Nowadays, the most underrated employees are software developers. These are the people who shape the present companies because they create fascinating software enabling businesses to optimize growth. If you wish to nurture your business opportunities, here are ways how companies invest in their software development.
Not all business leaders view software development as a core competency. You could not just rely on commercial software vendors to automate your operations and depend on IT consultants to create customized codes. Thus, it is ideal for your businesses to build capabilities when developing software. Apart from developing software with secured business rules, you also improve your team’s skills in programming and more importantly, make them more understand the business side which is a misconception of most people that programmers are out of sync from the business.
Accordingly, you need to understand that if you invest in commercial software, you will experience difficulty in differentiating and attaining a competitive advantage among others.
To improve your software development team, you need to change your perspective regarding software developers. Business leaders should empower the developers to be creative and the authority to shape the organization. It is suggested that developers should also see the to be a process of your desired business operation so that they can fully grasp what they need to do in doing the systems.
“Elevating the role of developers involves a subtle (or sometimes not so subtle) shift of power and sometimes invites a backlash from parts of the organization that feel threatened by the rising influence of technologists,” the Harvard Business Review reported.
To ensure that your software can shape the opportunities of your business, do not hesitate to provide training and seminars for your developers. This will allow them to make developments that are tailored to your business operations. Thus, this will be easier to align the project’s objectives to the goals of the company. Interestingly, this will help you cut the cost of your operations.
Moreover, the best CEOs nowadays are considered business disruptors in their own industry because of the software they have developed. Their customers are willing enough to pay the price for convenience. Consumers value the products and services of companies when they can really save time and other resources.
ING, a prominent bank, attained its breakthrough by digitizing its operations in 2013. Ralph Hamers, the CEO of ING in 2013, invested heavily in software development to make things convenient for their clients. Respectively, he replaced commercial software with in-house development. Interestingly, their team was able to cut a substantial cost and the newly created software outperforms the old-packaged system software.
Business development is possible thru the creation of software. Keep in mind that building your own system for your products and services is more sustainable than relying on third-party developers. Your controls on certain processes and security should be your priority other than nurturing business growth. Importantly, how companies invest in their software development affect the business opportunities that they well be getting
Reference: https://hbr.org/2021/01/in-the-digital-economy-your-software-is-your-competitive-advantage
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- Software Development