There are many important factors to consider when outsourcing software development functions. Variables such as data security, communication issues, and scaling operations have a significant impact on outsourcing partnerships. Moreover, companies must weigh the risk-reward of both positive and negative outsourcing experiences. This way, they can identify risks accurately and make strategic IT decisions. As a tech business owner, you must verify the outsourcing partner’s ability to complete projects on time and with the highest standards. In this post, we will discuss several factors to consider when outsourcing software development.
Ask For Industry Experience
Industry experience should be considered an essential factor when outsourcing software projects. Search for companies that specialize in a variety of industries. Ideally, the offshore company should have experience in your industry or sector. If not, ask for similar technologies, functions or applications they have built in the past. For example, experience in the entertainment industry might translate to strong file management and media streaming capabilities. Meanwhile, experience in the energy industry may offer critical infrastructure or redundancy expertise. Naturally, firms with industry experience can give your company a competitive advantage and improve the overall application quality.
Determine The Project Budget
Additionally, consider your budget before outsourcing software development. To establish your budget, perform a thorough analysis of program specifications. Next, discuss the project timeline and scope with the internal team. Based on these details, realistically estimate the financial requirements to build your software. Additionally, calculate the costs savings or additional value to the company. With a clearly defined budget, you can compare the asking prices of prospective firms against your in-house costs. Moreover, the best partners will meet your unique needs, provide insights and layout clear timelines. When the budget is aligned from the start, both parties can work together from start to finish, solving any issues as they arise. This way, you can understand how much it really costs to configure your product. Absolutely, you must strongly consider your budget for outsourcing a software development project.
Review Development Tools
Moreover, review the advanced development tools used by outsourcing partners. Outsourced companies should have the proper tools, platforms and methodologies within their organization. For example, leading development teams use Helm repositories by JFrog to share charts, secure access control and automate provisioning on various systems. Moreover, these tools offer massively scalable storage for users at the enterprise level. When evaluating a partner, ask if they are using the most advanced repositories to manage their software development pipelines. Certainly, the development tools and processes significantly impact the overall project agility.
Evaluate Intellectual Property Protection
Furthermore, depending on the outsourcing partner involved, you must evaluate their intellectual property protections. Of course, outsourcing requires sharing potentially sensitive business data with a third party company. You may have to share trade secrets, proprietary code or sensitive customer information Therefore, check the data privacy usage, existing security protections, and IP laws in their jurisdiction. For example, in China and its surrounding regions there are generally minimal intellectual property protection laws. To protect valuable intellectual property, sign well-drafted non-disclosure agreements or other contracts. Definitely, intellectual property protections are key considerations when outsourcing development.
Create Clear Communication Channels
To avoid a common issue with outsourcing development, create regular channels of communication. Often times, international outsourcing partners are working in different time zones, languages and cultures. Prior to awarding a contract, establish schedules for check-in calls, meetings and email response times. In fact, some outsourcing partners might be willing to meet in person either on premise or abroad. Frequent and transparent communication strengthens the outsourcing relationship. Combined with leading collaboration tools, you can work closely with an outsourcing team anywhere in the world. With these in place, you can openly discuss corrective and preventive maintenance with your outsourced team. Undoubtedly, clear communication channels can overcome long distances and time zone barriers while outsourcing.
When looking to outsource software development, you must consider a myriad of factors. Outsourcing product development is no easy endeavor. Therefore, preparatory steps must be taken extremely carefully and cautiously. For example, firms with industry experience can give your company a competitive advantage and improve the overall application quality. Second, you must strongly consider your budget for outsourcing a software development project. Third, the development tools and processes used significantly impact the overall project agility when outsourcing. Next, intellectual property protections are key considerations when outsourcing development. Finally, clear communication channels can overcome long distances and time zone barriers while outsourcing. Of course, these considerations ensure smooth project development and strong outsourcing relationships.
