With digital transformation accelerating the business landscape, companies have no way out other than incorporating enterprise applications into their existing frameworks. Driven by a customer-centric approach, enterprises of all scales must embrace evolving technologies to cater to their complex business needs. However, building enterprise applications is complex and challenging. It is so because every business has unique requirements that the enterprise application has to cater to. Additionally, all these apps must be compatible and seamlessly integrate and exchange data for hassle-free business operations. Though these software increase organizational efficiency, they are difficult to build and maintain. And any anomaly can lead to devastating implications. 

In this guide, we will highlight the challenges in enterprise application development and solutions to make it easier for you to build high-performing and scalable enterprise software. 

Major Challenges in Enterprise Application Development and their Solutions

1. Frequently Changing Business Requirements 

The global business landscape is dynamic and changing more rapidly now than ever. Due to the impact of technological transformation, economic disruptions, mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, or altering markets, organizations have to align and make frequent changes in their applications. Such scenarios can lead to colossal revamping tasks for enterprises, which can be both time and effort-consuming. 

Solution:

Outsourcing your enterprise app development needs in such a scenario is a wise move. It is essential to have a team of seasoned experts who are hands-on with every technology. Let's say your business requires changing your current operating technology to another. In that case, you can have a backup of augmented staff that are experts in working and transitioning to different technologies. This saves you from additional hiring and training expenses, which is both time, effort, and cost-extensive.  

2. Security Violations in Application Development

Data protection and security are non-negotiable aspects of enterprise application development. Unlike other applications, enterprise apps include critical and confidential business data such as account details, social security numbers, and end-user information. If data is compromised, it impacts the reliability and brand value of the corporation beyond repair. Thus, your apps must be highly secure and stable to prevent unauthorized access and protect sensitive business data. 

Solution:

To prevent data leakage, your hired app development team should prioritize cybersecurity. The developers you hire must be familiar with industry-standard data security practices and implement them into your applications. This would include data encryption of your business and client's corporate data, access control, audit logging, running vulnerability tests, etc. 

3. Managing Enterprise Data

Any enterprise includes bulk of data, including costs related to data centers, storage and network. As you scale your business, your data keeps growing at a rapid rate. And storing, managing, and optimizing such colossal, unstructured data becomes a huge challenge for enterprises.

Solution:

Enterprise data require a large-scale and robust infrastructure for storage and maintenance. This means you must invest in enterprise-grade high-tech servers that are flexible to meet the changing needs of your business. In such scenario, cloud solutions are the most suited option. You can also select network-attached storage(NAS), storage area network(SAN), or direct-attached storage (DAS). All businesses need a team that is well-versed in the ways these storage structures work. Thus, it is wise to go for an enterprise application development service that can simplify and handle your company's data storage and management. This will also provide you the flexibility to diversify and scale your business.

4. Third-party Integrations

To meet changing business needs, enterprises are required to make modifications to their application infrastructure. And it becomes more challenging when the architecture is monolithic. This is where the need to integrate with third-party services comes into play. However, enterprises frequently counter issues while integrating with various IT systems, tools, and platforms across different development stages, teams, and branches. 

Solution:

An outsourcing partner can help you cater to unique business needs and make required third-party integrations. You can let their team of experts handle all the technical coding, testing, integrations, and other complexities while you focus on scaling your business. 

5. Technological Advancements 

To stay on top of customer's preferences, your enterprise must cater to evolving end-user and market demands. For this to happen, your enterprise must be flexible and adaptable to such dynamics. There are scenarios where you must make multiple updates after a release. This requires a dedicated IT team or additional resources to keep up with new technologies. In most cases, such scenarios become a roadblock affecting the overall business. 

Solution:

To resolve such issues, you can partner with a third-party IT solutions provider that delivers emerging technology solutions to help you maintain a competitive edge. Check that the custom application development team you hire should be hands-on with the latest technology trends. They must be experts at integrating the same into your existing infrastructure. And they do this along with maintaining sustainability and optimum performance. 

6. User Interface Design Complexities

The user experience on your enterprise application can make or break your business. The UI of your application would decide how the end-user would feel and experience while using your app. You cannot expect an end-user to reach out to you after interacting on a cluttered UI.  

Solution:

Everything is planned and structured for an enterprise, be it of any scale. As your enterprise application reflects your brand, ensure to have a well-structured, intuitive UI that enables users to interact with it effortlessly. Choose a custom app development partner that combines functionality, industry-standard designs, and neat aesthetics in your highly intuitive enterprise app. Ensure that your custom app has cross-platform designs and capabilities as well.

7. Post-development Support and Maintenance  

Once your enterprise application is up and running, there is a need for regular maintenance and updates for it to function efficiently. Run periodic monitoring, security scans, optimization, and functionality checks to ensure that your end-users can rely on and leverage your enterprise app. Most enterprises need help in receiving the required software maintenance and support from their IT vendor.  

Solution:

Enterprise app maintenance is an ongoing process that requires a strategic approach. With a team of experts and dedicated developers by your side, you can rest assured that the maintenance of your custom app happens fast and functions efficiently without much downtime. 

How can CSM help?

CSM powers enterprises with custom application development and end-to-end bespoke software solutions that optimize and automate business processes.  

With 25 years in the IT industry and 1000+ successful projects, CSM is the trusted tech partner for enterprises across industries. Our dynamic team of highly skilled developers, project managers, and architects with industry-driven experience take care of all software development requirements, including application design, development, deployment, and maintenance. 
    
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