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Software development outsourcing is giving power to organizations all over the world, including the most successful and renowned ones across their journeys. Leading players, such as Microsoft, Google, and others have enough stories to share on their victories when it comes to outsourcing the development of a software solution.
The demand for outsourcing services keeps rising as businesses and enterprises want to optimize their processes and align their strategic planning with operational schemes. Outsourcing IT needs could be a boon during natural and financial hardships since outsourcing vendors implement continuity planning as well as disaster recovery plans to fulfill obligations as well as deliver services continuously with no interruption.
If the growth of your company relies on software, and if your budget does not afford to have an in-house team to divert from their main operations, then it’s high time that you outsource your software development requirements. Finding the right outsourcing partner and establishing terms of engagement is one of the basic steps for product success.
Choosing the right software outsourcing partner, how should you do it? There are in general three kinds of roles an outsourcing provider must play for engagement, namely, assistant, advisor, or partner. While a software vendor playing the role of an assistant on particular delivery levels, and that associated as an Advisor would further handle the management level, and a software development vendor would put efforts in catapulting the business and make a successful engagement.
Considerations when Choosing the Right Software Outsourcing Vendor
1. Knowing you and your brand
Each and every business is unique, and thus every standard value proposition of a software development company’s processes may not suit your needs. During evaluation, you should keep tabs of who takes time to understand your business or your brand, your business objectives, and not make self-assumptions or present standard solutions.
It’s only if they understand your brand, your needs, and the end results that you envision are they able to translate them into a scalable and robust software product.
2. Technical Experience and Expertise
The development of software isn’t a trait that works like others; it’s wide and does not usually have generalists doing all the functions. Simply because one is a software developer doesn’t mean that he/she should be proficient with all the programming languages, technology stack, or could execute any project.
It takes time to train someone on a new framework or language, and would still be unable to deliver favorable results. Thus, software development companies choose areas of focus and create units or teams around that technology. Having developed the same products for other clients could provide a technical niche that you expect from a software development outsourcing vendor.
No amount of knowledge and understanding of theory could equal the effectiveness of a real-world practical experience. Developing software doesn’t happen in a vacuum, it has its own issues, and only a player faced with the same conditions before could understand what it takes to deliver ultimately. Experience is the pipeline through which knowledge could be applied, shaped, and brought to a meaningful perspective directly.
3. Communication
There are different ways for companies to communicate, there are good and bad communicators, and it has to be a big part of your due diligence to determine whether synergies exist in communication. Make certain that all stakeholders are involved, such as analysts, project managers, and experts could communicate effectively.
You must be extra careful while judging the compatibility with tech teams and representatives of the vendor. Trust what your instincts are and determine if their actions feel genuine enough.
4. Software QA and Testing
To some level, a high QA process and different testing during the development of software ensure customer satisfaction. Don’t hesitate to ask your outsourcing partner regarding the kinds of testing that they carry out and the process in which they ascertain updates and bug detection.
In this instance, you yourself must remain committed to the software quality and take extra measures to check it with your internal staff. Software vendors that have good reputations offer a contractual agreement with regards to the code quality and acceptance.
5. Managing Processes
The software development vendor that you choose should have a process that’s well-defined to decide on the quality of the software being developed at each stage. You have to know what follows if there’s a major crack in delivery and expectations, what will happen if the software quality seems compromised, how disputes in billing are handled, and how a critical resource related to project delivery is retained should one wish to leave.
In general, these are issues that arise and it’s important that you should know the answers to your expectations ahead of time.
6. Accreditations and Certifications
One of the seamless ways of determining the development teams’ or vendor’s expertise in any technology solution is through asking for certifications. Salesforce, Adobe, Microsoft, Oracle, and so on, offer certifications to business partners. The certifications imply that prospective developers are experts in a specific technology or technologies required and maintain a certain standard to keep their certificates valid.
ISO 9001 is the only 9000 family standard that could be certified to. The certification isn’t a requirement, and organizations still could informally implement ISO 9001 principles without being certified. Only organizations technically could become certified.
Individuals however could become certified lead registrars or auditors, to be able to do organization audits.
7. Internal work culture
Employment is not stable and enjoyable in all countries in the world. Some organizations in many countries experience high weakening and sometimes could try to pass inexperienced staff as senior-level experts. Thus, proper screening of not just the organization but of the employees as well is critical.
You must ascertain that the company treats personnel properly so that they remain with you until the end, after all, it’s the people that mold the partnership.
Conclusion
In any software outsourcing development project, the quality and success depends on the experience and skillets of the vendor and its development team. It’s highly important to take time to do research on the vendor that helps you achieve your business goals. The points above are simply guidelines that could lead you through the process.