Why syndicated applications are better than your own software

Developing, maintaining, and improving your own proprietary software is expensive.

 Not only does it require a range of specialist skills, it also requires a business to devote time and resources on an ongoing bases to something that it, perhaps, isn't best suited to.

Leveraging syndicated applications offers multiple advantages to businesses and industrial suppliers who are looking to offer complete, end-to-end IoT solutions and custom applications - whether in conjunction with their existing offering, or not.

What are syndicated applications?

Syndicated applications are pre-packaged, repeatable deployments of platforms (complete with front-end applications) with prebuilt components that are designed to fulfil common industrial use-cases, which can then be tailored to meet individual business’ needs. In English: a supplier works with another business to create software (on an underlying IoT platform) which they can deploy and customise for multiple customers.

For example, an IoT sensor manufacturer could work with a platform provider to create an easily-deployable, customisable SaaS application that delivers real-time analytics of asset performance and predict maintenance needs based on the data provided from its various sensors and other common industrial technologies, such as maintenance data stored in a data warehouse. They will work together to scope out the functionality that’s needed, develop both the back and front-ends of the application, add their brand livery, and even sell (and deploy) it to their customers.

The benefits of using syndicated applications:

• Speed-to-market: Syndicated applications are pre-developed with the core functionality that's standard (and advanced). This allows businesses to skip the development stage and go straight to tailoring them to fit business, customers and market needs.
• Cost-effective: Developing a custom application requires significant upfront investment and ongoing costs for maintenance and updates. In contrast, syndicated applications typically have a predictable subscription pricing model that allows businesses to optimize their IT budget.
• Reliability: Syndicated applications are used by multiple organizations and have undergone rigorous testing and refinement, ensuring they are mature, stable, and have fewer bugs and issues compared to new, custom-developed software.
• Industry best practices: Syndicated applications are built by experts who incorporate industry best practices and sophisticated functionalities from multiple disciplines. This allows organizations to benefit from the knowledge and experience of others in their field.
• Resource optimization: Instead of investing resources in developing and maintaining custom software, businesses can focus on their core competencies and utilize the software expertise of the syndicated application providers.
• Scalability: Syndicated applications often come with built-in capabilities to scale up or down according to business needs, avoiding the need for costly and time-consuming custom development to meet changing demands. Some, such as Rayven's, are also designed to handle a large number of devices and data points, with the infrastructure behind them already to support it, making them highly-scalable, fast. They can handle the increasing volume of data and number of connected devices as a business' needs grow without the need for further IT and OT investment.
• Regular updates + advancements: Providers of syndicated applications usually offer regular updates and new features as part of their service, helping businesses to stay up-to-date with the latest technology trends and advancements.
• Technical support + maintenance: Syndicated applications usually come with a support and maintenance service, freeing up internal IT resources from troubleshooting and resolving issues.
• Market guidance + additional support: As well as providing technical support, many syndicated application providers will also offer commercial guidance, too, providing a range of resources, as well as sales and presales support.
  
• Reduced risk: With syndicated applications, the risk of project failure, cost overruns, or missed deadlines - common risks in custom software development projects - is significantly reduced.
• Compliance: Syndicated application providers often ensure their software complies with various regulations and standards, saving businesses the time and effort of ensuring compliance in their custom-developed software.
• Advanced capabilities: In this space, much of the market opportunity with IoT and Industry 4.0 applications lies beyond real-time monitoring with automation, AI, and predictive analytics. Businesses that are specialists in this field have the expertise needed to build this functionality into products as-standard, meaning that to add it to your offering, all you need to do is leverage the capabilities within the technology that you're using.
• Security: Syndicated applications are designed with robust security measures to protect against cyber attacks, ensuring the integrity and privacy of the data. They comply with industry regulations and standards, which can be difficult and time-consuming to achieve when building your own platform.
• Ease of integration: Syndicated applications are designed to integrate easily with existing systems and infrastructure, such as data management systems, business systems, and other IoT platforms. This enables organizations to easily incorporate IoT data and applications into their existing systems and processes.

Need more reasons? Read our blog about the 6 truths to consider when thinking about building your own platform - the underlying technology that IoT and Industry 4.0 industrial applications are built on.

Syndicated applications offer industrial suppliers with the opportunity to become complete solution providers without needing to become software and Industry 4.0 experts overnight. They can access the skills, expertise, and commercial know-how to succeed with the technology, simply.

Speak to us today to have a no obligation discussion about your needs, what you can achieve with syndicated applications, and to discover more about Rayven and the capabilities of the underlying technology that powers our our solutions (our integrated Data, AI + IoT platform).