Software Consultancy

Developing a bespoke software solution can deliver you numerous benefits over a Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) product. Most notably, it can give you greater control over the features and functionality built, leaving you with a system exactly tailored to meet your requirements – and without redundant or unwanted elements that increase complexity and cost. You can also more easily factor your future plans and ambitions into your development roadmap, allowing your bespoke solution to be scaled and diversified as needed.

The user experience, too, is a vitally-important but often-overlooked factor in the success of your software. By following user-centred design principles you can ensure that your bespoke solution is intuitive and easy-to-use, helping drive adoption rates and user satisfaction.

Another factor is ownership. While a bespoke software solution may require a higher upfront cost than off-the-shelf software, you will have full ownership and control over the direction of development, making it an appealing choice for business-critical platforms that will be in place over a number of years.

Of course, both bespoke and off-the-shelf solutions come with their own set of benefits and considerations. Expert software consultancy can help you discover the most suitable approach for your organisation, depending on your unique business requirements, contexts of use and long-term goals.

If you’re finding that your current software solutions are preventing you from completing key business processes as effectively or efficiently as possible, then you may well benefit from custom development. Common symptoms include manual workarounds being put in place where your existing solution does not have the required functionality to complete tasks, workflows and reporting being hindered by a lack of integration between disparate systems, and future improvements being delayed due to lack of capacity and capability.

You may also find that your solutions have become increasingly difficult to maintain; another clear indicator that change may be required. It may be that your solution is built on technologies that are out-of-date or no longer supported, and you lack the required knowledge and skills within your team to make improvements. Your systems may even be suffering from harmful hidden technical debt, the build-up of which can compound existing issues and make future development on your platform more complex and costly.

As many of these issues can go unnoticed until it’s too late, it’s vital that you regularly review the software solutions you have in place, so that you can spot the signs of danger and take action before they become major problems.

All Box UK bespoke software projects begin with a period of discovery that allows the team to identify requirements upfront and capture these in a clear and concise format, while also working collaboratively to define an overarching project vision. These outputs are made accessible to all project stakeholders, to create a shared understanding that helps minimise the risk of misunderstandings, and provides the development team with the information needed to build a high-quality software solution. 

Requirements are then prioritised to create a project backlog for the development team to work through, ensuring the most valuable features and functionality are delivered first. Box UK employs an Agile approach to development with work carried out in short, regular ‘sprints’, each of which produces tested, working software. The iterative nature of Agile also encourages regular review and feedback cycles, to ensure that all software delivers against user behaviours and expectations, and supports long-term business goals.

With a deep pool of cross-functional expertise Box UK is able to work across a wide technology stack, researching, identifying and implementing only the most suitable technologies to deliver value for clients. Our development team works across a broad range of languages including PHP, C#, JavaScript and Python, and we are experienced in popular development frameworks including .NET, Symfony, React and Angular. 

Box UK also works with leading technology partners to ensure the delivery of high-quality solutions. This includes content management systems such as WordPress, Sitecore and Drupal, hosting providers such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform and Rackspace, and we also hold Silver Application Development Partner status on the Microsoft Partner Network.

Our breadth of expertise means that clients can be confident that all technology decisions will be based on data and evidence, helping mitigate technical debt and future rework to focus instead on future growth and optimisation. 

With a wide breadth of expertise Box UK’s multidisciplinary team undertake a diverse range of bespoke software development projects, spanning everything from enterprise websites and applications to powerful digital platforms and end-to-end technology ecosystems.

Whatever your requirements, Box UK’s software consultants will work closely with you to identify the most appropriate software solution and development approach for your specific requirements and objectives, leveraging over two decades’ experience delivering high-profile projects for ambitious and progressive organisations across the globe.

Our services also encompass technical matters including the performance, extensibility, security, stability and usability of your software development solutions, providing expert advice and guidance to guide your future roadmap.

Box UK’s robust and mature development approach ensures the predictability, sustainability and quality that clients require, no matter what technology is being used to deliver the software solution.

Our development team will work closely with internal stakeholders and subject-matter experts to gain an in-depth understanding of project requirements, and agree upon the most suitable technologies to deliver against these. Where necessary, the team will undertake an initial period of investigation to build familiarity with these technologies, mitigating against the risk of issues arising later in the project.

Throughout, an agile, test-driven development approach ensures the security, stability and performance of software solutions, applying SOLID principles, peer reviews, robust testing processes and automated deployments to further safeguard quality.

An initial software consultancy project can start from a few thousand pounds for a code review or agile consultancy programme, through to larger and more complex design and legacy software rescue projects. At the outset of any engagement we will work closely with you to understand your specific requirements in order to provide a confident estimate of project size, and to mitigate any potential risk to delivery.