Outsourcing: How to Choose a Software Development Partner
Today, outsourcing in a business development process has become a disruptive realia among leading companies, prominent startups, and successful entrepreneurs. This is not only about lowering costs, utilizing mass production, or delegating development chaos. Nowadays, the outsourcing industry is defined as an ecosystem which strives to strategic relationships, shared goals, and long-run objectives. The early traditional outsource model turns into a meaningful collaboration of business owner and software development partner, entrepreneur or investor and service provider.
Since 2015 when outsourcing has been a breakthrough phenomenon, nowadays this business model helps companies to increase their flexibility, produce added values, and in general scale faster. Speaking of IT outsourcing (and other industries too… needless to say), the collaboration with a software development company is not one-skype-call-matter. History shows that business owners and service providers should hammer out product development details from the very beginning and through all verticals to increase quality and reach the win-win outcomes.
Outsourcing forecast: Trends and market analysis
Recently the National Outsourcing Association has launched a research campaign to investigate how companies and corporations establish an effective partnership with the service providers and how the outsourcing sector will be developed and changed over the next five years. According to the study, 80% of bus iness owners expect to increase their use of outsourcing services. This number shows us that more and more companies are comfortable with relying on software delivery partners.
Another interesting fact is what business issues usually motivate entrepreneurs to outsource. Primarily, 35% of respondents opt for outsourcing as a way to save money. Next is 23% of surveyed who chose service providers to improve customer experience and 17% of respondents partner to make a switch from a legacy IT to as-a-service.
What is most important, that for the first time some of these figures have become less prevalent and companies are making way for higher priorities like value delivery, product quality improvement, long-term roadmap development, etc. The next burning question we should frame out is how to find a reliable, empathetic and, on the other hand, a highly-qualified, insight-driven outsource company.
Choosing your software development company: Don’t make it a lifelong matter
If you're launching a Shopify store from scratch or need advanced development services for eCommerce, you can easily turn to Shopify development agency. But what if you need a marketplace, mobile app or website? Traditionally, the outsourced model is rather slow and often time-constrained. It usually includes complex contracting, lengthy negotiations on responsibilities sharing and workflow planning, and other formality. To avoid any bitter experience and the fear of not getting your business launched, let’s figure out how to build a strategy for successful software development collaboration.
Stage 1. Define a strategic vision of your future project
In the 2019 Gartner Strategy Agenda Poll has concluded that the strategy defining was the biggest challenge for most organizations and the most crucial factor that influenced company growth. Frequently, business leaders have a blind spot when it comes to short-term targets and “checkbox” tasks. In order to build the business ambitiously and develop the product in a meaningful way, we have defined a few actions for you to execute the functional strategic planning.
- Manage your project budget strategically
To tell the truth, launching a website or developing an app is next to nothing. Before investing in the technical part of your business (software development), take a strategic approach to cost management. Consider budgeting all areas of your business development: building an app, marketing, PR, sales campaigns, etc.
- Define the critical success factors of your company or product
Before signing a contract with the development company, make sure you have a clear plan for your project growth. Clear up the basic key success factors concerning your financial resources, norms of quality, team members and their areas of responsibilities. Think about key performance indicators, releases, milestones, and deadlines.
- Launch the marketing campaigns to define your future business roadmap
Many companies often go wrong with marketing and product promotion. The mistake is bound to happen when you spend all resources on the development process and then you settle down to marketing campaigns. Before the development process, conduct the upcoming trends research, discover the target audience, analyze your direct and indirect competitors, gather potential customers’ feedback, initiate a focus group discussion.
All these pieces of advice are the basis of a further successful business launch. When all done and dusted, you may proceed to the next stage of product delivery: cooperation with the software development companies.
Stage 2. Evaluate technical skills of software developers
After defining your strategic vision of the project, it’s high time to plan your initial communication with the software development partner.
- Skim the basic information about the company
Before interviewing the outsource team, check out their portfolio, technology stack, and customers’ feedbacks. Refer to Clutch, Upwork, and other sources to get general information about the potential partner. Discover the company’s previous experience in developing similar applications or delivering uncommon or unique products.
- Negotiate the process of delivery, the scope of services, reporting, and deadlines
Ask the company about provided services: whether they can offer you the full cycle of software development - from concept development to product delivery and testing. Let them describe the process of development, quality control, further web or mobile application support, etc. Discuss the milestones and deadlines.
- Present your product roadmap to be on the same page with the delivery team
Share your business roadmap on how your product will be scaled. Check out how the delivery company is going to conduct the application development process in the context of product future growth. In this way, you will understand whether this team is the right fit for your business success.
Stage 3. Evaluate the software development team’s soft skills
App development is a multifaceted process. Apart from remarkable technical skills, business success also depends on the productive personality traits. That is why it’s highly recommended to analyze the soft skills of your future team. Consider necessary personal qualities for your business growth: whether it’s good communication skills, ability to collaborate, or go the extra mile. We have summed up a few soft skills that are important for effective collaboration between business owner and software development company today.
- Communication
It is said that plenty of meetings are a waste of time. This is because of the low ability to interpret information through speaking, listening, and observing. Many business owners neglect to fully share their product basic information like a development roadmap, who the end-user is, etc. On the other hand, the developers frequently deliberate ignorance while delivering products. Check out our interview with Eric Typaldos, Co-Founder and CTO, on how Hive conducts effective communication with Apiko Dedicated Team
- Creativity and growth mindset
The ever-changing world orchestrates its own rules and pace, that is why we should develop new ideas, apply innovative solutions to adapt to change. Make sure that potential software development partnerships will provide your customers with a robust, valuable, and scalable application.
Source: Why Growth Mindset is Vital For Software Developers
- Critical thinking
Discuss possible ways of product delivery with the project manager or team lead, let them provide you with the optimal business solution. Question the team why this solution is the best way forward, what the outcome will be in a few years, how data and goals might be modified.
One more important aspect of collaboration with the dedicated team is whether you can treat them as part of your company culture. This will help both sides to achieve a purpose. To conclude and summarize the information above, let’s go through the list of helpful tips.
Handy tips to choose the right custom software development company
- Think out your product vision: buyer persona, value, business goals.
- Budget all areas of your product development: from concept development to marketing campaigns.
- Analyze independent resources like Clutch.co, Upwork reviews and ask for referrals to choose proper software delivery company.
- Know more information about the methods, approaches, and tools applied to delivering product (let the company describe you the process of team management, development, what methodologies and tools are used, how the quality control is conducted, etc.)
- Ascertain the availability of all scope of services like Project or Product management, UX/UI design, web and mobile development, QA and testing.
- Let the development team provide you with an example of their code writing.
- Make sure that the delivery company will be able to extend your dedicated team when the project blossoms out.