Building enterprise software is a complex process and you need a solid plan if you want it to go right.
Luckily, you’re in the right place.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the key steps you need to take to effectively plan enterprise software development and highlight the mistakes you should avoid at every stage.
Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
Define business goals and success criteria
Benjamin Franklin once said: “If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail”.
And nowhere is that more true than in enterprise software development.
Clear goals are the foundation of every successful project. Without them, you risk wasting millions of dollars and months of development time.
100+ projects delivered. We’re ready for yours. Let’s talk →
You’ll be talking with our technology experts.
Concrete, specific goals ensure that every stakeholder is on the same page – leadership, development teams, and end-users.
So, how do you set the right goals?
Good business goals answer these three key questions:
What problem does this software solve? If your software doesn’t solve a clear pain point, adoption will be low.
How does success look? Measurable KPIs will help you track whether the software delivers real business value.
Who benefits from it? Identifying stakeholders will ensure their needs are met from the start.
And the key to successfully tracking your goals is specific, measurable, and realistic success criteria.
Let’s say you’re a healthcare provider and you want to build a new patient scheduling system.
Your goals and success criteria might be:
Reduce patient wait times by 20% within 6 months
Cut no-show appointments by 30% using automated reminders
Improve patient satisfaction scores from 3.8 to 4.5
Once you’ve defined your goals and success criteria, you need to document them and share them with everyone involved in the project.
Also, make sure to periodically review your goals so they stay aligned with your business needs.
In short, you need to set a clear vision from the start.
And that’s key if you want to keep your project on track.
Mistakes to avoid when setting business goals and success criteria
Setting vague goals – Goals like “improve efficiency” are meaningless without clear metrics and success criteria to measure them.
Ignoring stakeholder input – If your leadership, development team, and end-users aren’t on the same page from the start, your project will likely fail.
Focusing on features over outcomes – More features doesn’t mean better software, solving real business problems does. Focus on impact before anything else.
Identify potential risks
Risk is unavoidable in enterprise software development.
Poor planning, technical failures, and changing business priorities can all derail a project.
But, identifying these risks early will help you prevent costly mistakes.
Here are some top risks you need to be aware of:
Schedule risks – Wrong time estimation, team availability issues, scope creep
But, the most important tip is this: you need to identify critical risks early. The earlier you spot them, the easier they will be to manage.
And you should focus on risks that could cause serious delays or outright project failure first.
Also, make a contingency plan for the biggest risks – if they become reality, your team should immediately know how to respond.
Ignoring risks doesn’t make them disappear.
And a proactive approach will keep your project secure, on track, and within budget.
Mistakes to avoid when assessing risks
Underestimating security threats – Weak security measures, like poor encryption or weak authentication, leave you vulnerable to data breaches. And they can cost you millions.
Failing to plan for scalability – If you build a system that can’t grow with demand, you’ll have to pay for expensive rework later.
Having no backup plan – If something can go wrong, it eventually will. Without a solid backup and recovery plan, a single failure can take your entire system down
Gather functional and non-functional requirements
Requirements define what your software will do and how it will meet user needs and business goals.
Without well-defined requirements, your team will build features that don’t meet your business needs. Stakeholders will get frustrated. Costs will spiral out of control.
So, it’s safe to say clear requirements are key to successful enterprise software development.
And the stats prove it, too – 37% of projects fail because of unclear or wrong requirements.
In a nutshell, functional requirements cover what your software does (i.e. features and functionalities) while non-functional requirements cover how it does it (i.e. performance metrics).
And here’s an important tip – validate your requirements before development.
You should build prototypes to test functionality and gather feedback from end-users before your team writes a single line of code.
This way, you’ll know if you’re on the right track or if you need to change before it’s too late.
And that’s key to successful development.
Mistakes to avoid when gathering requirements
Not involving end-users – Building software without end-user user input leads to low adoption rates and wasted money.
Not documenting requirements – Unclear or missing documentation leads to misunderstandings during development, which can derail your project.
Skipping non-functional requirements – Performance, security, and scalability are just as important as features.
Design your enterprise software’s architecture
Architecture is the backbone of any enterprise system.
A poorly designed architecture leads to scalability issues, security risks, and costly rework down the line
But, a solid architecture ensures:
Scalability – The system can handle growth without performance issues.
