Software Quality: Is Your Existing Software Solution Always Breaking?
Businesses rely on their technology stacks now more than ever, with software controlling or monitoring nearly every aspect of a company’s operations. That’s a lot of moving parts, and a lot of things can go wrong. Apex Global has highlighted the problems of poor software quality. Increased work interruptions, loss of revenue, increased support costs, and decreased reputation are all downsides to having software that isn’t quite up to the task.
Challenges of Poor Quality Software
In the case of your business operations, there are two ways software can be of low quality.
- The code itself is subpar. This will result in crashes and unexpected behavior, causing the time you spend fighting with the software to outweigh the benefit you’re getting out of it. If you’re experiencing software with poor quality code, you already know because you’re experiencing it on a regular basis.
- The software isn’t integrated well. Even seemingly well-written code can cause problems, but the problems may seem less obvious since most people have just accepted them as the way things are. When software doesn’t work well together, it can cause many frustrating problems, including missing information, slowdowns, and crashes.
No matter the reason your software isn’t working, there are a few big issues that can arise as a result of poor quality software (especially when you’re using multiple software programs to manage your business).
Data Lock-in
Software companies aren’t always big on letting people move to the competition. When this happens, businesses find themselves stuck using a proprietary data format. The information can usually be transferred, but not without hassle and headache. You may like your vendor now, but will they continue to suit all your needs as your company grows? Many software giants have come and gone over the years. Can you ensure the developer of yours will still be around long into the future? If not, the data lock-in could become a problem for you.
Code Bloat
As software ages, it rarely ages well. New technologies come along that need to be integrated, but backward compatibility with the old software must be retained, or else everything breaks. The result is bloated, unwieldy code that leads to even more slowdowns, bugs, longer time between bug fixes, and a host of other headaches.
Lack of Flexibility
Even the best software has interoperability limits. With all of the software solutions in place at businesses, many of which are custom-designed, it isn’t possible for all of the programs to work well together. But in order for a business to be successful, the tools you rely on need to function like a well-oiled machine. To get things working, you need to hire an outside development firm to perform the integrations — but then, you’ll be right back to the typical problems of poorly written software.
The Cost of Poor Software Implementations
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing businesses to hastily upgrade their tech stacks, 2020 was not a good year for IT departments. According to a report by the Consortium for Information and Software Security (CISQ), businesses lost over $2 trillion to poor quality software.
While the pandemic certainly inflated the numbers, $520 billion of that was from problems with legacy software, the types of problems that will crop up eventually anyway. Another $260 billion was lost to failed software projects. Inflated though they may be, these numbers show just how bad outdated software and poor development can hurt businesses. While the investment in software may seem like a lot of money upfront, it will certainly save you even more money over time.
Does Your Business Struggle with Poor Quality Software?
If your existing software stack isn’t working, then a custom software solution may be the answer to your problems. If you’re looking for a better software solution, our expert team of developers can analyze how your business operates and design a system that will take advantage of modern advances so you can replace legacy software before it gives you even more problems.
Contact us today to speak with our team and see how we can help you.
