How Enterprise Software Development Differs from Standard Software Development

If you are a part of this industry, you must have heard the term enterprise software. However, have you ever wondered what exactly does it mean? As a software development company in San Antonio, we have seen many people get confused about what is the meaning of enterprise software. Not only this but while providing custom software development services we came across another frequently asked question. What is the difference between enterprise software development and standard software development?

So, we present to you a blog that will clarify and answer all of these questions.

The simplest way to understand enterprise software is by this definition; enterprise software is something that is made to satisfy the requirements of an organization rather than an individual user. Enterprise software needs to be built in the context for which it is going to be used. Such software is designed with particular business goals in mind. Every part of enterprise software architecture tends to add to the overall ambition of the project and its success.

Therefore, when someone goes on to develop enterprise software, they need to keep every element of architecture in mind very carefully. It is highly imperative for designers to make sure this is something they keep in their minds. This is true especially when they are using all the tools at their disposal.

Now, let’s have a look at standard software development.

Unlike enterprise software development, regular software development is aimed at solving the needs of a single end-user or a group of users that have similar qualities as well as interests. It is mostly generic as well as sold directly to end-users for their use. The end-users can install it on their personal devices in the form of an application. In such cases, the end users have an opportunity to give suggestions as well as feedback for improvement.

However, they do not get a say in the development process of the same. The developers have the power to decide which features are needed to be added or removed from the application. Some of the common cases include media as well as entertainment applications, educational software, office productivity tools as well as communication tools.

Finally, let’s have a look at the differences between enterprise software development and standards of development.

Although both of these are beneficial, they vary based on several aspects. Here are some pointers that look at the main differences between them:

1. Storage- when it comes to standard software development, it caters to the requirements of individual users and they do not need massive storage. Therefore, the developers are allowed to use simple on-premises databases for storage purposes. However, this is not the case with enterprise software development. Enterprise software systems generally are large and complex. They have to process business-critical information and so require large as well as secure storage. The process of maintaining, setting up as well as acquiring high-performing and highly available servers can really get time-consuming. This is why developers go for cloud storage options. Not only does it help in adapting to fluctuations that are going on but also in keeping development costs to a minimum. This is because the organizations only have to pay for whatever they use.

2. Performance- as compared to standard software development where the application of a product is supposed to work only for individuals and users, enterprise software development needs to work seamlessly in isolation as well as in association with other systems of the business. The enterprise software is used by multiple people at the same time. They were all using it on different kinds of devices and so it needs the developers to constantly keep an assessment of the current situation. They also need to forecast in which direction the business is going as well as standardize and streamline their process for the best results. Since enterprise software needs to work well in all the areas in which it is required to work, it needs constant efforts toward performance optimization. These are far more than what is required of standard software.

3. Security- as a software development company in San Antonio, we understand the importance of security. Therefore, it is safe to say that security breaches have an extremely far-reaching impact on any kind of business. When it comes to enterprise software development the impact can be devastating for the business. It can include loss of personal information, compromised networks as well as misuse of data. This may result in bringing the entire business down. However, when it comes to regular software and the breach of security, in this case, it would only impact an individual or a set of individuals at max. Therefore, when it comes to the developers of enterprise software, they have to be focused on integrating the security early as well as often throughout the entire software development life-cycle.

4. Scalability- as someone who provides software development services, we understand how precious scalability is for everyone. When regular software development is compared with enterprise software development in terms of scalability the former is not expected to have seamless scalability. However, the latter is meant to ensure the scalability of software under development. Regardless of the size of the business, the software is required to grow as the business grows and continue offering the same level of performance as well as availability in the future of the business. Therefore, for enterprise software developers it is important to focus on an architecture that would allow for sudden growth without leading to slumping in performance.

There are many other differences between enterprise software development and standard software development. However, these are enough to give you a great idea about them.