Security – Sensitive data remains protected.
Maintainability – Developers can easily update and expand the system.
Integration – The software works seamlessly with existing enterprise tools.
Your first, and most important, choice is between a monolithic and microservices architecture.
A monolithic architecture means you have a single, unified codebase. Monoliths are easier to build but harder to scale, so they’re best for smaller, straightforward applications.
Microservices, on the other hand, are a system of independent, interconnected services. They’re easier to scale and offer more flexibility but are more complex to develop.
If you need something simple and quick to build, go with a monolith. If scalability and flexibility matter more, microservices are the way to go.
Choose what best fits your project – not just what’s trending.
Another big choice you have to make is where to deploy – cloud, on-premises, or hybrid:
Cloud-based deployment – Scalable, cost-efficient, and easier to manage. Requires strong security measures to protect data.
On-premises – Greater control over infrastructure and security but with significantly higher costs. Best for industries with strict compliance requirements.
Hybrid cloud – The best of both worlds. Critical data stays on-premises while using cloud deployment for scalability.
In any case, you should design your architecture for scale and growth from the start.
It’s the best way to ensure your software remains reliable and secure in the long run.
Mistakes to avoid when designing software architecture
Choosing the wrong architecture – Monolithic systems struggle with scale, and microservices can add unnecessary complexity. Make sure your architecture meets your exact business needs.
Not considering integration – Enterprise software has to easily integrate with legacy systems and your existing tools, so plan your architecture accordingly.
Overengineering the solution – A complex system that’s hard to maintain will cost more and slow down future development.
Choose your tech stack
The tech stack you choose will determine your software’s performance and future scalability and maintainability.
If you make a bad choice, you’ll end up with higher costs, technical debt, and will have difficulty scaling.
So, making the right decision here is crucial. Here’s what a typical tech stack looks like:
Now, since every project is unique, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer here – your choice will depend on your target platform(s), requirements, project scope, and team expertise.
Backend frameworks – Spring Boot, .NET, Ruby on Rails
Frontend frameworks – Angular, React, Vue.js
QA and testing – Selenium, Cypress, Jest
CI/CD and DevOps tools – Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Bitbucket Pipelines
Cloud services – AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud
Databases – PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB
Whichever tech stack you choose, you need to make sure it aligns with your business goals and needs.
It should support long-term scalability and growth above all else.
Mistakes to avoid when choosing a tech stack
Chasing trends over business needs – A “hot” technology isn’t always the best fit when compared to tried and tested technologies.
Ignoring developer availability – A rare or niche tech stack will make future recruitment and onboarding difficult.
Overlooking performance – The right tech stack will keep your software fast and efficient. Prioritizing performance early means lower long-term costs and easier scaling.
Pick the right team structure
Your team structure will determine how efficiently your project moves from planning to execution.
Enterprise-grade projects need a team with the right balance of expertise and clear ownership over their work.
In-house vs. outsourcing software development: overview
Hiring model
Price
Development time
Expertise
Experience
In-house
Higher due to salaries, benefits, and infrastructure costs
Can take longer because of internal resource constraints
Limited to the expertise of your current team, but offers better domain knowledge
Deep understanding of your culture and processes
Outsourcing
Lower due to reduced overhead and lower labor costs
Usually shorter, because the team can start work immediately and is easier to scale
Experience working on a variety of projects across different industries
Depends on the vendor’s experience with similar projects
Keeping development fully in-house will give you full control, but it costs a lot more and is difficult to scale.
Outsourcing is up to 53% cheaper, but is riskier. You have to choose the right company to partner with if you want to reap the benefits.
A hybrid model is the sweet spot – you can keep core tasks in-house while outsourcing other tasks you might not have the capacity for to dedicated specialists.
For example, your in-house team can work on the business logic and backend development while you outsource frontend development and UX/UI design to a development agency.
Just make sure to clearly define ownership and responsibilities before you start development.
Mistakes to avoid when structuring your team
Not clearly defining roles and responsibilities – Unclear responsibilities will lead to miscommunication, delays, and bottlenecks during development.
Building an unbalanced team – A strong team is all about balance. Too many juniors slow things down, too many specialists drive up costs.
