Business - You're in a Shark Tank

Your Business Needs to Survive 
Today most companies are well acquainted with the software tools unlike in the 1980's when applications would arrive like the tide and exit into the wind.  Those early days were definitely challenging but on occasion there are still some technology hold-outs, a firm that's postponed upgrades, service releases that brings everything to complete stop.  From paper to paperless, from pen to keyboard there is a solution available as open source, off the shelf (boxed), or the only way or best method is custom development. 

A typical problem might be to convert transaction file from one format to another or perhaps an e-commerce system reports don't fit the business model.  An early mistake could be a long term headache but even with all the planning efforts bottlenecks surface.  The workers in the warehouse are sometimes the best providers of solutions that ultimately solve efficiency issues requiring remediation.  Those in the organization who oversee day to day operational issues deal with the business process up close.

The needs assessment might the first stop in the review process but some clients already have highly focused requirements or they will come with specifications from a vendor who requires a specific process to be implemented.

Many past projects are integration based where the software is connected to an Application Program Interface (API) where the end point (The Customer) will connect via web services to their vendors back end system.  A good example is Ebay resellers who've become high volume operations soon find that Ebay's system works great but falls short in many areas thus the need for custom development linking their accounting or shipping directly to orders rather replicating orders in a separate system.