Custom Software

Custom Software Development in Melbourne, Australia

Custom Software Development

 
Custom software development Services

We'll help you develop a leading-edge software solution that's custom built to your needs.

Imagine what it would be like to have a piece of software that was designed to your exact requirements. Software that makes you more productive and has greater user acceptance than any system your organisation has experienced.

Whatever your unique requirements, we can develop custom software that meets your specific needs. From software products to enterprise and Line Of Business (LoB), we specialise in mid to large size projects that work flawlessly in different environments.

We've delivered complete, end-to-end custom software projects in tight timelines, within budget and with a vast range of technical, commercial and procedural complexities. Our approach {push to Approach} will ensure user acceptance from the moment your software goes live. Your staff will even know how to use it from the get go.

We've got technical expertise in artificial intelligence, handwriting, voice and speech recognition and all the other critical technologies that will equip your organisation for the future.

Many of our projects won awards for our clients e.g. Encarp for JLL was 'Runners Up in 2011 FMA Awards, prior that Envision 'Green Travel Program (GTP)' and 'Going Places' won several awards.

Processes, Experience and Technology (Pet) for your projects

We are your 'pet' vendor. Envision IT was founded with an innovative delivery methodology and the delivery process has been improved with each project since 2002. It is now ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 Certified. Our custom software development expertise cover a wide range of projects and technologies, from legacy to next generation. The projects covered aircraft blade design, pharmacy vending machine, dementia patient tracking, sustainability assessment, building and plumbing audit, energy footprint measurement and compliance, aged care audit, aged care patient assessment, court services transcription management, warehouse management, financial reports, manufacturing process analysis and automation, mapping and routing solutions, parking, hot desk and space management, big data analytics, cyber security analysis and solutions implementation etc. Some of these are listed below:

Custom Software Development Services

Product Development:

Make use of our decades of experience in product development and realise your vision within fixed costs and quicker. we will tackle product development challenges such as technology, user acceptance, carry our ground-breaking research, bring in best practices from other systems, help you with commercials, pricing and everything else. We develop software and integrated products with devices, equipment, IoT, machinery and RFID and upgrade / cyber secure existing products.

Enterprise ‘Line of Business Application (LoB)’ Development:

Our decades of product development expertise is extended to develop line of business (LoB) applications for enterprises. Our enterprise LoBs are renowned for being highly efficient, productive and ultra-low maintenance. Typical return on investment in our enterprise line of business applications is 4-6 months. All the work is done on a ‘fixed cost’ and ‘fixed time’ basis. The work will create a seamless system for all the team members that will integrate with devices, equipment, IoT, machinery, RFID, business applications such as CRM, ERP, payment gateways, SharePoint etc.

Custom Integration and API development:

Our product and line of business application (LoB) extends to develop custom integration interfaces, APIs, webservices etc. We can integrate any application, device, equipment or machinery to your system. We are frequently asked to develop custom interfaces to CRM, ERP, payment gateways, infringement systems, permit systems, booking systems, warehousing and third-party logistics (3PL), accounting, devices, equipment or machinery.

Application and data migration:

Application and data migration is common in all the three services above i.e. product development, applications development and custom integration including APIs development. We are expert in application and data migration from one platform to another or old version to new. The old versions can be legacy going back to 2000.

Type of Projects


The projects may include one or more of the following:

  • Concept and scope development
  • Develop or upgrade Software Products
  • Develop Line of enterprise grade 'Line of Business Applications (LoB)'
  • Develop or upgrade (developed by in-house or third party or when the previous vendor is not available) software applications
  • Application Migration from one technology / platform to another or version upgrade
  • Data Migration from any technology / Platform to another
  • Cloud Migration of On-premise application with upgrade and business transformation
  • Cloud development e.g. AI and Data Analytics on AWS, Azure, Google, MySQL or Oracle Cloud, Dynamics CRM, Power BI, Database Applications on Oracle or MySQL Cloud and many others
  • Business and Digital transformation, from paper based or basic electronic applications to next generation applications, transitioning users
  • Mobile device enablement, applications and apps development for existing or new applications (as part of LoB applications)
  • Cyber Security Solutions to strengthen vulnerable applications, databases and hardware
  • Penetration Testing, Vulnerability Scan, fixing issues emerging from Penetration testing or Vulnerability Scan
  • ISO 27001 compliance solutions to set up data loggers, redundant systems, strengthening security
  • Integration with existing software such as Accounts and Finance, CRM, ERP, Pay by Phone, Payment Gateways, Warehousing Systems, PLC, SCADA, devices such as cameras, IoT, RFID and equipment such as boom gates, motors, pumps etc.
  • Next generation technology including virtual reality, augmented reality, speech, handwriting and voice recognition
  • AI and Chat Bots on AWS, Azure, Google and Oracle Cloud
  • Best way for implementing Large Business and Digital Transformation Projects
  • Engineering Design (separately covered under SellCAD for pure design tasks)

