So, you want to outsource your software development
So your company decides it needs to outsource some of its software development. The first thing that comes to mind is; Does outsourcing mean better or worse quality? Of course the answer is, it completely depends on which software house you hire to do the work for you. Pick the wrong one and it will be a waste of money and a dragging process. Choose the right one and it shows every time.
In my 20 something years experience in IT, I have worked with companies that continually make the wrong choice when outsourcing. And I have seen this cost their software and the company considerably. Not just in terms of monetary cost, but cost of time, glitches, delays, security issues amongst many others. Take mobile apps for example, there are some reports that say almost 75% of apps contain up to 10 bugs on launch. One 2015 Mobile Development Survey put the number of bugs as high as 50! So making the right software outsourcing choice is essential.
If you find yourself a great developer to work with, you find that they not only ensure high quality standards, they focus on your companies overall objectives and intended results. This means they put time and effort behind your development rather than just slapping some regurgitated code together. Taking this into account, I would highly recommend that you never base your decision on a quick Google search, and never just simply choose the cheapest option. It will end badly.
Experience and Collaboration = Quality
When outsourcing work, everyone involved must share the goal of creating high-quality software, which will ultimately grow your company. The right developer will bring a wealth of experience from working on software involved in multiple industries and sectors. Viktoriia pavlova of Starlight Management Group says, “outsource your software and you get a group of partners that can use their collective experience to see themselves through difficult challenges. Because they work in many sectors with many companies, on a variety of projects, we can easily call upon critical skills and expertise and use that with every product or software development project.”
Obvious right? Outsourced teams use their collective and extensive knowledge to efficiently solve problems and be as innovative as possible. You usually find that many software houses hold regular meetings, where team members share information and problems with the current projects — their successes, challenges and of course creative solutions. By sharing things in this way, they easily benefit from a wealth of information and even find solutions to problems that they personally hadn’t thought of yet. One software house could potentially have 10–20 developers sharing their knowledge, which ultimately gets applied to your software.
Remember; When you are talking to potential developers, both individual and, the point contact from an entire team, ask them about their portfolio, their current projects, and their success across different markets. Spend some time talking with them about their previous work and what they learnt from those experiences and projects. Are they Agile? Or are the they DevOps? Are they aware of the latest technologies and standards? Is security a priority? By getting to know your provider properly, you make a more informed choice, therefore choosing the right partner that is focused on the quality and the success of your software and ultimately your business.