Homemade / Customized packages/ Tailor-made/ bespoke Software
Customized software is software designed around a company or other organization's
processes to make those processes more efficient. It is distinct from market software
[commercial or generic], which approaches problems in a general way so that the product
can be sold to more than one customer. Has been written by the vendor specifically for a
user’s needs. Also known as in-house packages, tailor-made packages. E.g., most payroll
packages, billing software, product design applications Is that application that has been
written for a specific user’s needs by a software vendor? It is non-standard software.
Advantages
-Easier and more intuitive to use
-much better customer support
-can be customised to interface with all other software within the company
Disadvantages
1. Being customized, the non-standard software may not be used by any other organization.
2. It has huge support costs after implementation.
3. Dependency syndrome with the supplier. There is heavy reliance on the developers of the
software for its continued existence & maintenance
4. Future support may be difficult if the supplying company goes under, shuts down, or
liquidate or if its development staff leaves.
Utility software
Utility software (also known as service program, service routine, tool, or utility routine) is
computer software designed to help manage and tune the computer hardware, operating
system or application software by performing a single task or a small range of tasks. Some
utility software has been integrated into most major operating systems.
Examples
• Disk storage utilities
1. Disk defragmenters can detect computer files whose contents are broken across several
locations on the hard disk, and move the fragments to one location to increase efficiency.
2. Disk checkers can scan the contents of a hard disk to find files or areas that are corrupted
in some way, or were not correctly saved, and eliminate them for a more efficiently
operating hard drive.
3. Disk cleaners can find files that are unnecessary to computer operation, or take up
considerable amounts of space. Disk cleaner helps the user to decide what to delete when
their hard disk is full.
4. Disk space analysers for the visualization of disk space usage by getting the size for each
folder (including subfolders) & files in folder or drive. showing the distribution of the used
space.
5. Disk partitioners can divide an individual drive into multiple logical drives, each with its
own filesystem which can be mounted by the operating system and treated as an individual
drive.
6. Backup utilities can make a copy of all information stored on a disk, and restore either the
entire disk (e.g., in an event of disk failure) or selected files (e.g., in an event of accidental
deletion).
7. Disk compression utilities can transparently compress/uncompressed the contents of a
disk, increasing the capacity of the disk.
8. File managers provide a convenient method of performing routine data management
tasks, such as deleting, renaming, cataloguing, cataloguing, moving, copying, merging,
generating and modifying data sets.
9. Archive utilities output a stream or a single file when provided with a directory or a set of
files. Archive utilities, unlike archive suites, usually do not include compression or
encryption capabilities. Some archive utilities may even have a separate un-archive utility
for the reverse operation.
FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN BUYING APPLICATION SOFTWARE
1. Cost. This includes the original cost of the package, technical support, and upgrades.
2. Portability, can it be installed on one type of hardware or a variety
3. Relevance of the software to the task at hand.
4. Compatibility with existing hardware & software. Will the package run on existing
hardware? Can files be easily transferred from existing systems without re-keying? Can files
created in the package be exported to other systems in use in the company?
5. It should be on a media compatible with your computer i.e., if you purchase software on
CD media your computer should have compact disk drive.
6. Sophistication, simple programs are usually easy to learn, cost less and are appropriate
for those who use the software infrequently.
7. Should include enough documentation such as installation instructions, system
requirements e.g., Pentium 4, reference manual, registration information, supplier
details and user manual.
8. Standard software, which is well supported locally i.e., used by most people in that
area
9. Is the application upgradeable and does it support future upgrades.
10. Easiness of installation
11. Technical support. Is support available? Is it very costly? Often, technical support
contract can add 50% or more to the price of a package, but without it no support at all
will be given by the manufacturer.
