Guide to Outsourcing IT Product Development

Introduction To Outsourcing IT Product Development

Some of the greatest products ever created were initially outsourced to offshore development teams, laying the foundation for their long-term success. Some of the examples include Slack, which outsourced its design and app development in its early days, WhatsApp, which relied on app development outsourcing to Eastern Europe, Skype, and many more.

The IT outsourcing trend still continues, with approximately 37% of IT tasks currently outsourced in the USA alone. Companies like SAP just recently announced reducing 8,000 positions globally while outsourcing some development functions to maintain profitability in challenging markets.

Outsourcing IT development is an advantageous step for companies or individuals who have business ideas but need external support to handle the technical aspects of development. An experienced IT partner can guide you through the entire product lifecycle; from idea conceptualization, choosing the appropriate tech stack, prototyping, development, all the way to a successful launch.

Since your goals, needs, and expectations will vary, it’s important to determine the key factors essential to your product's development. What should you prioritize? What areas demand your focus? And how can you choose a partner who can deliver on your expectations?

Understanding Key Priorities for Your Product – What to Focus On

At first, when you have a product idea, it might feel like every aspect is equally important. But by considering your industry, the market you’re launching into, and your audience, you’ll notice that some aspects of IT product development naturally stand out as more critical based on your long-term goals.

A great product needs attention across all development stages, but prioritizing the right technical needs is key to staying focused and achieving your objectives. Here are some;

• The Importance of Great UI/UX

Great UI/UX is essential for any company's success. However, some industries place even greater emphasis on UI/UX, as user experience is critical for their success. This is why usually e-commerce brands, gaming companies, and businesses in retail and hospitality set really high standards for UI/UX to stand out among their competitors.

Even the approaches to the development of UI/UX have changed in recent years to ensure seamless user interaction, ease of navigation, and clear functionalities for the user from the earliest stages. By focusing on user-centric design from the beginning, companies can minimize the need for costly redesigns later on.

Proper early research, planning, and testing lead to smoother releases and reduce the need for frequent updates to address usability issues.

That’s why you need to understand your users first and what you aim to achieve. As a general example, users in Asia, Europe, and the USA may have entirely different expectations and interaction styles. The UI/UX researcher should thoroughly analyze competitors, market demands, industry best practices, and innovative methods to deliver the best results possible.

Once the initial UI/UX is ready, you can begin to test it step by step with your audience. Gather feedback, refine, and improve until both your and the user expectations are fully met.

• Security

The demand for high security in IT product development is becoming more and more widespread, especially for businesses that frequently handle sensitive data, user privacy, or critical systems. While all businesses require some form of security measures to ensure safe operations, businesses in industries like FinTech, Banking, Government, Legal, or similar are likely to have higher demands for careful security measures.

You can request the development team to place more emphasis on high-security measures by restricting access to sensitive data based on user, even company roles, and ensuring only authorized individuals have access to certain information.?

You can ask if your partner can maintain regulatory standards such as? GDPR or have a full strategy in place to prevent security breaches or respond to them effectively.

• System Load Management?

Prioritizing load management will ensure that your development team can focus on preventing performance-related issues such as stability, and response time, while also ensuring your software performs well under various workloads.

The goal is to enhance your IT product’s overall performance, allowing it to handle a large number of users simultaneously without issues like unresponsiveness, system crashes, or inconsistencies across different operating systems.?

Let’s say you expect that your product will face increasing loads as time goes by, then you might consider system load management as your priority. You can ask the development team to choose architectural approaches that have the technical capability to handle your expected loads.?

Some software systems handle hundreds or thousands, in some cases tens of thousands or more simultaneous requests per second.

Use cases for high-load systems are widespread. For example, gaming companies often face the challenge of thousands of users logging in at once, while retail companies may experience unexpected simultaneous traffic during special holidays and find themselves unprepared to handle the load due to a lack of initial planning.

That’s why it’s crucial to invest in these systems in advance. One of our previous clients, for example, contacted us because a single glitch in their software could result in a loss of tens of thousands of dollars within minutes. To prevent this, we ensured the new system could process 100,000 requests per second, respond within 100 milliseconds, and perform complex searches and multiple logical operations per request.

If you’re unsure whether a high-load system is the right priority for your product, check out this link.?

• Integration Requirements

You might have integration requirements as a key priority if you want your IT product to connect and communicate with other existing systems, software, tools, or platforms. Integration requirements may vary and have many use-cases.

