Custom Software Development vs. SaaS: Why Do Saudis Prefer Custom Software?

Custom Software Development vs. SaaS

Custom software development can be more expensive than a SaaS solution in the short term. In the long term, you may find that your subscription fees increase each year. Also, when the number of users in your company increases, it impacts your invoice as well. We’re not trying to convince you that custom software is better than SaaS, as each case has its own better option.

Before we start, here are basic questions you should answer to guide you to the options that best benefit your business at the current stage:

• Does your business include special or traditional operations?
• What are the tools and solutions your new software should integrate with?
• When do you expect a significant scale-up to happen in your business?
• What new functions and processes will be added to the business in case of scaling?
• What are the new features you will need in a scaling event?

When we mention the term feature, we mean a new function, not an update to an already existing one.

Do you expect the need for new features within a period of less than 3 years? That’s a key consideration before going either for custom software or SaaS.

When Custom Software is Better?

There are many cases where custom software development is a better option. Here we explain cases we’ve encountered at Areeb Technology during the discovery stage with clients, where we ultimately recommended custom software development.

1- Better Late Than Never

Definitely, we start with this case. You’ve already used a SaaS for a while, and after believing it’s the most suitable solution in the market for your business, it still doesn’t meet your expectations or business goals. So, you eventually find out that custom software was a better decision from the early beginning. So, custom software meets scalability in such cases.

2- The Software You Need Is Simpler Than Available SaaS Solutions

You pay for features that you don’t need and even won’t need in the future. That sometimes happens when you choose a SaaS solution. These features seem unusable add-ons to your employees, but still occupy part of the software layout, causing distraction, time consuming, and confusion as some employees might forget a function path.

In such a case, choose a custom software development house. Or if it’s that simple, build it in-house using a development tool and let the consultant check the code, test it, and ensure the software works continually. In that case, simplicity was the goal, and custom software provided it.

3- Your Operations Are Different from Any Available SaaS Solution

What would you choose when you have to either customize your operations for the software your company will use or use custom software that meets your operations? Easy: build custom software that aligns with your special operations. If you aim for higher flexibility, custom software is what you really need. In that case, custom software becomes the edge that keeps you ahead of competitors, not similar to any other company.

4- Your Team Needs a Localized Software

Most SaaS solutions don’t understand Saudi users and native Arabic speakers in general: how they scan the software screen, where they are used to finding the buttons, and more. And language becomes a priority, not just delivering Arabic-language software, but with specific dialects like Hijazi that serve the brand identity.

5- Your Policy Needs Internal Database Management

To have full control over the data and the technology could be an edge, where the software house development offers the source code. However, it also means more responsibilities that require accountability and more defined systems for governance.

When SaaS is Better?

On the other hand, SaaS solutions might be excellent solutions for certain cases. Let’s explore!

1- You Need to Solve a Generic Problem

Whether your business needs to manage email marketing campaigns, social media marketing, SEO, leads, or any generic function, SaaS can help.

Long story short, if it’s a problem that many, as hundreds or even thousands of companies might face, it’s easier to use SaaS.

For instance, why would you reinvent the wheel when you have an actual working CRM? If you’re sure that no CRM on the market meets your business needs, that's another story.

2- You’re Short on Time

Your project is behind schedule, and you’re in a rush. Let’s be clear: even in the age of AI and supporting tools that make developers’ work faster, building anything takes more time than getting off-the-shelf software.

That’s the only case where we recommend using SaaS, then transferring to custom software, when time helps. However, if your business time is managed, you won’t feel that you’re back to the wall; that’s a stressful situation for any decision-maker.

3- You’re Short on Budget

Budget is key. However, choosing a SaaS solution with budget considerations is a critical decision. You have to be sure that this software will help and won’t be a drawback that creates a new problem. Thus, the software would be a temporary stage till your business generates the resources that enable a better SaaS solution or custom software.

4- Solutions You Use Actually Easily Integrated with the Picked SaaS

Software integration might include some issues: data incompatibility, creating new points for data breaches, missing data, or not full data synchronization, etc. If you recognize companies that use your current solutions and choose that subscription app, and there are no integration complaints from their side, then give it a try!

5- Your Organization Doesn’t Deal With High-Risk Sensitive Data

If the software is for a government organization, financial entity, or even a health institution, using a SaaS solution is not an available option due to the confidential data your enterprise processes. However, if the data processed is not confidential and still strictly governed and controlled based on the state’s regulations, then SaaS is good.

Why Custom Software Development Is a Better Option in the Saudi Market?

Here are the reasons for “ Why most Saudis lean toward custom software” based on an experience that spanned ten years in such a promising, innovative market.

1- A Diverse Market With Different Business Operations

The Saudi market is an aware business landscape that accepts different industries and various innovative ideas. That’s why the operations might be different from one company to another, and the reason for it might be just a single puzzle piece. That’s why most businesses drive their research efforts to large custom software development enterprises.

2- Ownership is Better than Borrowing

It’s more about culture than business. In the Middle East, we rent when we can’t afford to buy; that principle goes for anything, even in the digital world. Some entrepreneurs we’ve met expressed this aspect during several meetings. They can afford to develop a system that is “Theirs” that no other business can have.

3- Compliance Is an Undeniable Condition

No business manager can ignore or give up compliance, as it keeps the business safe and secure. So, the SaaS provider you deal with should issue e-invoices that comply with ZATCA (Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority). Also, if the solutions include issuing invoices for clients, then they should align with ZATCA. Some SaaS solutions might not provide such a compliant key feature, so custom software becomes the perfect choice.

4- PDPL and Data Sovereignty

The data of Saudi citizens should be kept in Saudi Arabia; that’s a key requirement for any software. That’s why cloud hosting and database providers have recently launched centers operating in Saudi Arabia, enabling SaaS solutions to keep the data locally. However, not all SaaS solutions cover these conditions, which drives more Saudi decision-makers to select custom software.

5- Arabic RTL Is User-Friendly

A SaaS solution includes all the languages of the globe. However, not every SaaS product can be called localized. A localized digital solution is a system that fully understands the users and their culture, living through all the business processes, applying the right terms, without any misspellings or word-for-word translation slop. That’s why most Saudi business owners hire Middle Eastern and Saudi custom software houses.