tests are conducted to identify failures in operation. This helps to keep the program up and running.
Additionally, ongoing tests are carried out during the maintenance phase to detect operational failures, ensuring the software remains functional and reliable.
#6: Delivery and support
The next software development cycle is the installation of the program on the client’s equipment. The startup process includes a number of actions starting from installation, finishing with training of employees and putting the program into operation, connecting third-party services, configuration and performance testing. But software development cycles don’t end there.
#7: Support and maintenance
Another important step is providing support and maintenance for the program. System performance is regularly evaluated, features are checked for obsolescence, and special attention is paid to the security system. Improvements are made to meet user and business requirements.
This is how the stages of software development using cycles look like. This approach allows you to make a quality product, minimizing costs, reducing development time, and creating exactly what is needed for the business.