For example, if you’re developing a MedTech product, you might need your development partner to integrate various data sources, patient records, diagnostic tools, and billing systems. Similarly, in the case of a FinTech product, integration with mobile banking apps or real-time transaction processing systems may be essential.

In industries like travel or hospitality, third-party service integrations with providers such as hotels, airlines, and car rental services are often needed to deliver a seamless booking experience for users.?

The list goes on and on: you can request your IT partner to integrate analytics tools, AI chatbots with a CRM system, cloud-based systems, and more.

Choosing a Product Development Team Based on These Priorities

Depending on what’s most important at this stage of your product development, it’s essential to choose a development team that can move with your priorities. A team might be able to handle all above-listed aspects of development, but focus on niche areas as their core competency.

For example if UI/UX is a key priority for you, look for teams with design expertise. For high-load system development, look for teams who have experience with scalable architectures and performance optimization. If security is your top concern, prioritize teams with expertise in secure product development practices and compliance.

The discovery phase is important to connect with potential product development partners and ask if they can meet your specific goals, and find out what their strengths and weaknesses are. By aligning the team’s expertise with your product’s needs, you increase the likelihood of? achieving a successful product.

How To Evaluate and Verify if You Have Chosen The Right Development Team?

We have a full guide to choosing the right software development partner for your custom needs which can also be applied to finding a product development partner. Once you've narrowed down one or two teams that match your expectations and seem to deliver great results, it’s time to evaluate them and verify whether you've made the right choice.

Start by assessing some key factors. Review the team’s portfolio or case studies to see if they’ve successfully completed similar projects. This will give you a clear sense of the complexity they can handle and the types of projects they can deliver effectively.

Next, check their client reviews. Client names might be mentioned directly in their case studies, though sometimes this information could be confidential. Be sure to check external review sources such as their Google Business page, TechBehemoths, or Clutch. Don’t hesitate to reach out to them and ask if you can talk to any of their clients directly to verify their ability to deliver successful projects.

This will also open a door for you to check their transparency. Assess how open they are about their development processes, approaches, and ability to meet your specific needs. While some of this information may be shared on their website, it’s valuable to communicate with the team directly. Share your vision and goals, and see if they are willing to go above and beyond to provide not just technical support, but also genuine care and commitment to your success.

While a team’s experience and years in the industry can demonstrate strong technological skills and smart development approaches, it’s equally important to choose a team that understands your needs, fits with your culture, and can guide your product to success.

Common Product Development Mistakes to Avoid

Here are some common mistakes to avoid during the product development process so you have lower chances of wasting time and money.

• Not validating your idea first- Jumping into the excitement of development without validating your product idea first is a critical and common error. No matter how innovative your idea is, if it’s a product that few people need or are willing to pay for will most likely fail, regardless of how well it’s built.?
• Neglecting Market Research- Not understanding your ideal clients, their regions, age, roles, and general behaviors can lead to a product without clear focus that’s “everything to everyone” and resonates with no one. Focus on a clear target audience and understand how it solves their problem. Understand your competition and real value you can bring in.?
• Unrealistic Budget Expectations- It can be tempting to aim for more affordable development options (especially when they promise the same results), but the lowest price doesn’t always equal the best quality. On the other hand, overly expensive teams can drain your budget too quickly leaving you with an unfinished product. Find a balance that is realistic for you and for your product goals.?
• Choosing the Wrong Development Team- As mentioned above, the right team should not only have the work to back up their claims or the technological skills but also be goal-oriented and transparent in their communication style. Only this way your product can be successful as two teams work towards a common goal.
• Using an Unsuitable Tech Stack- For example, simply following the latest tech hype such as using AI just because everyone wants to have it or the opposite- opting for outdated technologies can be equally damaging. The tech stack should always be chosen based your product’s goals and future growth opportunities.
• Skipping Prototyping- Not creating a prototype or gathering feedback early in the process is a missed opportunity to refine your product and can cost you more resources down the line. However, make sure to prioritize actionable feedback from your target users rather than relying on opinions that may not add value.
• Lack Of Communication with Your Development Partner - Make sure you are as involved as possible in the product development process so that your tech partner and product constantly evolve with your goals. A lack of clear, ongoing communication can lead to misunderstandings and missed expectations, leading to complications.?
• Ignoring Maintenance Post Product Launch- A product’s release isn’t the end of the collaboration, but it’s the beginning of ongoing improvements, updates based on user feedback. Ignoring maintenance can lead to performance issues, and dissatisfied users.

