In today’s tech-driven world, everyone knows the consequences of poor-performing software. In fact, if your core systems are built from custom-made code – or are customized off-the-shelf products – then software quality is essential.
Overcoming the challenge of keeping vital systems running efficiently takes secure and maintainable software. For that reason, software needs to be treated like any other valuable business asset. Assessing and monitoring software quality are the best ways of doing that – for numerous reasons.
Here are three typical scenarios where software quality can make a real difference to business operations.
1 Minimize disruptions to supply chains
Modern supply chains depend on software – especially, business-critical systems for tracking and monitoring deliveries. Bugs, errors, and downtime all have an impact on your business.
Disruptions also have a knock-on effect on your suppliers and customers. An obvious example is when a customer has a just-in-time (JIT) management strategy. Delivery delays affect their production schedules and project timelines.
BonCode’s tool-based consultancy enables you to assess and monitor the quality of your software systems, empowering your IT teams to address issues and put things right before bigger problems arise and real-world operations are impacted.
2 Help maintain service delivery
Software quality and service delivery have a deep connection. Companies dependent on software need systems that are secure, reliable, and easy to adapt. Outdated or incompatible systems create friction and slow down services. Even minor changes can lead to huge technical issues from an IT perspective.
Take pensions or insurance companies, for example. They need to handle product updates, new product lines, and changes to legislation without affecting service delivery. Companies in these sectors – like many others – also share the challenge of supporting legacy policies alongside new ones.
At the same time, people in every organization need peace of mind that new systems are robust and reliable to deliver services. You only need to look at the Post Office scandal in the UK to see the devastating impact that low-quality software can have on people’s lives.
By assessing software quality, identifying and classifying risks in the source code – and resolving them – businesses can take a proactive approach to keeping services up and running. Ongoing monitoring can support preventative maintenance to tackle issues before they impact services.
3 Software quality as a competitive advantage
More and more traditional companies are re-positioning themselves as tech businesses. Tech is fast becoming the key differentiator across multiple industries. So maintaining high quality software is an important piece in staying competitive.
These days, it’s much easier for customers – whether B2B or B2C – to switch providers if they don’t get the product or service they expect. Interruptions to a service caused by poor-quality software can send customers running to an alternative provider.
Putting a watchful eye over the custom-built code inside your business-critical systems means you can spot potential risks, mitigate issues before they happen, and use data-driven insights to optimize code and ensure maintainability and competitiveness.
Tool-based consultancy for software quality
When change comes along, one of two scenarios tend to play out. For organizations with high-quality and easy-to-maintain software, it is faster and easier to adapt to changing business needs. If organizations have low-quality software, it can take months – or even years – to adapt to changes.
The truth is simple. Organizations need to be responsive and adaptable to change without being hindered by poor-quality software. As they evolve, so too must their software. High quality software helps organizations to be future-ready. This takes a shift in mindset, seeing software as a valuable business asset and treating it accordingly.
When it comes to managing your IT systems, trust is good, but knowing is much better. To be sure that your custom-coded business-critical software meets your quality standards, you can benefit from an independent expert in quality.
BonCode is a tool-based consultancy that assesses and monitors software to surface independent facts about quality. To discover more about how we facilitate fact-based decision-making around software quality, contact us.
