The global software development market is intensely competitive.
It has grown significantly from $1449.4 billion in 2023 to $1605.89 billion in 2024, marking a compound annual growth rate of 10.8%.
Amid this growth, there's an increasing demand for tailored solutions as businesses seek to distinguish themselves in a competitive landscape.
Investing in custom software is no longer a luxury — it’s a necessity.
As Serge Guzenko, CEO and founder of IT company WEZOM points out, custom software solutions offer precision and scalability that off-the-shelf products simply can’t match. These solutions empower businesses to address unique market demands and stay a step ahead of the competition.
In this interview, Serge Guzenko shares insights into the value custom software projects can bring and how businesses can begin implementing them.
Who Is Serge Guzenko?
Serge, who began as a software engineer, founded Wezom in 1999. Now his company specializes in customized IT solutions for medium-sized businesses and enterprises. Additionally, he established the digital agency Elite-Web and WEZOM Academy. With over 3,500 IT solutions delivered across various sectors, Serge is dedicated to equipping clients with innovative IT solutions.
Despite the rush to adopt custom software, many businesses still don’t fully understand what these solutions entail or the strategic advantages they offer.
“The most common misconception is that everything has already been created a long time ago and you can come and order a custom development from a set of ready-made blocks, like a pizza,” Serge says.
He attributes this to the fact that many brands are only familiar with basic website builders like WordPress or Wix. So, when working with Software as a Service (Saas) solutions, brands rely on ready-made extension modules without knowing the concept of true customization.
“Therefore, there is no sense of the value of individuality,” he adds.
Another misconception, he says, is that a custom project can be assembled and launched quickly. Businesses often think that individual requirements can be immediately understood and implemented by “real programmers”.
“Advertising and broadcasts from hackathons create a deceptive impression. Circumstances remain hidden under the hood,” he reveals.
For business leaders, the takeaway is clear: real competitive advantage comes from a software solution uniquely built to meet your vision, not just assembled from pre-made parts.
Understanding the Unique Needs of Custom Software Projects
When brands assume custom software is a “one-size-fits-all” solution, they might fail to fully explore their specific needs, which prevents them from identifying unique requirements that could address their challenges effectively.
“The main problem in solving each issue is to formulate clear, understandable requirements and expected results,” Serge points out.
If the problem isn’t well-defined from the outset, the solution may ultimately be ineffective.
To clarify the role of custom software, Serge highlights some common areas it addresses:
- Reducing company costs through automation
- Structuring and protecting buyer information to prevent phishing, hacking, or data theft
- Ensuring fast performance and stability under high online traffic
- Providing quick and reliable payment options, with the option to withhold payments,
- Simplifying content management, and combining data from separate or single sources into a scalable system
- Incorporating third-party solutions and adding modules for a competitive edge
Custom solutions that reflect a brand’s identity can also increase conversions, such as boosting the percentage of returning customers or growing quarterly sales.
Improving (UI) and optimizing purchasing processes can also lead to an increase in total sales for a quarter.
By accurately identifying the problem and understanding how exactly a custom software can resolve it, businesses stand to gain more than just a solution to their issues.
According to Serge, the lack of a technical specification (TS) presents an opportunity to conduct a detailed analysis of the client’s needs.
Here are some things you can do if the client lacks a technical specification:
- Start a discovery phase: This involves discussions with the client to identify their problems, goals, and desired functionalities.
- Draft a preliminary TS: This informal document should outline the main functional requirements and user scenarios to provide clarity to both parties.
- Estimate and plan: Conduct a cost and timeline assessment for the project to help the client understand budget constraints and set realistic expectations.
- Create an iterative development process: Break the project into phases to accommodate planning, development, and testing, allowing for adjustments as new information emerges.
The lack of a TS might seem challenging, but it can offer a chance to work closely with the client, building a more meaningful relationship while ensuring positive results.
By diving deep into their needs, you can build a flexible plan that can scale or adapt if needed.
The Hidden Advantages of Custom Software Solutions
Many brands miss out on significant value when considering custom software solutions, often because they focus primarily on costs rather than benefits.
As a result, businesses tend to overlook the functional advantages of custom software, such as simplifying inventory and sales tracking, enhancing cross-department collaboration, and creating a unified solution for analysis and reporting, among other benefits.
“It is best to demonstrate some ready-made solutions to the client’s specialized team, rather than just the decision-maker, including those directly interested in solving specific problems — like sales, marketing, content management, accounting, and warehousing,” Serge advises.
So, to address these needs, businesses must recognize that only custom software solutions can drive them forward.
"No ready-made, SaaS or template solution will allow you to create Amazon or eBay or Walmart or Alibaba. They simply don’t offer the individuality, diversity, and priority needed.
Only a custom solution can be assembled from prioritized components that meet multiple requirements, tailored to the established business model of a specific enterprise within a unique geographic, consumer, and competitive environment," Serge explains.
Making the Transition from Ready-Made to Custom Software
Serge advises that key decision-makers should pay attention to any elements in their current systems that are presented as impossible, inconvenient, or non-functional when considering custom software development.
Additional indicators, such as system difficulties, slow response times, vulnerabilities, and unstable workflows, also signal the need for a tailored software solution.
When these factors are present in even one business process, it’s clear that the solution is likely only achievable through developing custom software tailored to your business needs.
“Each factor, as a rule, represents a specific time and financial losses until the issue is resolved,” Serge adds.
According to Serge, the transition from ready-made to custom software typically occurs during system integration.
For instance, if moving an online store from OpenCart to a custom platform, a prototype would first need to be created.
He says this process will involve gathering all the requirements and expectations, determining the design, and deploying it in a test environment.
Needless to say, rigorous testing and communication between teams are part of it.
Thus, selecting the right development partner is crucial when scaling operations through custom software.
If you have ambitious digital ideas, our team will eagerly assist!
— WEZOM (@wezomcompany) March 30, 2024
WEZOM offers efficient and customized software solutions for businesses of all sizes, from startups to enterprises.
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According to Serge, brands usually choose a potential partner through word of mouth, by reviewing portfolios, and by checking ratings on B2B marketplaces or review platforms.
“Conduct an initial working meeting with companies from the checklist and compare for yourself using the SWOT methodology. Formulate questions that will help understand the competence, creativity, and readiness for immersion of a potential partner.
Proceed through the discovery stage with the chosen contractor. The materials developed during this phase can be used with another partner if, for any reason, cooperation with the original contractor doesn’t continue,” he advises.
All custom solutions are designed to meet user requirements, and Serge explains that they’re programmed to improve productivity or performance.
“Based on a more specific set of requirements and business processes, a custom solution, as a rule (since less unification and more specialization is needed) is architecturally more flexible and scalable than the same ready-made one.
Even in large, established solutions, a custom approach can reach performance parameters per unit of time more quickly than its standardized counterpart,” he explains.
This means that custom software can be adjusted as businesses grow, offering a cost-effective solution to their evolving needs.
As the global software development market expands, businesses must realize that to stay competitive, they should consider a custom solution that enables them to adapt and thrive as they scale.
