A business's decision to start a new software project often stems from a single need: a manually executed operation no longer keeping up, employees repeatedly entering the same data into different programs, customer tracking becoming difficult, or existing software failing to meet the growing needs of the business.
At this point, the most important question is: which software company should I work with?
Especially in a city like Antalya, where tourism, healthcare, real estate, e-commerce, logistics, and service sectors are prominent, software project needs can vary significantly. While reservation and channel management are crucial for a hotel, inventory and order management may be priorities for a manufacturing firm; appointment and patient processes for a healthcare institution; and payment, shipping, and marketplace integrations may stand out for an e-commerce company.
Therefore, when choosing a software company, focusing solely on the question 'What technologies do you use?' is not enough—the following 10 criteria provide a more solid foundation for the evaluation process.
1. First, Look for a Team That Understands Your Needs Correctly
The success of a software project isn't just about writing the code correctly; first, it's essential to understand how the business operates.
For example, a business might say, 'We need a CRM,' but the actual needs could be:
- Tracking potential customers
- Managing proposals
- Monitoring sales team activities
- Recording customer interactions
- Tracking post-sale processes
Starting to design screens without uncovering these needs can lead to developing unnecessary features or overlooking critical requirements in later stages. That's why it's important for the software company to ask not just 'What do you want to do?' but also 'How does your business manage this process today?' in the initial meeting.
2. Have They Developed Similar Projects Before?
Not every software company can be an expert in every sector. However, having experience with projects similar to your needs provides significant advantages during the development process.
- For a hotel reservation system, understanding tourism operations
- For a B2B e-commerce portal, dealer and pricing processes
- For a field personnel application, mobile operations
- For a CRM system, sales processes
must be understood. Thus, when meeting with a software company, it's beneficial to look not just at technical references but also at the problems they've solved—for example, we designed the end-to-end accommodation and reservation operations for Keyif Tatil Evleri. Sometimes, a more meaningful question than 'How many projects have you done?' is: 'Which problem similar to my business have you solved?'
3. Evaluate Together Whether You Need Off-the-Shelf or Custom Software
Developing software from scratch isn't the right choice for every business; there are many ready-made CRM, ERP, accounting, e-commerce, and project management solutions available that can meet the needs of many businesses. If an existing software meets most of your needs, a ready-made solution may be more logical; how to understand the limits of off-the-shelf packages we covered in a separate article.
However, if your business operations don't fit standard software, custom software comes into play. For example:
- Custom pricing rules
- Dealer management
- Integration with different systems
- Custom reservation processes
- Field personnel management
- Custom reporting
- Company-specific approval and document tracking processes
such needs may exceed the limits of standard software. The right approach isn't always 'Let's develop custom software' but rather comparing the advantages of ready-made and custom solutions based on needs.
4. The Project Scope Should Be Clarified from the Start
One of the significant reasons for problems related to cost and delivery time in software projects is that the scope isn't clearly defined initially. Saying 'We'll build a mobile app' or 'We'll develop an e-commerce site' alone doesn't constitute a project scope.
For example, in an e-commerce project:
- Product management, cart, payment, shipping, campaigns, inventory, membership
- ERP and marketplace integration
- B2B pricing — see B2B wholesale sales portal
there can be dozens of different modules. Therefore, during the proposal phase, the project scope, modules to be delivered, and integrations should be determined as clearly as possible.
5. Architecture Matters More Than the Technology Used
When meeting with a software company, questions like 'Do you use .NET?', 'Do you use React?', 'Can you do it with Next.js?' are often asked. These are technically meaningful but not sufficient on their own—what's more important is how the system will be designed.
A well-planned software architecture should:
- Make adding new features easier
- Meet performance requirements
- Be secure
- Be maintainable
- Be integrable with different systems when needed
- Be scalable as the business grows
Especially for software managing critical business operations, future needs should be considered as much as current ones; we detailed how architectural mistakes can turn a project into scrap in this article.
6. They Should Be Experienced in Integration
Modern businesses often don't use just one software: websites, CRM, ERP, accounting, payment systems, shipping, marketplaces, WhatsApp, and email can all operate simultaneously.
The problem usually starts when these systems work in isolation. For example, if the customer information entered by the sales team in the CRM needs to be recreated in the ERP system, employees end up entering the same data multiple times. We examined how a well-designed API integration can save hours per month in a separate article. That's why it's important for the software company to be experienced not just in application development but also in API and third-party system integrations.
7. How Are Security and Data Management Handled?
If a software holds a business's customer and operational data, security shouldn't be left to the final stages of the project.
- Customer information
- Employee information
- Financial data
- Orders
- Patient or reservation records
- Admin accounts
If such data is processed, authorization and access control should be designed from the start. Backup, logging, secure authentication, and data access policies should also be evaluated based on the project's nature.
8. Is There Post-Project Support?
The software going live isn't the end of the project. When real users start using the system, new needs may arise: a change in an integration might be needed, a new feature could be added, or performance optimization might be requested.
Therefore, when evaluating proposals, instead of just looking at the development cost, it's essential to ask about the post-project maintenance and support model:
- How are bug fixes handled?
- How are support requests submitted?
- How are new features priced?
- Who manages server and hosting?
- How is backup performed?
- How are system updates carried out?
Answers to these questions can be clarified before the project starts.
9. What Is the Communication Process Like with the Software Company?
Software projects are as much about communication as they are technical. Business owners may not always explain their needs in technical terms; the software team must also be able to explain technical matters in a way the business side can understand.
A good project process should include regular communication, task tracking, and feedback mechanisms. Especially in long-term projects, communication quality can become as important as technical capability.
10. Why Local Experience Can Be Important When Choosing a Software Company in Antalya
Not every software project must be developed by a local team. However, for a business operating in Antalya, working with a team familiar with the region's sector dynamics can have some advantages—we covered how to choose the right R&D partner in a separate article.
In Antalya's economic structure, tourism, hospitality, health tourism, real estate, sports tourism, e-commerce, and service sectors hold significant places; the software systems used in these sectors also have different needs.
For example, a business in the tourism sector may have reservation and channel management, transfer, or multilingual content needs, while a real estate business's portfolio management and customer tracking may be priorities. That's why when looking for a software company in Antalya, it's important to consider not just the company's location but also how well they understand your business's sector and operations.
Questions You Can Ask Before Choosing a Software Company
During your first meeting with a software company, the following questions can help evaluate the project more clearly:
- Have you worked on a similar project before?
- How do you conduct the analysis and planning process for the project?
- How are the project scope and deliverables determined?
- Why do you prefer the technology and architecture you'll use?
- Can integration be done with my existing software?
- How is maintenance and technical support provided after the project?
- Who will control the software's source code and data?
- Can the system be expanded in the future?
- How are security and backup processes managed?
- How will communication and feedback be provided throughout the project?
The answers to these questions can help you make a much healthier evaluation than just comparing proposal prices. At Baksoft Arge, located in Antalya Technopark, we clarify all these points together at the start of the project when developing custom software for businesses—see our boutique software solutions tailored to your business.