Ignoring cross-team collaboration – Keeping your developers, designers, and business teams aligned will ensure your software meets real needs, delivers real value, and development stays on schedule.
Estimate total costs and set your budget
Budgeting for enterprise software development goes beyond just development costs.
You need to plan for costs like:
Development costs – Project complexity, team size and location, tech stack
If you want to create a realistic budget, here’s what you should do:
Break down costs into phases – Planning, development, deployment, and maintenance
Add a buffer – 20-30% extra to cover unexpected expenses
Choose cost-efficient solutions – Cloud vs. on-premises, open-source vs. licensed tools
Regularly review and adjust – Your business needs evolve, so should your budget.
A well-planned budget will ensure you can deal with any unexpected expenses and use your resources more efficiently.
And that’s key to long-term success.
Mistakes to avoid when budgeting and estimating costs
Underestimating long-term costs – Development is just the start. You need to plan for maintenance, security, and scaling costs from the beginning.
Ignoring hidden expenses – The real cost of software goes beyond development. Licensing fees, compliance audits, and cloud infrastructure can quickly add up.
Not having a contingency budget – You need to be ready for everything. Always have a 20-30% contingency budget for unexpected costs.
Create a detailed project roadmap
Finally, once you’ve done everything, the final step in the planning process is creating a detailed project roadmap.
Your roadmap acts like a North Star during development – it should cover what needs to be done, when, and by whom.
And without it, even the best team will struggle. So, how do you get it right?
The answer is simple. You break down your project into stages and:
Define key milestones
Set realistic timelines
Correctly allocate resources for each stage
Talk to your team to set realistic timelines – unrealistic timelines kill projects.
You should keep your roadmap as clear and simple as possible. Every stakeholder should be able to understand it at first glance.
Also, no roadmap is static. Make sure to adjust it based on feedback or if your needs/goals change.
In short, a detailed roadmap is essential for successful development and avoiding scope creep.
And that’s key if you want to stay on time and within budget.
Mistakes to avoid when creating a project roadmap
Setting unrealistic timelines – Rushing development leads to poor quality and technical debt. Talk to your team to get an accurate estimate.
Skipping dependency mapping – Ignoring dependencies creates unnecessary bottlenecks. This can stall everything and push timelines and costs out of control.
Not updating the roadmap – Your business needs and goals will evolve. So, your roadmap needs to evolve, too.
Enterprise software development planning: FAQs
Planning typically takes 4-12 weeks, depending on project complexity:
Simple projects (internal tools, small applications) – 4-6 weeks
Medium complexity (custom CRMs or industry-specific software) – 8-10 weeks
Large-scale enterprise systems – 12+ weeks
Rushing this phase will lead to unclear requirements and bottlenecks during development, so take your time to do it right.
Your development timeline will depend on your project’s scope, complexity, and team size.
So, the answer is – it depends. But, depending on complexity, here’s what you can expect:
Small-scale enterprise software – 3-6 months
Medium-scale enterprise software – 6-12 months
Large-scale enterprise software – 12+ months
The biggest mistake you can make when planning enterprise software development is not writing clear requirements – 37% of projects fail because of unclear or wrong requirements.
Some other huge mistakes you need to avoid are:
Underestimating total costs
Neglecting end-users
Skipping risk assessment
If you avoid them, you’ll be on the right track.
Need a reliable development partner?
Do you want to outsource development but can’t seem to find a reliable partner?
Well, you’re in the right place.
We’re a EU-based, high-caliber software development company with 12+ years of experience building enterprise-grade solutions across a wide range of industries.
And we love a challenge – feel free to hit us up and our team will get back to you to set up a quick meet and discuss your needs in more detail.
Mario makes every project run smoothly. A firm believer that people are DECODE’s most vital resource, he naturally grew into his former role as People Operations Manager. Now, his encyclopaedic knowledge of every DECODEr’s role, and his expertise in all things tech, enables him to guide DECODE's technical vision as CTO to make sure we're always ahead of the curve.
Part engineer, and seemingly part therapist, Mario is always calm under pressure, which helps to maintain the office’s stress-free vibe. In fact, sitting and thinking is his main hobby. What’s more Zen than that?
Wondering how much enterprise software development costs? In this article, we'll break down the 7 key cost factors and tips on how to avoid unnecessary expenses.
