You've been looking a long while for an application that suits your company's needs, but you haven't found the right app out there. At this point, you may be considering having a desktop or a web application developed. Maybe you've been told that a web application is the way to go. Even if you haven't considered having a web application rather than a desktop application designed and developed, here are five good reasons you need to have your own web application built.
If you're looking for a program that will work for both you and your clients, having your own web application built is the way to go. Sure, you can buy off the shelf software that may or may not integrate properly with other software, but there's no guarantee that it'll work the way you intend it to once you get it installed on your computer. The application is unlikely to have SQL Server handling the database, especially if you're running it on a desktop, thus won't be as flexible or as powerful as it could be. Using ASP.NET with SQL Server provides even more power and flexibility to the web application, thus building a robust application.
One of the biggest headaches of desktop software is the need for it to work on a multitude of platforms and devices. Each device you wish to support must have its own version of the application in order for it to run on the platform of your choice. This can be extremely problematic if you plan for your software to be used by customers. Are you supporting Windows, iOS, Linux, Android, or even Amazon's tablets? What versions will it work on? With web applications, that headache goes away. Your users access your application using their Internet browser. There's no installation, so there's no need to worry about what platform it's running on.
One of the biggest advantages of web applications is that they aren't tied to one machine like a desktop application is. The application is available to the user anywhere the user is and where there is an Internet connection. That means that the user can access it from the user's own computer at home, at work, or even via their smartphone browser. Whether they're in the office or half way across the world, your web application is accessible.
Scalability has always been a headache when it comes to desktop software. Once you have a desktop application, you're pretty much locked into the resources accessible by the desktop. That means if your program needs more room for its database, has more users access it than you planned, or needs to use more memory to process the data, you're looking at spending more money in upgrades or risk outages and downtime. If you have a web application, your hosting service can allocate more network bandwidth, more memory, and more storage for your data as required.
If your customers access your web application via their smartphone, iPhone, or tablet, it's important that the web application be mobile responsive. That means that the application must recognize the size of the screen and adjust the size of the display accordingly. Otherwise, you have a clumsy interface that is difficult to access and use. If you've ever accessed a web page on a smartphone, you know what we're talking about. That can be a big detractor to an otherwise impressive user interface. Since first impressions count, it's important to have an application that will look good, whether it's on a laptop, tablet, or phone screen.
If you're looking for someone to design and develop your web applications, contact us at Keene Systems, Inc. and let us know what you are facing. Then we can make some recommendations on how to solve your problem with a custom web application.
To learn more about the importance of eliminating human error in your operations, please download the eBook titled "How to Automate Business Process in 7 Smart Steps."