Custom Software Development Technologies


We cover a wide range of technologies, practically anything that a project requires, from assembly language to natural language processing (NLP) e.g.

  • Legacy Technologies (80's to 90's): Cobol, Fortran, Unify, Ingres, Sybase, Informix, DBASE, DOS, Win 98
  • Old Technologies (2000 -2010): MS Access, Ingres, Sybase, MS SQL,7 MySQL, Oracle 6, 7, 8, 9, Windows Server up to 2008
  • Recent Past (2010-2018): My SQL, MS SQL, Oracle, Progress DB, Mongo DB, Windows Server
  • Current Technologies (2018 - now): MySQL, MS SQL, Open Source, Oracle, Progress DB, Mongo DB, Windows Server, AI, Data Analytics, Dockers, Containers, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, MySQL Cloud, Oracle Cloud
  • Languages: C, C++, C#, Node JS, JavaScript, Angular, Assembly, Device, etc.

Main Vendors


We partner with all major and many niche vendors. Our recent projects including licensing have involved Acronis, Adobe, Autodesk, Bing Maps, CISCO MERAKI, DELL, Fortinet, Google, HP, HERE Maps, IBM, Lenovo, Microsoft Licensing, Microsoft Surface Devices, MySQL, Oracle Database and Cloud Solutions, Progress DB, Quest, Veeam, VMware etc.

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Custom Software Development FAQs

Custom software development involves developing software from scratch for a specific purpose or function such as developing an application, product, application programming interface (API), utilities to carry out specific tasks such as import/ export data or even writing programs for ‘artificial intelligence (AI)’. It differs from ‘commercial off the shelf (COTS)’ in the sense COTS provide ready to use functionality while in case of custom software, we actually develop the required functionality. The process involves analysing the requirement or business analysis, then design structure of the software i.e. architecture followed by writing software program or code (or coding), testing it internally and then we users or real environment and going live i.e. deployment. After going live or deployment, the software has 90 days of warranty. Thereafter, further maintenance and support are covered under a maintenance contract. This may include provisions on how the software will be updated or upgraded.

Biggest advantage of custom software development is ‘efficiency’ and productivity. Typical return on investment (RoI) on our custom software development is 3-4 months! They usually run fast and provide just the needed functionality without ‘overheads’ such as redundant features in ‘off the shelf’ software that consume computing resources and cause distraction / confusion to users. As they are designed with users in mind, they are liked by the users. Custom software development is the best to capture and enhance intellectual property and valuation of a business. Compared to ‘off the shelf (COTS)’ software, custom software can be easily and regularly upgraded. You do not have to wait for months or years for new features and functionality that you need today. When developed with us, it is more secure and can be updated quickly to manage upcoming threats. Custom software can comply with highly stringent requirements of performance and security.

Yes. After go live or deployment, Envision IT offers 90 days warranty that includes handholding support and maintenance such as bug fixes, performance improvement and minor upgrades. Thereafter, the customers have a reasonably priced option to sign ‘annual maintenance contract (AMC)’. The price of maintenance contract ranges between 3-10% of the project cost. Typically, an AMC provides support hours to attend support tasks and ‘service level agreement (SLA)’ for them. It also provides for a ‘fixed rate’ for carrying out additional tasks such as developing new utilities / functionalities, updating apps to meet app store requirements, bulk data upload etc. In case of ‘Software as a Service (SaaS)’ projects, maintenance is included in the SaaS monthly fee. The maintenance includes bug fixes, upgrades including app updates, adding new functionality etc.

