There are a lot of resources to help entrepreneurs understand and document a software development business model. However, few provide insight on maximizing the profitability of the program. And it can be vexing for inexperienced managers who end up having to rely on out-of-date concepts from business schools and shallow online tutorials. This guide will cover some simple steps to ensure your application software remains competitive in the market.

1. Entitlement management

There are many ways to produce competitive application software. One of them is the adoption of an entitlement management solution, whose variety of features gives businesses the ability to track, define, and enforce service levels and make it a part of their management support processes. Some of the features it includes are the following:

• Entitlements enable organizations to determine the eligibility of customers for support.

• Entitlement processes will allow companies to design timelines, including all the steps the support team has to complete to address support records, such as work orders or cases.

• Service contracts let businesses represent different kinds of consumer support agreements, such as warranties, maintenance, or subscription agreements. They can also be used to restrict specific contracts that may cover certain products.

• Entitle management reporting allows organizations to track how all entitlements are utilized and whether or not terms for service contracts are met.

The customizability of entitlement management also gives a greater degree of control over the features used, and the way they're set up will reflect the support model of the business. Thus, it's crucial to have a robust entitlement system in place.

2. Software security

With our perpetually growing dependence on technology and the rise of cybercriminal activities, software security has never been more important. In fact, most consumers consider the security strength of applications and programs to be as vital as their functionalities, and it isn't hard to see why. After all, cyberattacks like data breaches and malicious software can result in considerable financial losses.

For this reason, the implementation of all the proper mechanisms to make programs and applications more resistant and less susceptible to cyberattacks is paramount. In addition, software must undergo comprehensive testing before it's released to the market to ensure it can withstand hacking and viruses.

3. Licensing

These days, many software vendors are licensing their products, and for a good reason: it allows them to protect their intellectual properties. This prevents other companies from duplicating their programs or applications and selling them as if they had developed them. Moreover, licensing allows them to maximize their software’s profit potential, maintain business and pricing flexibility, and attract more consumers. As a result, they’re able to boost sales

Conclusion

In the highly competitive software development market, it's not easy to stay ahead. It takes more than the functionality of application software to generate sales. But by implementing an entitlement management system, protecting the intellectual property through licensing, and ensuring that the product is secure from any cyberattacks, you'll be able to make it more competitive than it would be otherwise.