The main point of ordering any custom software development services is to analyze how project cost estimation works and what factors most affect the final cost. In the article, we consider the main steps and factors that are a part of project price estimation and have a direct impact on the software development costs, as well as some additional factors like app complexity and the method of development.
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Nowadays, there’s no such question as “Is a custom business application necessary for our company?” It’s hard to name a better way to reach the largest possible audience rather than by using mobile and online software. Despite the goods and services, you want to offer to your target audience.
The custom business application is the embodiment of your publicity and branding. So, whether your business is big or small, if you don’t have proper software it’ll be a hard task to achieve further growth. But what’s crucial is to define how much exactly the custom software application development price.
Software Project Cost Estimation
Without a doubt, it’s pretty hard, if not impossible, to estimate the price of custom software development by a glance at the customer’s requirements. Each project is unique and requires an individual approach. But, in general, the overall cost of a software project depends on the following factors:
- Scope of work for custom software development
You should define what job exactly your software has to do. Should it provide your customers with 24/7 support? Or maybe you want to get an app that will help users to make orders and pay for them? Each scenario requires the use of different technologies and takes different amounts of time.
Moreover, you should define the performance requirements for the custom software development team to work on being executed, to attain the project objectives. The scope of work should be comprehensive, precise, and include all necessary details of the work such as project background, deliverables (technical specifications in adequate detail), price and schedule.
- QA processes for software development and testing
Why should testing start early in software project development? The most obvious reason is that the implementation of the QA team can reduce costs for future redesign and redevelopment of the product. The ignoring of QA can lead to the situation when the final product doesn’t meet the customer’s requirements or doesn’t provide a good user experience, for example. Correcting the situation requires extra time and money, which can significantly harm the business.
- Maintainability of software development life cycle
You should remember that the development of the life cycle does not end after the application is delivered. Further, the process of maintaining and code improvement may cost you extra time and money. So, the question of code quality may be crucial from this point of view.
Calculate the cost of the custom project development for free. Free Estimation Template.
Using high-end software development tools and principles, the price of maintenance can be minimized. We can divide maintenance into three categories:
– corrective maintenance: the correction of faults when the system does not behave according to its specification,
– adaptive maintenance: the adaptation of the system to changes in the operational environment while keeping the same functionality,
– perfective maintenance: the extension of a system’s functionality and improvement in the services provided.
These were only the basic principles according to which you can make approximate project cost estimation. Let’s define what characteristics can cause the greatest effect on the overall project cost.
Factors That Have the Biggest Impact on Software Development Costs
1. Project size
Let’s start with the obvious one. The size of your project. Different project estimation techniques use different approaches to measuring the app size. The easiest way is to count the number of future features that your app will consist of. A complicated app’s functionality means more time for software development and testing. To clarify how complex it will be, you should make a mock-up of your future app.
2. App integration
The second one is app integration. The intention to integrate your app with any external software creates additional difficulties. Do you need to provide your users with the possibility to make payments via PayPal? You’d better be prepared for extra costs and the increase in development time.
3. Creative design
If you want to emphasize the differences between your application from the others, you should consider in your budget the cost of creative design. Fonts, images, color palettes, custom illustrations – everything that your app includes will be created from scratch according to your target audience needs.
4. Data migration
The data migration from your existing app into your new one may become another source of headache for developers. Data migration is a bunch of scripts that take data in one place and transfer it to another. But since the systems can store the data differently this seemingly simple issue can cause additional problems. As a result, you’ll face additional costs.
Moreover, the contract type you select has considerable influence on the software development cost:
– Fixed Price (FP) approach allows you to define the final price if all features are in the scope of work. Any scope changes are taken as change requests being estimated additionally. The development of huge products can be executed by several fixed-price projects.
– Time and Materials (TM) approach requires your daily engagement but diminishes the final product cost. Your engagement depends on the amount of work and varies from 1h to 4h per day. Read more about the selection of FP and TM contracts in this article.
– Budget with the Float Scope (BFS) contract type is another approach that may be useful for those who want to develop a product and stay within the budget. Spin-offs or startups usually choose this type of contract. Learn more about the BFS approach here.
