Challenges in your software company: What are the main ones?

Creating a high-quality end product is the goal of every business, but the software development process is evolving as automation becomes more ambitious and new tools emerge. A process as complex as software development harbors its baggage of daily challenges. These should be addressed as soon as possible to reduce the impact they have on the bottom line.

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The emergence of the pandemic amid the technological era meant a growth opportunity for software companies, since they increased sales of their products notably, while, at the same time, they had to develop new tools focused on market demands from the new normality outside the office. Faced with this reality, it is not surprising that, in addition to opportunities, certain challenges arose in software companies.

To understand the socioeconomic moment we are going through, we have selected five challenges for software companies in the global market.

1. Project infrastructure.

An unsettled project environment is always a common challenge for software companies in terms of its impact on project delivery. If the environment is not available, then there is no way you can continue your project on time and within budget.

To ensure efficient project development, test and pre-production environments must be available during the development, testing, and user acceptance phases. Invest in a strong IT infrastructure upfront to create a better software development environment.

2. Expectations of development and result.

One of the main reasons for the complexity of software company projects is the constant change in requirements. Requirements gathering is much more than a handful of business consultants finding your ideal product, it is fully understanding what a project will deliver.

To ensure product results align with expectations and requirements, you need to establish a strong process and line of communication. Remember the following best practices.

• Define and agree on the scope of the project.
• Not assuming the needs and requirements of the user.
• Communicate needs and expectations between development and ideation teams.
• Involve users from the beginning of the renewal of the existing product.
• Create a clear, concise, and comprehensive requirements document and confirm your understanding of the requirements.
• Elaborate on a prototype to confirm and/or refine the final agreed requirements.

3. Quality guarantee.

Not reviewing code or squashing bugs are just ways software developers use to save time and meet deadlines. Following a formal QA process is critical to a successful launch. Encourage other software developers to use code development best practices to meet requirements sooner and more efficiently.

4. Undefined quality standards.

Defect identification is inevitable during functionality testing, even if the product has undergone extensive testing during the development phase. When presenting your test approach, scenarios, conditions, cases, and scripts, make sure your test plan covers all the requirements to be met by planning multiple test cycles.

5. Adaptation of the latest market trends.

Meeting the latest technology requirements, such as mobile-first and desktop, is often a challenge. If you don't have staff with hands-on experience in the latest technology trends, it's bound to affect your time to market.

Make sure your employees are constantly upgrading their skills to keep on being relevant. This means staying up-to-date on market trends and exploring the knowledge of technology and software implementations that exist.

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6. Design influences.

Product designs are constantly influenced by stakeholders, the development organization, and other internal and external factors. Managing these influences is essential to maximizing the quality of systems and promoting future business opportunities.

The increase in simple and easily accessible applications has caused user expectations to grow exponentially. Make sure to streamline your design and deliver a consistent experience across all devices, operating systems, and form factors.

7. Integration of systems and applications.

Thousands of different technologies, systems, and applications are available to businesses. The integration of third-party applications or other custom applications, such as ERP systems, websites, or inventory management databases, adds substantial complexity to your project.

And the biggest challenge with integration is that they remain hidden throughout the software development process and only come to light at the end, leading to additional costs, delays, lower quality, and sometimes, even project failure. To adapt your software solution to the external limitations of other systems, you should consider:

• Gain a clear understanding of user requirements;
• Implement an enterprise-wide framework for application platform structure;
• Discover and research new technologies;
• Design and develop new solutions;
• Test and evaluate ideas to ensure optimal integration;
• Pay special attention to research and development, testing, and prototyping;
• Experiment before implementing the solution.

8. Project management.

Multitasking can often cause more problems than expected. Employees can't focus on a single task if their manager bombards them with multiple tasks. An obvious way to be a great planner is to take advantage of project management tools and keep projects, resources, and teams organized and on track.

Stay on track, meet all deadlines, work seamlessly across all apps, and manage your projects efficiently and effortlessly. You should always keep the assignment of tasks sequential instead of parallel and encourage your employees to give their best in whatever they do.

9. Duplication of the test environment.

Testing a software system in a controlled environment is difficult since the user is not immersed in a completely realistic work situation. It is not practical to measure how a user will use the application in different situations regularly until it is implemented.

However, with software applications for the B2B and B2C segments becoming more and more diversified, controlled testing is not enough. Testing software in a real-life independent test environment is critical to the success of your software. This will allow you to see what is working well and what is not working well in your company.

10. Security infrastructure.

Security breaches are on the rise. A recent study estimates that 96% of all web applications contain at least one serious vulnerability. How can you deal with evolving security threats? How can you keep each layer of the software or application secure?

Security is not just the responsibility of the software engineer, but also all stakeholders involved, including managers, project managers, business analysts, QA managers, technical architects, and application developers. If you want to keep your infrastructure and business secure, consider the following best practices:

• Look beyond technology to improve the security of your software;
• Develop software using high-level programming languages with built-in security features;
• Require security assurance activities, such as penetration testing and code review;
• Perform basic activities essential to producing secure applications and systems.

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In conclusion, no matter how big or small, solving the challenges of your software company will never be easy. From requirements to integrating new technologies, from ensuring end-to-end security to duplication of effort challenges, software product development requires you to be clear and focused on the problem you've set out to solve for yourself to achieve the growth you want.