Data is power. When your company data is utilized to its full potential, it can reveal patterns in consumer behavior that will help you make the right marketing, sales, and customer service decisions. In order to use your data to the fullest, you might need custom web applications.
Custom web apps are online software programs tailored to your specific business goals. They are intelligent systems designed to analyze, synthesize, and generalize data, turning information into a vehicle for business growth.
Building a custom web app from scratch is a big commitment, but it’s one that can pay huge dividends to small- and medium-sized businesses in competitive markets. If you’re unsure about investing in a custom web app for your business, here are five telltale signs that you should.
1. Data management is becoming an issue
As your business grows, more data roll in, requiring advanced systems that are capable of managing thousands of files full of information. Custom web apps not only host your files, but they also use intelligent algorithms to organize them so they are easy to access, share, and collaborate on.
2. You aren’t making the most of your data
Data management systems that organize and tabulate are great, but if you’re growing fast, adding customers, hiring employees, and expanding your products and services, you’ll need something more robust than a spreadsheet. You’ll need something that delivers insights on all that new information, such as the applications MXO Tech develops for healthcare providers. These provide solutions to their intelligence gathering and security issues.
3. There is a security threat to your data
Speaking of security, whether your business is in healthcare or manufacturing, intelligent use of your data is almost certain to lead to increased revenue. So you need to guard your files at all times, and keep in mind that even if you are a small business, you can fall victim to hackers.
Even an entity as innocent as a yacht club could become the target of hi-tech hacking, as was the case in Chicago a few years ago. Credit and debit card records were stolen from the club's servers, but news reports indicated that much of the most sensitive information was safe because it was contained on a custom web app.
4. Users have limited access
Limited employee access to data can decrease productivity and profitability. For example, when two or more users need to access the same information simultaneously, but your software doesn't allow multi-user access, someone has to wait. You can avoid downtime by using custom web applications that allow users to collaborate on the same files in real time.
As long as users have internet connection and authorized login credentials, they’ll be able to access data wherever they are at any time of day, on any mobile device. Such accessibility comes in handy during emergency situations, like receiving an urgent client request while you’re outside the office.
5. You’re looking for ways to save
Building your own app has several cost-cutting opportunities. For one, instead of having to do individual updates across numerous documents, you can edit multiple projects with one update. You can also create automated team notifications for certain actions instead of typing and sending alerts manually. Regardless of how creative you get with app design, you'll enjoy lower IT costs, since maintaining custom web apps remotely is relatively cheaper than an in-house IT staff maintaining an offline database.
Businesses are built differently. A small business here in Chicago and a trillion-dollar company like Apple have different goals and challenges. As such, they need different solutions for handling data, and for SMBs, custom web applications are often the way to go.
If your business can relate to any of the five telltale signs discussed above, give MXOTech a call today, and let’s discuss the custom web applications that will match your unique business processes. Let us know about your project, and let’s build what you need from the ground up.