What are the most effective ways to ensure your software consultant follows industry best practices?

1 Define the scope and expectations

Before you start working with your software consultant, you need to clearly define the scope and expectations of your project. This includes the goals, deliverables, timeline, budget, quality criteria, communication methods, and feedback mechanisms. You also need to specify the industry best practices that you expect your consultant to follow, such as coding conventions, testing methods, documentation standards, security protocols, and performance metrics. Having a clear and detailed agreement will help you and your consultant align on the project requirements and expectations, and avoid misunderstandings and conflicts.

2 Check the credentials and references

Another way to ensure your software consultant follows industry best practices is to check their credentials and references. You can ask for their portfolio, certifications, awards, testimonials, or case studies that demonstrate their expertise and experience in software development. You can also contact their previous or current clients and ask for their feedback on the consultant's performance, quality, and adherence to best practices. This will help you assess the consultant's reputation, reliability, and professionalism.

3 Review the code and documentation

One of the most important ways to ensure your software consultant follows industry best practices is to review their code and documentation regularly. You can use code review tools, such as GitHub, CodeClimate, or SonarQube, to inspect the code quality, readability, consistency, security, and maintainability. You can also use documentation tools, such as Sphinx, Doxygen, or Javadoc, to check the completeness, accuracy, and clarity of the documentation. By reviewing the code and documentation, you can identify and fix any errors, bugs, or vulnerabilities, as well as provide feedback and suggestions to improve the code and documentation quality.

4 Conduct testing and validation

Another essential way to ensure your software consultant follows industry best practices is to conduct testing and validation throughout the project lifecycle. You can use testing tools, such as Selenium, Jest, or Mocha, to perform various types of testing, such as unit testing, integration testing, functional testing, or user acceptance testing. You can also use validation tools, such as Postman, Swagger, or SoapUI, to verify the functionality, usability, and compatibility of the software. By testing and validating the software, you can ensure that it meets the quality criteria, user requirements, and industry standards.

5 Communicate and collaborate

The final way to ensure your software consultant follows industry best practices is to communicate and collaborate with them frequently and effectively. You can use communication tools, such as Slack, Zoom, or Skype, to exchange information, updates, feedback, and questions. You can also use collaboration tools, such as Trello, Jira, or Asana, to manage tasks, deadlines, milestones, and issues. By communicating and collaborating with your software consultant, you can build trust, rapport, and understanding, as well as monitor and support their progress and performance.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?