Custom software development involves developing an application, product or utility from the very beginning like starting a painting from blank canvas. On the other hand, ‘commercial off the shelf (COTS)’ products come with existing functionality that is customised to meet specific requirement for a customer. You can view it as beginning with a canvas with a sketch that you just colour on the drawn lines based on the colour scheme and instructions. In our experience, custom software development takes lesser time and is better suited because ‘off the shelf’ software customisation many a times take a long time and mostly, results in inefficient products. Therefore, we do not recommend off the shelf product unless we are implementing them for you such as Dynamics 365 CRM, ERP, Business Central or SharePoint.

We invest heavily in understanding the requirements. It is a collaborative effort with prospective clients. The process begins with a ‘no obligation’ meeting for 30 to 90 minutes. In the meeting, we understand the current set up and broad level requirements. We apply our decades of intellectual capital and research to produce a 2-4 pages long ‘approach paper’. The approach paper defines the setup, scope of work, what will be done and delivered, technology, prima facie risk factors, cost and time.

Once the cost and time falls within the prospects’ budget, we then get started with creating a formal proposal. This is a chargeable activity and involves interaction with client team to collect information and research to develop a solution. This phase is roughly 15-25% of project work. It clearly defines the project scope and deliverables. The project scope is deliberately kept broad so that we do not have to seek escalations when the variations happen. Out of scope items are clearly defined in it.

Finally, the costing is based on – no. of people working X no. of hours to be spent on the project X blended hourly rate. Blended rate takes into consideration different type of resources such as project management, software development, testing, UI/UX etc. and blends them to provide a single hourly rate.

The simple answer is ‘depends’ but it is not helpful! Placed below are typical timeframes based on estimated project cost and complexity:

  1. Integration, APIs, Webservices etc: $2,000 - $5,000.00 / 1 week – 3 weeks for most projects
  2. Small custom software, utilities, enhancement and upgrades: $5,000.00 - $20,000.00 / 4 weeks – 8 Weeks
  3. Dynamics 365 CRM / Business Central / ERP / SharePoint: $10,000.00 - $100,000.00 / 8 Weeks – 20 Weeks. When the requirements are well-defined, it can take from 2 weeks to 4 weeks.
  4. Products, enterprise line of business applications: $100,000 - $900,000.00 – 2 months – 10 months
  5. 5. AWS Cloud – Azure Cloud Migration: $10,000.00 - $50,000.00 / 02 weeks – 06 weeks

There are four reasons why Envision IT should be your choice for any project i.e.

  1. Fixed cost
  2. Quick delivery
  3. Highly reliable and ultra-low maintenance applications or products.
  4. Friendly, highly experienced team with which you do not have to spend much time in explaining things

In our experience, the main risk factor lies in inability of clients to accurately define the requirements. They take many things for granted and expect that the vendor knows it. Then, there are several fine details to processes that are hard to specify or state clearly. On technical front, it is often incompatibility of the old and new systems or constraints that emerge when the project is well on its way. Finally, there are people with different interests. Just one loud dissenting team member or user can derail the project.

We take care of these factors with initial investment when developing a quote and later, by using iterative agile process that includes all stakeholders. The process has delivered more than 170 projects successfully within budget and time, so far.

While there are many virtues in custom software development, it may not be a good economical option in certain circumstances e.g.

  1. Functionally rich applications for a wide variety of users: When you have a wide variety of users that use an application differently e.g. word, spreadsheet, CRM, ERP etc., then the cost of developing custom software would be prohibitive. While there are many notable CRM and ERP projects that costed massive amount of money, time and yet they failed, just for wide variety of users criteria, custom software would not have been a good choice.
  2. Well defined requirements and there is a product: When the requirements are well defined and can be mapped to a product, then custom software develop is not a good choice.

In business environment, where there are set processes and a standard way of working, nothing can beat custom software in terms of efficiency and productivity.

Custom software is also good when the requirements are not well defined or likely to change. This is because it is easier to change the custom software than off the shelf implementation. The off the shelf products often have constraints and limitations.

Custom software is an ideal solution when users have to work with multiple systems because a custom, line of business application can integrate them to provide a single, easy to work platform, obviating need for working with different systems, devices, equipment or machinery.

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