The Importance of Setting Realistic Deadlines: Why It’s Important and How To Do It

We’ve already discussed the importance of setting realistic budget expectations, but setting realistic deadlines is equally critical in product development.

You first need to make sure that your IT product can hit the market at the right time-when its demand is highest and there’s still a strong need for your solution. Dragging and delaying the process can be incredibly harmful as the longer it takes the more likely your product can become outdated. However, the opposite is also true when clients force unrealistic deadlines upon their partners. Expecting them to sacrifice testing and quality in order to launch as quickly as possible can lead to problems.

As mentioned earlier, validating your idea, conducting proper research, and building prototypes based on user feedback all take time. It takes time to create great products and doing it right to avoid wasted resources and failed product launches.

If you want to learn more about the risks of not setting realistic goals and expectations, check out our “Reasons Why Outsourced Software Development Projects Fail” blog. One of the key takeaways is that you should not push unrealistic timelines over quality, costs, or relationships. Adding more specialists may not even be ideal as every project is unique and requires different responsibilities and it may also cause higher software development costs for you.

Ask your development partner for a clear project management plan with realistic, achievable deadlines. Every phase should be well-defined, ensuring that your product is launched at the optimal time..

The Importance of a Well-Planned Product Market Launch

Launching your product will be one of the most crucial phases in the product development lifecycle. A well-executed launch can be the turning point for your initial success, attract users, and lay the foundation for long-term growth. On the other hand, a poorly planned launch can undo months of effort and lead to a failed product, no matter how well-built it is.

As mentioned above, timing is everything in a product launch. Entering the market too early might leave your audience unprepared or uninterested while launching too late could mean losing to competitors.?

Take your time to learn your competitor’s strengths, weaknesses, and how your product differentiates itself. This is key to positioning your product successfully in front of customers. While your development partners are busy working on your product development process, make sure to also invest in business development and marketing to build anticipation way before your launch through various channels.

Understanding the Full IT Product Development Process

Let’s imagine you have a well-researched idea, a clear understanding of your clients, have completed market research, and contacted an IT product development company for technical support during your operations. What are the next steps and what should you expect from this partnership??

• Presenting your product idea and vision- Once you share this with the development team, your your partner will likely ask questions to fully understand your goals. Next, the team needs to formulate an initial concept and share with you for clarification. If all looks good, your functional and non-functional requirements will be carefully documented.
• Technical Architecture and Technology Stack Selection- The team defines a tech stack best suitable for your product to make sure it’s scalable and secure.
• Rapid Prototyping and Quick Iterations- Depending on which parts of your product need to be tested on your real target used for feedback, your partner will develop functional prototypes so you can test, get feedback and iterate fast.?
• Detailed Design, Development, and Testing- After multiple prototypes and receiving continuous feedback, it’s time to commit to full-scale development of your product. The team also conducts continuous testing to ensure functionality and security.?
• Product Launch- Your product is launched in stages starting with a smaller user group to monitor that technical infrastructure works well to later expand and scale your infrastructure to handle a larger number of users.
• Ongoing Maintenance and Support- After the launch, your product development partners will continue to provide updates, technical support, and improvements to ensure your long-term success.

How to Measure the Success of Your Outsourced Product Development?

Your product success depends on many factors such as how and when your product was launched, your business development and marketing efforts, as well as how your product addresses real user challenges. But how can you specifically measure the success of your outsourced product development??

• Track if all deadlines were met by the development team. If they managed to guide you even with changing requirements and were prepared for unexpected challenges.?
• Track if the development team was in line with your vision and goals during the entire product development process and did not push their ideas over yours.?
• Monitor if the team managed to remain within your budget expectations and if unexpected budget overruns were discussed before the development process and that you were prepared.
• Track if the development team met your requested quality and focused on the factors you asked for.
• Look back if your product development team was transparent about any issues that arose and how it could affect them, if they were responsive in communication and addressed your concerns promptly.
• Check if the developed product solves the core problem it was initially designed for.
• Ask your users to engage in providing feedback for your product and their overall satisfaction with the interface, functionality, and performance.

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, outsourcing IT product development can help you to bring your ideas to life with the support of specialized software development teams. By focusing on your product’s unique priorities, whether it's UI/UX, security, system load management, integration requirements, or any other aspects, you can choose a partner who meets your specific needs.?

In the end, success lies not only in technical skills and knowledge but in clear communication, realistic expectations, thorough planning, and choosing a partner who shares your vision and values.?

Looking for an IT Product development partner who can help bring your vision to life?

Check out SCD Company's software product development page and case studies.?