Software Solutions

The 5 Hidden Costs of Your Software

You won’t be surprised that one of the largest costs of new software is the initial development. Most businesses plan and prepare for this expected upfront cost. But once your project is complete, your new software’s hidden costs might surprise you. These are the top five hidden costs you should consider: 1. Maintenance Although your […]

by | Jul 21, 2022

You won’t be surprised that one of the largest costs of new software is the initial development. Most businesses plan and prepare for this expected upfront cost. But once your project is complete, your new software’s hidden costs might surprise you. These are the top five hidden costs you should consider:

1. Maintenance

Although your new piece of software has been completed, there is more development work required to keep your project running smoothly. This could be bug fixes, new features, enhancements, or system/security upgrades. Just like maintaining a car, your software will need ongoing maintenance to keep it from breaking down. You shouldn’t neglect this cost since it can lead to bigger issues down the road. Bugs can slowly annoy or slow down your users. A new feature or enhancement may be needed to keep up with a competitor. A new vulnerability could be detected which may compromise your data. All these scenarios can hurt your company’s bottom line if you’re ill-prepared. The best way to prepare for this cost is by building in ongoing development time each month to ensure your maintenance is covered.

2. Services That Your Software Uses

A complex piece of software likely utilizes other services. This could be payment processors, monitoring, or a software subscription that your software needs to do business. If you want to keep the convenience of using these services, you’ll need to keep up with their hidden costs. Typically, these fees come in the form of reoccurring monthly subscriptions. Keep an eye on all services your software uses and stay on top of any changes in costs.

3. Hosting

It’s very likely that your software needs to be hosted somewhere. Whether it’s on premise or in the cloud, both come with an associated cost. If your software is in the cloud (such as Amazon Web Services or Azure), you’ll incur monthly costs for hosting your application. If you host your application on premise (meaning on your own servers or datacenter), you’ll have the cost of servers, server admins, and depreciation on the machines the application runs on. Remember: these hosting costs may grow as your business scales up.

4. Backups and Storage

To ensure your software’s data is safe, you’ll need to ensure it is backed up and stored properly. There are many ways to back up data and store it, but there is always a cost to do so. To ensure you are following best practices, you will want to back up application’s database multiple times a day and keep several days’ or weeks’ worth of backups to err on the side of caution. You’ll also want to make sure you are using a secure platform to store these backups since a data breach will cause major fallout for your company. Researching your options and keeping up to date with their costs can save your business in the case of a production emergency!

5. Scaling

As your business grows, so will the number of people using your software. This is a great accomplishment, but also comes with its own costs. This scenario can raise the amount you pay with all the costs mentioned above. It may be wise at this point to spend more on maintenance to ensure your application is performing as expected and staying secure. Most likely, hosting and storage costs will increase with the new, higher load on your software. Be prepared for this by tracking your system metrics and ensuring the application is still meeting your users’ increasing demand.

As you now know, software costs go well beyond the initial development. Tracking all costs associated with your software will ensure you make the right business decisions, and your software is growing with your company. Don’t be surprised by these costs by partnering with an experienced firm to help you develop and maintain your software. Learn more about our capabilities and reach out to us at info@exelaration.com to level up your tech!

 

 

lance.parlier@exelaration.com

Lance is a talented full stack software engineer with experience architecting and building new software as well as maintaining existing software. He is skillful at building enterprise level software, as his previous role included development on a point of sale system for a Fortune 50 company. Lance also cofounded an e-commerce business where he developed a custom stand-alone sales platform. He prides himself on writing clean and maintainable code while instilling similar values on entry level developers. Expertise: Python, Django, JavaScript, Java, C/C++, Linux, Containerization, CI/CD

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