How To Successfully Outsource Software Development

— October 16, 2020

Table of Content
What is software outsourcing and its benefits?
The Challenges Of Outsourcing
Tips For Successfully Outsourcing Software Development
The bottom line

Outsourcing software development has become a popular trend in the digital world today. The main reason for companies looking for software outsourcing is cost-efficient. Besides that, other reasons also need to be mentioned such as the shortage of IT specialists, the demand for digital transformation, saving-times to the market.

Beyond that, many companies have considered outsourcing software services as a part of a business strategy where they can find true partners to scale up their business.

However, there are hundreds to thousands of software development companies in the world. Finding one that fits your business would be a challenge. And how to outsource software projects successfully would be another part of the story. The following tips would answer this question.

Let’s first define the outsourcing term and its benefits

What is software outsourcing and its benefits?

Software outsourcing is a practice of hiring third-party to do complex tasks relating to technology. In which, they will deliver various IT functions to ensure the best business outcomes for their clients.

The common tasks that are outsourced including software development, IT infrastructure, cloud computing, IoT, mobile and web app development, cyber-security, quality assurance, and testing.

The Benefits Of Outsourcing

Cost Saving

This is the fundamental reason for companies reaching out to the software outsourcing provider. A survey shows that outsourcing can save you 90% of cost-operations. Of course, this will depend on the types of outsourcing and outsourcing models.

Time-Saving

With the abundance of IT specialists with high professional qualifications, software outsourcing can promise to deliver projects on time.

Flexible – diverse ideas

The rapidly changing of technology might trouble you. Yet, the emergence of outsourcing can be a doorway to relieve the struggle. They will help you to figure out the appropriate technology solutions and to provide fresh ideas that bring better outcomes for the business.

Access to the talented pool of professional developers

The IT shortage is increasing according to the Monster. Companies are struggling to find quality software developers that fit their business. Yet, it seems to be not always available. Outsourcing software development will help you to ‘relief’ this headache of finding talented developers.

Increasing ROI

Outsourcing software development can help the companies to increased return on investment along with cutting edge technology. This will help you to stand out from the crowd in the competitive market. Beyond, outsourcing software services also are a way that helps businesses to focus more on their core business functions and to solve capability issues.

The Challenges Of Outsourcing

The benefits of outsourcing software development are practical and abundant for a company. Yet, there’s also the downside of it. Let’s dive into it.

Security risks

During the software development process, the clients might need to transfer the internal business information to their software outsourcing partner such as customer data. The risk of leaking this confidential information will be there.

Hence, before contracting with an outsourcing software vendor, the clients and software partner should sign a contract call NDAs (Non-disclosure agreement) and security protocols. This will keep the business information completely confidential.

Furthermore, a well written-contract covering all the aspects of intellectual property would be an option to reduce these risks.

Communication

Nowadays, English has become popular and has become a common language among most countries. English or any language that is used for communication would help both understand each other better through the cultural alignment, the way they work. And beyond, it will help both understand exactly the requirements and expectations.

If the business owners contract with a software outsourcing provider who is limited/poor at English, this can cost you more time, more money, and even serious trouble.

Time zone differences

Depending on outsourcing models-onshore, nearshore, or offshore software outsourcing, each model will have differences in time zones. It will not be a big deal if you choose onshore and nearshore software outsourcing. Yet, it will matter with offshore outsourcing. The difference can be more than 8 hours plus, especially for some countries in Asia such as Vietnam, China, Philippines.

It can create some issues such as you need supporting but they are not available. However, this can be an advantage. For example, before leaving the office, you can send tasks/requirements to the software outsourcing team. Hence, while you are in bed, the development team is working on the project. And at the beginning of the next working day, your tasks/requirements are done for you.

Tips For Successfully Outsourcing Software Development

Choose the software outsourcing vendor wisely

The success of the software projects will depend on the quality of services from an outsourcing provider. Hence, before signing the contract, business owners should spend some time researching potential partners. What do you should review or look at? Many things. Such as portfolio, case study, reputations, testimonial, domain knowledge, focus services, their previous project.

Hiring a high-quality software development company could be a challenging task. Yet, if you choose the right company that fits your project, it would create great solutions that boost your company’s productivity and profits. In reverse, choosing a provider with a bad reputation may cost you more time and money, derail your operations, and let your business down.

Ask for a demo project.

After having several list companies, you need to make sure about their capabilities on your project. One way to do that is by asking for the demo project. Even though this may require some investments in time and resources, it’s worth doing so because it will ensure that some significant problems can be eliminated in the future. This will help you figure out their performance on projects that can help you decide whether you want to partner with them or not. The performance here might include factors such as strong knowledge of your business field, communication Skills, trustworthiness, time management.

Implement agile methodologies.

Agile methodologies allow the parties to keep a check up on production and swiftly work within a project’s life cycle. Meaning to say, it will allow a product’s owner to sit at one end and a computer software developer at the other end to work together. It will combine many small components/micro-services of the project to provide a high-quality product. The items/components can then be assembled in weekly cycles which is called sprints by remembering all the technical and business revenue aspects.

Through agile methodologies, a product/business owner and the software development team can fully understand the character of the project, the requirements, the goals that are assigned, and the goals that need to be achieved.

Use project management tools.

The project management tools are a should-have/must-have for any software project. This will help both clients and the development team follow the tasks, especially when the tasks are connected to the tasks.

It will be a challenge for both without these digital tools. You just get lost in massive tasks. Yet, these tools will be a great reminder for both, notably software developers when they have to take care list of the tasks assigned to them.

Some project management applications/tools like Asana, Basecamp, Jira, and Trello are the most common ones to help the clients to track the software development process. And beyond, it can help the software developers to manage project tasks, figure out the potential risks along the process, calendars, and conversation threads, and so on.

Pay more attention to UI/UX

Whether you build a system for your enterprise like CRM, ERP or you build an application for your business, everything needs to focus on the end-user and the user experience.

User experience (UX) design should play a significant part in the process of outsourcing software development. The design here does not simply mean how nice your software is but also the functionality of it.

Hence, to bring the high quality and useful software into the market, business owners should spend time to discuss with software development provider and ask for their consultant, and even requiring UX designers.

As a professional UX designer, they can provide the mock-up of workflow, and then software engineers will base on that to develop and build the system.

The bottom line

Hiring a software outsourcing provider might play a significant role in the business development of a company. It can save lots of time and money for a business. Moreover, it allows them to cutting edge of technology and applies it to the software that helps them stand out from the competitive market. Yet, to ensure that a business can get the most value and get a high-quality software project, business owners should carefully research and choose the provider wisely. A helpful way to select one is by inquiring about their technical expertise, working experience, and reputation, solving problem skills, conducting detailed interviews, and coding exercises.