How to Reduce Software Development Cost

One of the most frequently asked questions by companies that launch new software is how to reduce the cost of development. Moreover, it is vital to save the quality of the product but optimize its final price. This is a critical dilemma for startups and businesses that want to make software updates or run new options. On average small companies spend 6.9% of their revenue on IT solutions, and that is why searching for the best methods to save money on IT is very important for them.

This article discusses the most efficient strategies to reduce costs and get operating software to achieve business goals.

Nine Ways to Reduce the Software Cost

The most common problems startups face are budget limitations and a lack of knowledge of factors that can reduce the cost of the software. Next, we will outline the best methods to save money for the company and get a valuable IT product.

Start with Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

MVP is a prototype of the application with essential functions. It allows you to get a product quickly and test it in real life. MVP helps understand what functions you need in your product and what parts are not working and can be reduced. This principle ensures that you will not spend money on functionality your customers will not use. You can minimize the cost, get the optimal product, test it and develop only the functionality your customers need.

For example, Microsoft spends a lot of money to develop Excel with advanced functionality, but users need only 10% of it. Google learned from Excel and created Google Sheets with decreased functionality but with only working options. Start with MVP, and do not spend all your money on functions you will never use.

Understand Your Target Market And Set Clear and Achievable Goals

You can save money and reduce the cost of software if you learn who your user is. It is better to spend time on research than to get a solution that will not fit the users' needs. The best way is to determine what problems your users have and then deliver the best solution for these problems. The most challenging thing is to find the correct issues. After you find out what you will solve, you need to set clear and achievable goals. Many startups think that they already know their target audience and do not need unique research for software solution development. It can be the biggest problem that increases the final cost of the product.

UI Design Must Be Simple

The next step is to focus on simple UI/UX designs without excess elements. In most cases, all unnecessary things annoy users. You can spend your budget creating unique and advanced features in layout, but it does not guarantee their usage in the final product. The best UI designs can also be tested while you create MVP. Do not overload your product. The best way is to consult with professionals who have experience creating efficient designs for similar products.

Automate As Much As Possible

Our advice is to invest in building processes pipeline. Automation will give your product higher outputs and increase productivity. You need to remember that the most expensive part of development is human work. A lot of processes can be automated, and the final estimate of coding can be reduced. It does not mean that you need to change people to machines to have a more efficient process. First of all, you can save costs by automating testing to ensure quality. On average, companies spend 40-50% of total resources on manual testing. It means that testing automation can be your first step in reducing software costs.

Perform Some Stages On Your Own

There are a lot of tasks in product delivery that you can do on your own. It does not mean that you need to learn to code or start automating processes without any experience. At the same time, you can work with a content plan, make a basic SEO optimization (for example, write titles and descriptions), or buy and launch a domain. These are simple issues you can solve without any advanced help.

Enlarge Duration of Development

The next thing you can do is to enlarge the duration of software development. IT companies need to use more resources for developing urgent projects. If you increase the delivery time, it can help the company to build your project calmly. They can use their free time for your product and don't need to be in a hurry. Our advice is to enlarge the development duration after you discuss the product cost with the developers.

Use Practical Modern tools And Decisions For Development in the Early Stages

The efficient way to get a valuable product is to use all development trends, build your software with cross platforms, and choose modern tools at the very beginning of the coding process. In this case, you will ensure the optimal quality of the software, and it will help you if you decide to add some specific functions after you test the MVP. Also, you can use accessible frameworks or free platforms with source code to reduce the software cost.

Avoid Fixed Price

It looks like you can save money if you fix the price of development in the beginning, but in fact, it is not a good idea. In many cases, it means that you will get the wrong quality product. If the team needs to code your product faster because of limited time and price, they will probably sacrifice its quality. It means that you will fix mistakes and pay more for them. It is always better to avoid fixed costs and be flexible if needed for better product development.

Get to Know About Regular Mistakes in Decreasing Price

There are a few things you should avoid while you are trying to reduce the cost of development. Do not ask for an ungrounded discount, and do not reduce the cost by cutting the expenses on testing, technical specification, or design. As a result, it will cost you even more. Also, you need to research the IT company you will work with and choose the one with experience in similar projects. The best way is to find a qualified company to help you build an efficient product with an optimized budget.

Summary

As the article explained, you can reduce the estimated cost using simple and considered steps. We hope those principles will help you get the best software solution for your business with an optimal final price.