What does a software development company do?

Let's get right to it: A software development company builds software either for themselves or their clients.

Types of software development companies

Software companies are generally grouped based on the way they do business.

Product-based software development companies

A software company that builds software for itself is called a product-based company.

A product-based software company generates income from the software products that they build and distribute.

Service-based software development companies

A software company that builds software for clients is a service-based company.

A service-based software company does custom software development. They build software as specified by their clients.

On top of client specifications, they also provide their domain knowledge and expertise to help clients build the software they need.

Services offered by a service-based software development company

Writing code is just one of the many things that a software development company does.

These are services that a software company offers:

Consulting

A software company can bring their knowledge and experience to a company's project to help them make better decisions.

The following are some forms of software consulting services:

• Assess if existing software systems meet a company's needs.
• Provide advice on the design of software products or systems.
• Provide advice on how to allocate capital and human resources based on current goals. For example, a software consultant may advice a company which people to hire when starting a new project.
• Assess if infrastructure, network, and storage can meet future needs. For example, a software consultant can forecast technological problems that will cause to struggle as its user base increase.

Some software development companies offer consulting as part of taking over a project. In these cases, a CTO jumps in at the very beginning of the project.

Development

Software development is often equated to writing code. While writing code is a major part of development, there are many other phases in the software development life cycle (SLDC).

The SLDC is not linear and some phases overlap with others. For example, software that has been tested can go back to the build phase.

Additionally, the testing and building phase can happen simultaneously, especially in test-driven development.

Plan. Identify the goals, cost, and team structure.

Analyze. Define software requirements. Software requirements are simply the conditions that a user needs to achieve a goal or solve a problem. During this phase, the development team writes the software requirement document.

Design. Define the tech stack and methodologies of the project. A tech stack is the set of programming languages and databases that will be used when building the software.

It is also in this phase that the development team builds a prototype.

Build. Write code. Developers start with the smallest piece of working code called units. These units make up modules that are built incrementally to form the full working software.

Test. Verify that the built software meets the requirements stated in the software requirement document.

If there is a bug or if the software fails to meet the requirements stated in the requirement document, the software goes back to the build phase.

Deploy. Release software to the customer. The initial release aims to test how the software runs on different hardware.

Since the software company can only do so much testing on different hardware, the final verdict of software performance comes down to the end-users.

Maintain. Update software to meet new customer needs, address newly-uncovered vulnerabilities, and ward off new threats.

The maintenance phase makes SLDC an open-ended cycle: there's always room for improvement.

Staff augmentation

Staff augmentation is an outsourcing strategy where outside personnel are brought in to temporarily help an in-house IT team. The commitment period is flexible.

Dedicated development team

Unlike staff augmentation, hiring a dedicated software development team is a long-term commitment.

For example, our dedicated teams work with clients for several years. Our longest-term client has been with us for more than 14 years.

Maintenance and support

Software is like a living and breathing entity. The work does not stop once the first version is shipped.

You need to modify and update software to:

• Meet changing customer needs.
• Correct faults.
• Improve performance.
• Resolve technical debts acquired during development.
• Prevent future problems.

UI/UX Design

User interface (UI) design is the practice of designing how an application or website looks.

The goal is to create a visual layout that leads to a satisfying user experience (UX).

Software testing

Testing-as-a-service is a model in which a software development company leases out its testing specialists.

The goal of software testing is to:

• Find bugs
• Improve software performance
• Fix potential security issues
• Reduce development cost (faster turnaround times by expert testers)

Digital transformation

Digital transformation can be broadly defined as doing business better through software. The most common forms of digital transformation are:

• Automating business processes.
• Managing information efficiently through business software like ERPs and CRMs.
• Setting up the right software systems to guard against future technological disruptions.
• Moving existing IT systems to the cloud.

Software Modernization

Aging IT systems are some of the biggest issues that businesses deal with.

Some businesses still use monolithic applications that are hosted on-premise.

A monolithic program is designed so that its components are tightly coupled. This design can be problematic: if a part of the application needs to be updated, the whole of it needs to be rewritten.

In contrast, modern applications use different modules that are loosely coupled.

Modern applications are typically hosted in multiple off-site locations to add security and redundancy.

A software development company can rewrite old code into different modules using updated programming languages. They can also move on-premise applications into the cloud (the Internet).

Modernizing legacy systems is complex and costly -- but it pays off. It makes software more efficient and prevents problems that can be avoided with sufficient investment on software services.

DevOps Services

DevOps is a portmanteau of development and operations. In some software practices, the people who build code (development) and not the same people who test and deploy the code (operations).

The separation between the people who build code and people who release code can lead to slower progress in software development.

DevOps combines development and operations to reduce time-to-market and team productivity.

It also adapts testing as part of the development process, reducing the risk of costly bugs by identifying them early.

DevOps offers many benefits but also requires specific skills and tools.

A software development company can help with DevOps adoption and implementation. They can work with an internal team to introduce them to the tools and methodologies that make for a coherent DevOps practice.

What products do software companies develop?

Desktop applications

A desktop app runs locally on a computer's hardware.

Compared to a web app, it can run without an Internet connection. It does not require a web browser to access.

Desktop applications directly access a computer's hardware. This can have a two-fold effect: a desktop app can be faster than a web app (because it can access the hardware directly) or be slow (because its performance depends on the computer it is installed on).

Web applications

A web app is an application that users access through a web browser. It runs on a remote server that users connect to through the Internet.

In the past, web apps can only run if there is an Internet connection. Today, Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), which are typically used on smartphones, can run even without an Internet connection. The catch: the functionalities can be limited.

The main benefit of web apps? Users don't need to install them. All they need is a web browser and an Internet connection.

Mobile apps

Mobile apps run on smartphones and tablets. Unlike desktop and web apps that try to do it all, the functions of mobile apps are narrowly focused by design.

This focused design is inherited from the time when mobile devices had limited hardware resources.

As a result, mobile apps are frequently relegated to the following categories: gaming, educational, lifestyle, m-commerce ("m" for mobile), entertainment, utility, and travel.

Cloud applications

Cloud and web applications are often used interchangeably. This is partially correct: all cloud apps are web apps. But not all web apps are cloud apps.

Unlike web apps, cloud applications can closely rival desktop applications in terms of functionality. Moreover, cloud apps often come with APIs (application programming interfaces).

An API allows an app to connect with other apps. APIs allow an external application to connect with a cloud application.

Google Drive, a file storage system, is an example of a cloud app. Google Docs, an online word processor, is an example of a web app.

Are you looking to hire a software development team? The best way to start is to talk with our chief technology officer (CTO)

Our CTO can give you actionable advice on how to go about building or improving your software.